In the right context, being underfunded and under-equipped to do the task at hand can lead to fun, funny situations. And that right context will always be within the confines of a video game.
FiresOut! is just that. It’s a couch co-op game from Malaysian studio Dreamonaut Studio. What started as a final year project is now turning into the indie studio’s debut, right out of uni. The game wears its influences up its sleeve: it’s OverCooked! meets Moving Out.
The genre twist that FiresOut! brings is that everyone is an intern for the fire department and all the department can spare are few axes and a comically large toilet with a water-sprouting goldfish in the bowl as a water hose.
With that equipment, you’re expected to do miracles where you must save civilians trapped inside labyrinthian houses with non-OSHA compliant automatic floor lifts. And very tight corridors.
Also, some of the houses on fire would also regularly be hit by meteorites. These interns are doing jobs way above their pay grade.
FiresOut! does a great job in capturing the hilarity that is panicked people not knowing what to do. The chaos of the level design will make the fire crew do silly stuff. What do you mean the comically large toilet with water-sprouting goldfish in the bowl is too heavy to carry by one person? One person can pivot it around, but you need three to really move it into other rooms.
But unlike a couch, there’s no ideal side of the toilet you should grab. You’d think moving having two people holding back to front is ideal, but then the person in front basically gets waterboarded when you start hosing down the fire should they not let go of it. But should they let go of it but was in the way, they’re not only getting hosed, but they’re being pushed back into the fire (they are physics shenanigans) and die from being hosed into a fire hazard. What’s worse (in a good way), two people on toilet duty is still cumbersome to move around, you need three to really be able to move it smoothly. But the tradeoff is how would you past that tiny door with all three holding on?
The Overcooked! influences come in from how naturally FiresOut! will make you question your teammates if they’re doing their jobs that no one actually designated but assumed to have. “Did anyone of you bring the axe?” “Can someone move the toilet?” are regular phrases we uttered in our hands-on demo at the Indie Jam 2026 showfloor. And more often than not, someone forgot to bring the axe, so one unlucky team member had to backtrack all the way to the front porch and bring the axe inside the house whose architect you assumed to have done gigs for the Resident Evil games in how diabolical the layout can be.
This is not to say that FiresOut! is a difficult game. But rather, the moment-to-moment can get chaotic if you’re running without a well-oiled team. And that’s for the better. The game’s strengths is when everyone stumbles, fumbles and somehow emerged with a two-star clear, laughing through it all. The elements of emergent gameplay, where something that happened wasn’t by designed, but happened through well-designed systems and mechanics, is what will carry this game and from the demo we played, it has a bit of that magic that’s different enough from its influences.
If chaotic experiences with friends is what you’re looking for, FiresOut! should be on your radar. The game has no release date, but it’s set to release on PC (Steam).