Puzzle games in the indie space have constantly evolved over the years, and The Last Campfire from Hello Games is a great example of this. In this exploration puzzle experience, gamers play through a story about a soul named Ember who is looking for a purpose. Along the way, they come across other souls that have been abandoned.
Each puzzle section is different from the next, but generally speaking, players must try to manipulate each stage in a way that allows Ember to reach the flame that is trapped in a cage. While the puzzles are straightforward in explanation, there are a few things players should keep in mind while playing The Last Campfire.
7 Search All Dead & Forlorn Bodies
As Ember traverses across the landscape, there are a few things that players will see often. The most important element that they will stumble upon is forlorn bodies. These friends covered in stone will be sitting or laying somewhere that Ember needs to interact with.
In order to bring these embers back, players must select them and go into a puzzle stage that will revolve around retrieving the flame at the end of it. This flame will bring the forlorn body back to life. In addition to these, there are also dead bodies that, when searched, could yield some treasure or important collectibles.
6 Open All Boxes
While exploring The Last Campfire's world, players should keep an eye out for boxes that are placed in hidden or hard-to-reach places. These boxes will contain a piece of a journal, supposedly describing someone's journey as they traveled a similar path as the Ember in the game.
There is no specific order in which players need to find the boxes, as each journal entry will always pick up where they last left off. These entries will add extra context to a world that is hard to fully understand without it.
5 Pay Attention To Environmental Clues
There are overall two different types of sections in The Last Campfire. There's the regular world where the main goal is to explore and reach the next room, and then there are the puzzle sections that are used to revive the Forlorn.
That said, there are puzzles that can be done outside of the Forlorn sections throughout the adventure. While exploring, keep an eye out for anything suspicious or items that can be picked up. These elements may play a key role in finding secret areas, or just advancing in general.
4 Not Everything Is Available At Once
The Last Campfire has some nonlinear elements when it comes to its adventure. Because of this, trying to complete every task that is presented in an area at once may not be possible. There are numerous occasions in the game where an item in a different area will need to be used to unlock an item or an area that the player has already passed.
Luckily, it is pretty easy to backtrack in this game. As Ember advances, there will even be shortcuts that open up that make it easy to go backward. Keep all this in mind when getting confused as to what to do next.
3 Check If The Lanthorn Can Be Used
About an hour into the game, Ember will visit a temple that will end with them getting a tool called the Lanthorn. This allows Ember to move large blocks around by blowing into the horn. This opens up the game quite a bit, as it may give the player more access to areas they couldn't get to before.
With that in mind, keep an eye out for blocks that have metal pieces on them. When in Lanthorn mode, these metal pieces tend to glow, indicating that block is movable. Even if there isn't a clear metal piece, use Lanthorn mode to see what Ember can interact with.
2 Pigs Love Fruit
There are few creatures outside the embers that the player will interact with — that is, until players reach the swamp area of the game. Here, players will run into some pigs that are just hanging out waiting to be fed.
When pigs are nearby, players should be on the lookout for some green fruit hanging from a tree. Then, click on the pig to lure them with the fruit. Usually, players will have to feed the fruit to a plant that is blocking a path nearby. Doing so will cause the pig and plant to have a tug-of-war that the pig will inevitably win.
1 Look For Tabs To Activate Things
As stated earlier, it's important to keep an eye on everything that is happening in the environment. However, some things are harder to see than others. That's why it's worth noting that there will be a point where certain buttons may be disguised into the environment, making it hard to know what to do next.
The biggest situation is when players enter the ruins area with the giant pig. There are small tabs that are embedded in the walls that may activate specific pathways to open. Keep an eye out for them, as not hitting them will halt progress.