Campfire Cozy Friends is certainly interesting, but the developer’s lack of transparency regarding its future business model beyond “free to start” and certain in-game mechanics give cause for concern.
Singleplayer.
Campfire Cozy Friends is as visually charming as Animal Crossing, and the overall visual quality of character models is as close to “Nintendo-like” as any Indie game could ever hope to attain.
While some props are slightly lower quality, such as the model used for the bridge, ultimately, it is a small thing that doesn’t lessen the game in any way, especially when you consider that its core demographic is more likely to be fans of cosy games than hardcore visual enthusiasts.
While several attempts have been made to recreate Animal Crossing’s magic on other platforms (and some have been pretty good), no title released so far has come as close as Campfire Cozy Friends to succeeding at that lofty goal.
Its innovative use of AI is one area where it could carve out a niche on non-Nintendo platforms, where players are chomping at the bit for an Animal Crossing-style experience. Reservations aside, I would love to see it succeed, as while AI is controversial, it is a tool like any other and can be used to better gaming as a whole.
While AI bots are nothing new, and mobile app stores are full of AI Boyfriends, Campfire Cozy Friends is the first PC/Console title to use AI in more than a Tech demo setting, or at least the first to market in any serious fashion.
Forming “friendships” with AI characters who recall what you say and start future conversations based on your interests for some will be the most fun they have ever had in a game.
Unfortunately, the potential parasocial relationships that will be formed have a downside, which we touch upon later in this review.
As part of my preparation for this review, I tested the limits of several Campfire Cozy Friends residents to see if it was possible to cause them to say naughty words or discuss taboo topics.
I am pleased to say that the developers seem to have prepared for such contingencies, and the AI characters consistently did their best to steer the conversation towards family-friendly topics without falling for my attempts to discuss more mature topics.
That said, while the content is child-friendly, the business model may not be, depending on how the developers decide to monetise Campfire Cozy Friends.
As a result, I cannot recommend Campfire Cozy Friends as a safe game for children to play until more details are revealed about how the developers intend to monetise it.
I am well aware of the maxim that you should not look a gift horse in the mouth; however, Campfire Cozy Friends is a product that has raised over $3.9M from investors, and they will want a return on their investment.
While CampfireAI have stated that Campfire Cozy Friends will be “free to start,” it’s clear that Campfire Cozy Friends needs some form of monetisation; the question is, what form will that take?
Based on the presence of a “premium” currency that can be used to speed up construction time, among other things, it appears that Campfire Cozy Friends could be monetised like so many other free-2-play games that nickel and dime player’s wallets to death, by deliberating slowing down gameplay progression to a crawl once players have a significant time investment in the game, by offering “limited time offers”and “discounted premium currency” to speed up progression.
While this business model is entirely legal, I find it impossible to support and, in some more blatant cases, impossible to overlook, regardless of how I feel about the quality of the game or the dedication of its developers.
What makes this worse is the cutesy art style and immersive characters, which will cause younger and more vulnerable players to become attached to the game, which could result in players spending too much money on what is essentially a very well-made mobile game, albeit one with very impressive conversation AI NPCs.
I hope the developers do not take this approach and find a way to support themselves and repay investors without resorting to predatory monetisation.
However, right now, based on what I have seen in-game and the potential for Campfire Cozy Friends to be a highly addictive life sim that offers a much-needed alternative to Animal Crossing for non-Nintendo systems leaves me feeling seriously concerned that the next time I cover Campfire Cozy Friends, it will be to warn players away, which is that is the last thing I want to do when a game looks as good as Campfire Cozy Friends, especially when its passionate developers are spearheading the use of a new technology which I am passionate about.
Campfire Cozy Friends is a simulation video game developed and published by CampfireAI, it was released on TBA and it is Free-2-Play.
Campfire Cozy Friends is available exclusively on PC.
The following peripherals are officially supported:
Campfire Cozy Friends is unrated and contains no mature content.
Campfire Cozy Friends could go one of two ways: it could adopt a cosmetic-only monetisation system, which I feel is completely acceptable in 2024, or it could adopt a monetisation model similar to circa 2009 free-to-play games, which slowly but surely separates a player from their hard-earned money by shoving discounted bundle after bundle in their face to overcome manufactured progression roadblocks in effort to convince them that buying yet another bundle of diamonds for $4.99 is better than waiting 12 hours for their current task to be completed.
If the developers choose the former, I will gladly raise the review score to 8/10, as it’s a very solid game with a demographic waiting for it on non-Nintendo platforms.
However, if the developers choose the latter, I will be lowering the review score to 2/10, as no matter how good a game is, how pretty it looks, and how interesting the technology is, I will never support throwing potential stumbling blocks in front of gamers who could go broke feeding their new addiction, especially when it is a game like Campfire Cozy Friends, which has potential to be highly addictive to children and lonely adults due to its vibrant aesthetic and ability to form parasocial relationships with engaging characters thanks to its clever use of emerging AI technology.
To the developers, I can only say this: the gaming community and most God are watching: DO THE RIGHT THING.
