How Firewatch’s UI enhances immersion

Firewatch slowly crept up on everyone and blew them away, like the video game version of a forest fire (erm, the good kind). A narrative-driven mystery light on game time and heavy on dialogue didn’t seem like everyone’s idea of a sure-fire hit, but players constantly found themselves engaging with the almost-real world of Shoshone National Forest.

Multiple GDC awards and 1 million unit sales later, there is general consensus that Firewatch aims for a niche and hits it pretty well. That niche is immersion. Firewatch wants to put players in the head of Henry, the fire lookout protagonist, and also wants to put players in the environment, with all its underpinnings of foreboding and isolation. And while the brilliant writing, believable voice acting, and gorgeous environments go a long way towards making this immersion happen, I think an oft overlooked aspect is the smart UI choices that Campo Santo made while designing this game.

Let’s run through a primer on video game UI and analyze why Firewatch’s UI choice helped them double down on their niche so successfully.

A primer on Game UI

A must-read article on game UI (without delving into research pieces) is this piece by EA Dice designer Marcus Andrews. I’ll explain some terms that are necessary to understand the intelligence of Firewatch’s…