Fireboy and Watergirl: Forest Temple — Play Free Online

Fireboy and Watergirl: Forest Temple is the first chapter of a co-op puzzle series, and it is a very different kind of game from the rest of the line-up here. Basket Random is about quick, chaotic duels; this one asks two people to stop competing and work out a route through a stone temple together.

Each level is a single screen of platforms, ramps, buttons, levers and pools of liquid. Fireboy and Watergirl both have to reach their own exit door, and neither can finish alone. A level usually takes a few minutes, which makes it a good fit when two people share one laptop and want something slower and more thoughtful than a match of Slime Dunk.

How to play

Both characters share one keyboard. Fireboy moves with the arrow keys. Watergirl moves with W, A and D: W to jump, A and D to go left and right. One player on each side of the keyboard is the natural split.

The element rules drive everything. Fireboy can wade through lava but dies in water. Watergirl can swim through water but dies in lava. The green goo pools are deadly to both, so the only safe way over them is a platform or a jump. Each character can also collect gems of their own colour: red for Fireboy, blue for Watergirl. They are optional for finishing a level but they are what the star rating is based on.

Most levels follow the same rhythm. One character activates a button or lever that moves a platform, and the other has to cross while it is held open. Pushable blocks fill gaps or hold buttons down. Then both of you reach the doors, and you need to be standing in them at the same time.

Tips

• Talk before you move. Most of the failed attempts come from one player running ahead and trapping the other behind a closed platform.
• If a button needs holding, decide who stays on it. Often a pushable block can do the job instead, which frees both players.
• Do not chase every gem on the first run. Clear the level, then replay it for the full set once you know the layout.
• If you are stuck, look for the liquid that belongs to the other character. Their pool is often the hint to where the route goes.

Similar games on Basket Random

If you like having a partner on the same keyboard, Get On Top and Rowdy Wrestling are also built for two, but they are about knocking each other around rather than helping each other out. Slime Dunk and Soccer Random are quick head-to-head matches that you can play in a minute. Forest Temple is the one to choose when you want to cooperate instead.

It runs in the browser with nothing to install, so it works on a laptop or Chromebook. A phone is a poor fit because two players need a shared keyboard.