Fireboy and Watergirl

Fireboy and Watergirl is a cooperative puzzle-platform game. Fireboy can be moved by using the arrow keys and Watergirl can be moved using the WASD keys. Fireboy can only go through lava whereas Watergirl can only go through water. If either Fireboy or Watergirl touch the opposite element, they will die and the level will have to be restarted. Green acid can kill both characters. Red and blue diamonds can be collected by players, and mechanisms like levers and buttons will have to be operated carefully in order for both characters to complete the level. Once a level is completed, a chart depicting how many diamonds were collected throughout the level will be revealed to the player(s), as well as their rank.

Oslo Albet said that he developed Fireboy and Watergirl because he had "always found puzzle games to be fascinating".{{Cite web|url=https://mcvuk.com/business-news/pc/playing-with-friends-equals-gaming-success/|title=Playing with friends equals gaming success|date=July 2, 2013|website=MCV|access-date=January 20, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120151735/https://mcvuk.com/business-news/pc/playing-with-friends-equals-gaming-success/|archive-date=January 20, 2024|url-status=live}} He finalized the game mechanics before creating the characters as he was more interested in the gameplay. Albet said it was "pretty obvious" that he required two characters with opposing elements for the game to feel natural to players and designed Fireboy first before spending "quite a bit of time" finding the right design for Watergirl. After several changes, he designed Watergirl's "waterfall" ponytail to counter Fireboy's fiery hair. He added that when developing the story and characters he knew that they had to appeal to "boys, girls and families as a whole".

The first game in the series, Fireboy and Watergirl in the Forest Temple, was released in November 2009 on the software platform Adobe Flash and hosted on the online web portal Cool Math Games as the games' target demographic were people aged 10-15 years old.{{Cite web|url=https://www.polygon.com/23077283/pixar-elemental-waterboy-firegirl-sharkboy|title=Pixar's Elemental characters remind fans of classic platformer Fireboy and Watergirl|first=Nicole|last=Clark|date=May 17, 2022|website=Polygon|access-date=January 20, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120151550/https://www.polygon.com/23077283/pixar-elemental-waterboy-firegirl-sharkboy|archive-date=January 20, 2024|url-status=live}} In June 2019, it was rumoured that Cool Math Games would be shutting down as Adobe Flash was set to be discontinued in 2020 but the company confirmed that they would continue to operate and Flash games. The games were later converted into HTML5.{{Cite web|last=Harbison|first=Cammy|date=June 3, 2019|title=No, Cool Math Games Isn't Shutting Down: Company Confirms Adobe Flash 2020 Shutdown Won't Kill The Site |url=https://www.newsweek.com/cool-math-games-shutting-down-players-fear-adobe-flash-2020-shutdown-will-end-favorite-1441919|access-date=January 21, 2024|website=Newsweek|archive-date=January 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104104315/https://www.newsweek.com/cool-math-games-shutting-down-players-fear-adobe-flash-2020-shutdown-will-end-favorite-1441919|url-status=live }}

The fifth game in the series, Fireboy and Watergirl: Elements, was released on Microsoft Store on December 9, 2018,{{Cite web|url=https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/fireboy-and-watergirl-elements/9nsp5n3b7q32#activetab=pivot:overviewtab|title=Fireboy & Watergirl: Elements on Microsoft Store|website=Microsoft|access-date=October 11, 2024}} later on Google Play on December 20, 2018,{{Cite web|url=https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.osloalbet.fb|title=Fireboy & Watergirl: Elements on Google Play|website=Google Play|access-date=October 11, 2024}} Apple App Store sometime in 2018{{Cite web|url=https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fireboy-watergirl-elements/id1446352801|title=Fireboy & Watergirl: Elements on App Store|website=App Store|access-date=October 11, 2024}} and Steam on January 24, 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1003480/Fireboy__Watergirl_Elements/|title=Fireboy & Watergirl: Elements on Steam|website=Steam|access-date=October 11, 2024}}

The sixth game in the series, Fireboy and Watergirl: Fairy Tales, was released on Steam on November 1, 2021.{{Cite web|url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1781350/Fireboy__Watergirl_Fairy_Tales/|title=Fireboy & Watergirl: Fairy Tales on Steam|website=Steam|access-date=January 21, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240121084618/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1781350/Fireboy__Watergirl_Fairy_Tales/|archive-date=January 21, 2024|url-status=live}}

GamerBolt praised the pacing of the game by stating that the "too-easy" introductory levels did not take too long to complete before the game became more challenging.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gamerbolt.com/fireboy-watergirl-review/|title=Fireboy and Watergirl Review|date=September 22, 2017|website=GamerBolt|access-date=January 20, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120153747/https://www.gamerbolt.com/fireboy-watergirl-review/|archive-date=January 20, 2024|url-status=live}} They stated that the game was "extremely well-executed" and there was a "decent number of levels" which meant the game potentially had several hours of gameplay. However, they stated that it did not necessarily have the complexity or the longevity to compete with other 2D platforming games such as Spelunky or Super Meat Boy.

Daria Paterek of Impact cited Fireboy and Watergirl as a game that made her "fall in love with gaming" and praised the games' replay value as each new installment has levels of varying difficulty and takes place in a distinct setting such as a forest, a desert and during winter.{{Cite web|url=https://impactnottingham.com/2022/03/reflecting-on-video-games-that-made-me-a-gamer/|title=Reflecting On Video Games That Made Me A 'Gamer'|date=March 30, 2022|website=Impact|access-date=January 20, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120151534/https://impactnottingham.com/2022/03/reflecting-on-video-games-that-made-me-a-gamer/|archive-date=January 20, 2024|url-status=live}} Nicole Clark of Polygon described the game as a "classic" and said that playing it "feels like traveling back in time". Clark stated that fans of Fireboy and Watergirl had found characters in Pixar's Elemental to be similar in design, though she said that elemental characters were not a novel idea citing Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl as examples.

{{Wikibooks|Fireboy and Watergirl in the Forest Temple}}

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Category:Browser games

Category:Children's educational video games

Category:Cooperative video games

Category:Fiction about the classical elements

Category:Indie games

Category:Puzzle-platformers

Category:Puzzle video games by series

Category:Video game franchises introduced in 2009

Category:2009 video games