The Flame In The Flood Deconstruct

I got the chance to play The Flame In The Flood recently, a narrative-driven survival rogue-like game that was The Molasses Flood’s first game in 2017. The Flame In The Flood was a wonderful, short, yet sweet game that had solid gameplay mechanics, a unique art style, and a wonderful story.

In this deconstruct, I plan on analyzing a game that doesn’t use too many monetary methods, such as In-game App Purchases, Battle passes, or Microtransactions. There are not many events or logs to track daily active users, retention, and other methods of engagement as it is not online and is not an ongoing game.

Loops, Genre, Platforms, and Monetary Values:

Platforms: PC, MacOS, Xbox, Nintendo Switch

Genre: Action, Adventure, Rogue-like, Top-down, Survival

Monetary Loop: Full-game purchase, no IAP, no microtransactions

Gameplay Loop: Open world traversing system (rafting/walking), crafting system, item searching, questing

User Engagement Loop: Raft to a Region > dock the raft > get onto new marina (procedurally generated) > obtain new items to craft > do quests for new items to craft new items or upgrades

Both Gameplay and User Engagement loops are fairly simple to understand yet meticulous in their usage. The systems are in-depth and force the player to judge what is necessary for Scout’s (the main protagonist) survival. The crafting system makes use of the limited items that can be carried in the backpack to determine what the player can and can’t make.

The region-to-region exploration takes place by using a raft and sailing towards the next dock, which is procedurally generated. The procedural generations created by the computer give a unique twist to the game by making every player’s experience within the game different.

The Molasses Flood used the power of Unreal Engine 4 to craft their debut game, and the result is nothing short of impressive. This isn't just a game with good graphics; it's a unique adventure that draws players in with its compelling story. They didn't just create a game; they gave players an unforgettable experience. Looking at a few statistics provided by VGInsights.com shows that The Molasses Flood ultimately made The Flame In The Flood successful by selling nearly 926,000 units and reaching a revenue of $10.1m

The game was a good experience, with a great, simple user experience that took advantage of every mechanic it had. Playing the final result of The Molasses Flood’s debut game, it is understandable that the game had reached the success it had at the time.