Animal Crossing: New Horizons was a huge release for Nintendo and the Cozy gaming genre. Games like Cozy Grove, Dreamlight Valley, and other cozy games have tried to take the genre into various directions. Campfire Cozy Friends also tries something new, but I’m unsure how I feel about it.

I wasn’t aware of this twist before I began to preview Campfire Cozy Friends, but after reading a bit more on the Steam page, I discovered that one of the game’s selling points involves Artificial Intelligence. The development team has built in an AI-generated conversation system into Campfire Cozy Friends, to approach conversations with characters in a new way. Here is what the Steam page has to say about the AI for reference:

“Talk to AI characters as virtual friends or make progress in the life simulation game to make Camp Island your tropical paradise.

Experience cozy games like never before! Campfire innovates by letting you talk to AI characters in an open-ended chat experience to build and develop relationships with AI-powered villagers!”

I am skeptical about the usage of AI in the gaming space. It is impossible to replicate the creativity, story-crafting, world-building, and ingenuity of a human with an artificial program. However, since Campfire Cozy Friends is a unique take on the Cozy genre, I wanted to check it out anyway.

As mentioned above, Campfire Cozy Friends puts you in charge of developing Camp Island. This involves building crafting stations, talking to villagers, and more. The developers are also aiming for multiplayer functionality as well, though that is part of the Early Access pipeline. Campfire Cozy Friends’ is set to be in Early Access at least through the first half of 2025, but the developers also say that is subject to change.

It is also important to note that once Campfire Cozy Friends is available, it will only be purchasable (during the Early Access period) via one of the founder’s packs that are set to be sold. After the Early Access period, it will be a Free to Play title, which likely means microtransaction functionality will be implemented at some point.

Depending on how the developers approach this, it could be as successful as Dreamlight Valley. Though granted, Dreamlight Valley has the bonus perk of Disney characters and elements, so that in itself gives it an edge. It might be harder for Campfire Cozy Friends to meet that level of success as an Indie, especially one that uses AI generation with its characters.

The Early Access section of the Steam page also says that the development team will be taking Founder’s Pack purchaser feedback to develop the experience, which is promising. With all of that being said though, what are my thoughts on the game itself you ask?

I wish I could say that I recommend Campfire Cozy Friends, but I don’t. On one hand, there’s a lot of great artwork for food and crafting items. There are also fun systems like fishing, using a metal detector, mining, crafting, and character customization. There’s even a light bit of story written by the developers that doesn’t involve the AI-generated conversations between you and your characters. However, I’m not sure that’s enough to get my seal of approval.

What makes Animal Crossing: New Horizons (and other games like it) so good is the character element. Giving each villager a personality allows you to connect with them on a level that lets you grow close to them and want to talk to them.

Integrating AI into your conversations with your villagers takes a lot of the interaction and homogenizes it. Yes, you can respond in ways that are outside of the box, but ultimately the villagers all pull things out of the same pool. This makes them feel like reskins of the same proverbial robot. Maybe I’m just not sold on the AI character-interaction thing, but it doesn’t feel right to me.

On the same token, the gameplay loop of Campfire Cozy Friends somewhat feels like standard mobile game fare. You have premium currency, timers to complete things, a pseudo-gacha for collecting villagers of various rarities, it all just feels…bland. This is the Pre-Alpha, and there are some interesting ideas buried in the AI and mobile game mechanics (like the metal detector), but I’m just not sold on it yet.

My biggest hope is that the people who invest in the Founder’s Packs will guide the direction of development toward the good parts of what is visible. Integrating fun, interactive systems and unique content, rather than leaning heavily into homogenized AI-driven work would build something better than what I’ve seen here. Campfire Cozy Friends has potential, but it isn’t anywhere close to realizing it yet.

A PC Preview Copy of Campfire Cozy Friends was provided by Campfire for the purposes of this preview.

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