Bonfire Peaks

Bonfire Peaks is a block-pushing puzzle game in the style of Sokoban. The player controls a character that can move forwards, backwards, turn, and carry boxes, but cannot sidestep. In each level, the player is presented with an 3D grid containing terrain, movable boxes, and a bonfire. One box represents the character's belongings, and the objective is to move that box into the bonfire, burning it.

Typically, the bonfire is initially inaccessible, requiring the player to stack boxes in order to reach it. Later levels introduce elements including longer boxes, streams that move the character, and traps.

Corey Martin is a Montreal-based indie developer. He initially developed Bonfire Peaks in November 2018 for game jam Ludum Dare 43, themed "sacrifices must be made". Subsequent development took about three years. Alan Hazelden of Draknek & Friends contributed to roughly double the number of levels, which total over 200.

The game has an intentionally limited narrative, featuring neither dialogue nor expository text. According to Martin, "In my opinion, storytelling is not really a strength of the medium of games, or what excites me most about it".

Bonfire Peaks received "generally favorable" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic.

Reviewers generally praised its art style, soundtrack, and atmosphere. PC Gamer praised the simple voxel art style, described the feel of the game as "meditative", and noted the game's inclusion of a dedicated button to make the character sit. Edge described it as "soulful", commenting that the art style complimented the game's mood and pacing: "That's in keeping with the melancholic mood, which in turn encourages the deliberate, methodical approach you need to reach the top". Vandal and Jeuxvideo complimented the soundtrack, noting that it fit the game's genre. However, PC Gamer found the game's attempts at telling a story through its environment lacking, Rock Paper Shotgun said "I'm having trouble connecting with its thoughtful story bits", and Eurogamer opined that its style was not for everyone.