From Final Year Project to Fighting Fires with a Toilet Bowl Goldfish: FiresOut! Game
- Aug 5
- 5 min read
A student’s final year project is often temporary, with graduation marking the end of its journey. For FiresOut!, graduation was just the beginning.
This group of young talents from Asia Pacific University (APU) took their group project beyond the classroom and built a full-fledged gaming studio — Dreamonaut Studio, an up-and-coming indie team from Malaysia. Their belief and passion for the game carried it further than any final year project would, developing it into a more refined experience for the general public.
Along the way, they picked up milestones worth noting — earning the Best Student Game Award and a nomination for the Audience Choice Award at Level Up KL 2025.
We got our hands on the demo at Level Up KL 2025, and it is easy to see why it turned heads. FiresOut! throws you straight into chaos, and we had to learn quickly on the go. Saving citizens from burning buildings, coordinating with each other under pressure, and putting out fires with the help of a trusted toilet bowl goldfish, Mr. Glug Glug. Anything that could go wrong went wrong, and it was hilariously fun.
This kind of game is built perfectly for team building, bonding, and icebreakers.
What if Overcooked, But on Fire?
Behind every award-winning game is its own set of challenges, and Brenden, Dreamonaut Studio’s Co-Founder, can tell you all about it. It all started with a car ride and a simple question.
TESSR: What sparked the idea for this game, and what made you decide to go for it?
Brenden: The idea sparked for me in the car with my sister. My sister and I are huge fans of chaotic co-op games like Moving Out and Overcooked. We’ve been hunting for these kinds of games, but there just aren't as many of them out there. We just chatted about what kind of games we would like to play. So, we talked about what if <job>, but Overcooked or Moving Out style.
Eventually, two game concepts came up at the top, which were an office job and a firefighting job. The firefighting job was something that had yet to be done, and the chaos from the firefighting job really pairs well with the chaotic co-op genre. Just saying 'firefighting' but it's Overcooked or Moving Out really brings out all the imagination. This then became the main idea for how FiresOut! came to be.
The Dreamonaut team wanted to recreate a feeling that only chaotic co-op games can provide. There is the shared panic of a thought-out plan falling apart, and the laughter that follows. Even the unlikely triumph of a team who were just in a shouting contest somehow pulled it off together at the very last second.
FiresOut! was built to carry all of that and more. The moment-to-moment experience they designed — the chaos that comes with being a firefighter in a fun and safe environment and the absurdity of a goldfish in a toilet bowl as an extinguisher — all come together to get players loud, engaged, and fully invested in each other.
Brenden knows the game is working when players are sabotaging each other and somehow still crossing the finish line together. That messy, joyful sense of achievement as a team is what they set out to build towards.
Simple to Play, Chaos to Master
For Dreamonaut, getting the game feel right starts with simplicity. FiresOut! It is designed to be easy to pick up, as the learning curve is intentionally gentle, because the real challenge was never meant to come from the mechanics. It comes from coordination between players.
The moment coordination breaks down is the moment FiresOut! becomes exactly what it was designed to be. It gets loud, chaotic, and unpredictable. Design it too hard and players give up. Design it too easily, and there is nothing to push them into that chaos. Finding that balance, as Brenden puts it, is “the hard part".
Part of finding that balance meant making calculated calls on what to keep and what to let go.
TESSR: What gameplay systems, mechanics, or ideas did you decide to leave out or simplify, and what influenced those design decisions?
Brenden: We were looking at the main objective of the game, which was saving victims. At one point, we had ideas for making different types of victims and different shapes and features of Mr. Glug Glug. However, we looked at what makes this kind of chaotic co-op game fun. It is not about the complexity of the game mechanics or how many mechanics there are. It is about encouraging teamwork and coordination, which, when broken down, can lead to funny, unexpected moments. Therefore, we decided to strip all complexities away, simplify the mechanics and just focus on those points.
The instinct to simplify was worth it and validated. Early in development, FiresOut! had a destroy meter that kept track of how much of the house was burnt or damaged. “On paper it sounds fun that you need to save the victims while minimising the damage done to the house,” said Brenden.
In practice, the players had other ideas in mind. They ignored the meter completely, choosing instead to destroy everything in sight, making a chaotic mess of the house and, as Brenden recalls, "throwing victims into the fire and water". The feature was overruled by the players themselves.
The destroy meter was not the only idea that did not survive development. Behind every simplified mechanic is a harder conversation about time, resources, and what is truly worth building.
TESSR: What’s been a tough decision or trade-off you’ve had to make while making the game?
Brenden: There are a lot of mechanics and ideas we wanted to try. Some have already made their way into the game, but they just could not work. We had to face the reality that we cannot have it all or do it all. Resources and time are the main things we always have to face when implementing a mechanic. Is it worth doing it? Can we do it? All kinds of stuff we have to think about before we implement something. Perhaps down the road we can implement some of the mechanics. I, especially, would love to have a level editor that anyone can use to create their own fun levels. Maybe somewhere down the roadmap.
Play Together, Remember Together
Resource constraints and tough calls are part of every indie developer’s journey. Every mechanic decision, feature cut, and late-night boil down to one simple question – what do players walk away feeling?
TESSR: After the players finish playing the game, what do you want them to walk away feeling?
Brenden: I want them to walk away with precious memories and moments playing with their friends. Where they now have something more to talk about and connect with. Some interesting moments where they can look back and start laughing at each other or be proud of what they have achieved. It is our studio's goal to create games that help people connect and share fun moments. These feelings that I got when I played Overcooked, Moving Out, and other co-op games are exactly what I want to share with the players of FiresOut!.
FiresOut! started as a final year project that refused to stay as one. Dreamonaut Studio’s mission is to develop a game that creates memories that stick around long after the screen goes dark. Because at the end of it all, FiresOut! was never just a game. It is a feeling that lingers.
What are you waiting for? Grab your friends and game on!
Author Bio
Alison Chai is a marketer at TESSR, an artist, and a gaming creator with a finance background. She enjoys exploring the intersections of creative work, structure, and mental well-being. Drawn to the idea of "organised chaos”, she believes that the right systems can elevate creative expression rather than limit it. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
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