Where to get it

2021 · Adventure · Indie

Firework

Timed Xbox exclusive

Firework is a Chinese horror puzzle game. The story takes place in a remote mountain village. An accidental fire at a funeral forces the police to re-investigate a closed case of the massacre. Lin Lixun, rookie police, participates in the re-investigation by chance.

Released: 4 February 2021
Platforms: Nintendo Switch Windows Xbox One
Genres: Adventure Indie Puzzle
Developers: —
Publishers: Gamirror Games
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Themes: Horror Mystery
Country: People's Republic of China
Age ratings: ESRB M
Languages: Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), English
Time to beat: 4hmain story4hcompletionist

About

Firework (Chinese: 烟火; pinyin: Yānhuǒ) is a horror puzzle game developed by Chinese studio "Moonlight Cockroach" and published by Gamera Game . The trial version was released on July 15, 2020, and was officially released on the Steam platform on February 4, 2021. Players will play the role of criminal policeman Lin Lixun, investigating a funeral arson case in a mountain town, and another family massacre involved in it.

›Story

This is a thrilling and unknown exploration. You will follow the steps of the protagonist to uncover the truth under the tragedy.

This is also a story with oriental mysticism and realism. It is grotesque, but it may happen somewhere in this world.

The delicate narrative makes the suspense layers stack up. You might think you know the truth, but suddenly the mist will blur everything again.

Players say

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

In the game, players will control the detective Lin Lixun from a third-person perspective, and uncover the truth behind the tragedy and the inner stories of each character through exploration in different scenes. During the game, players will encounter a variety of puzzles, and there will also be plot characters joining in to help you get more information. Gradually understand the beginning and end of the story in each scene, and piece together the original appearance of the event with fragments.

Firework features simple controls centered around 2D side-scrolling exploration and click-based interactions. Players move the character with Arrow keys and use an interaction button to examine objects, solve puzzles, or trigger story events. A "spiritual perspective" mechanic allows switching to a supernatural realm to uncover hidden clues. The game eliminates combat and complex mechanics, relying on highlighted prompts and auto-saves to lower barriers, letting players fully immerse in puzzle-solving and narrative.

Development

"Firework" is led by the domestic independent developer "Moonlight Cockroach", whose studio "Shiying Studio" has only one person. Moonlight Cockroach was originally a UI designer, but later resigned to devote himself to independent game development. He had previously launched "Tales of the Black Forest", a Japanese-style ghost story theme. Inspired by social mystery novels and Chinese folk culture, he decided to transform and create "Firework", a local horror suspense theme. The development took 1 year and 4 months.The funds came from the sales revenue of the previous work "Black Forest Town Tale" (about 20,000 copies sold)

Due to the shift to Chinese horror style, watercolor style scenes were redesigned, and red and green color matching, funeral elements and other oriental horror symbols were incorporated. The visual style of the classic Hong Kong horror film "The Imp " was referenced during the development process. Influenced by the game "What Remains of Edith Finch", Moonlight tried a narrative from multiple character perspectives for the first time, using different art styles to create a blurred boundary between fantasy and reality.