Dark Souls: The Bonfire
The bonfire is Dark Souls' most iconic design element - a checkpoint system that became a symbol. It transforms inherited mechanics into something new: a checkpoint you might not want to use.
What the Bonfire Does
- Restores health and Estus (healing) charges
- Serves as respawn point on death
- Allows leveling up, attuning spells, fast travel (in some entries)
- Respawns all non-boss enemies
That last point changes everything.
The Inherited Problem
Checkpoints in most videogames:
- Save progress
- No downside
- Use as soon as possible
The design problem: checkpoints remove tension. Once you hit a checkpoint, you're safe. Everything before it doesn't matter anymore.
Horror videogames solved this with limited saves (Resident Evil typewriters, ink ribbons). But survival horror creates different tension than action RPGs.
The Transformation
Dark Souls keeps checkpoints as healing/respawn points but adds cost: enemies return.
This creates decisions:
"Should I use this bonfire?"
- Pro: I'll respawn here, and I have full heals
- Con: Every enemy between here and my goal is back
"Should I push forward?"
- Pro: I might find another bonfire, skip these enemies
- Con: If I die, I lose souls and start further back
The checkpoint becomes strategic choice, not automatic relief.
The 4 A's of the Bonfire
Analyzing the bonfire through the 4 A's:
- Action: Sit, rest, make decisions (level up, attune, etc.). The action is deliberately slow - you choose to stop.
- Art: Warm light in a dark world. Crackling fire, ambient shift to peaceful. The visual and audio contrast with the hostile environment.
- Arc: A pause in the action. The bonfire creates rhythm - explore, fight, rest, repeat. The arc of a play session is structured around bonfire visits.
- Atmosphere: Safety, respite, but with awareness of what waits outside. The bonfire feels like refuge because the mechanics and aesthetics align.
Permission Structure
The bonfire grants permission to:
- Rest safely
- Refill resources
- Save progress
The bonfire requires:
- Accepting enemy respawn
- Committing to a new respawn point
The bonfire forbids:
- Nothing (you can always use it)
But "can" and "should" differ. You can always rest. You should think first. This is Permissions in action: the gap between technical possibility and wise action.
Spatial Design
Bonfire placement is level design:
- Before boss: Classic. Reduces repetition of easy content.
- After tough section: Reward for completion.
- In hidden area: Reward for exploration.
- Seemingly close but far: Bonfires visible but unreachable create longing.
- Multiple in same area: Choice about which to commit to.
The interconnected world means bonfires anchor your mental map. You navigate by bonfire.
Try This
Play Without Resting
Play a section of Dark Souls without using a bonfire. How does this change your decision-making? Your tension level?
Analyze Placement
Map the bonfire locations in one area. Why are they where they are? What choices do they create?
Design a Checkpoint System
Create a checkpoint system with a cost. What cost? How does it change player behavior?
Teaching Applications
The bonfire is an excellent case study for several reasons:
- Clear transformation: Students can compare to traditional checkpoints
- Visible trade-off: The cost (enemy respawn) is immediately understandable
- Multi-layered: Works as mechanic, atmosphere, spatial design, and narrative
Discussion Prompts
- What if enemies didn't respawn? How would that change the videogame?
- What if you could only use each bonfire once? What would that create?
- Compare to checkpoints in a videogame students know. What does each system prioritize?
Common Misconceptions
"The bonfire is just difficulty"
Students often reduce the bonfire to "makes the videogame harder." Redirect: the bonfire makes the videogame more thoughtful. It turns automatic actions (hit checkpoint) into decisions (should I rest?).
"Dark Souls is about punishment"
The bonfire actually reduces punishment - you always have a safe place. The videogame is about meaningful consequence, not arbitrary difficulty.
Exercise: Redesign a Checkpoint
Have students redesign a checkpoint system from a videogame they know:
- Identify the current checkpoint behavior
- Add a meaningful cost (not arbitrary difficulty)
- Consider how this changes player psychology
- Prototype in paper or describe in detail
What Dark Souls Teaches
- Heritage can be transformed by cost. Checkpoints are old. Checkpoints with enemy respawn are new. One change, new meaning.
- Mechanics and aesthetics align. The bonfire feels like safety because it is safety - and because it looks/sounds like warmth in a cold world.
- Decisions beat convenience. A checkpoint that's always-use is convenience. A checkpoint that's sometimes-use is design.
- Spatial meaning: Where you put mechanical elements matters. Bonfire placement is level design.
- Symbols emerge from systems. Nobody designed "the bonfire as iconic symbol." It emerged from the mechanics being good.
The Dark Souls Legacy
Post-Dark Souls, many videogames use the bonfire pattern:
- Hollow Knight: Benches (similar enemy respawn logic)
- Sekiro: Sculptor's Idols
- Elden Ring: Sites of Grace (expanded systems)
- Many "Souls-likes"
The bonfire became its own Aesthetic Heritage. Designers now inherit from Dark Souls.
Unresolved Questions
- Is the bonfire system exclusionary? Does meaningful checkpoint cost inherently conflict with accessibility?
- How much of the bonfire's impact comes from the interconnected world vs. the mechanic itself?
- Could a "cost-based checkpoint" work in genres other than action RPGs?
References
- Swink, Steve. Game Feel (2009) - on how mechanics create feeling
- Bogost, Ian. Persuasive Games (2007) - on meaning through systems
- Bloom, Harold. The Anxiety of Influence (1973) - on how creators transform what they inherit
Related
- Aesthetic Heritage - bonfire as transformed inheritance
- Permissions - can vs. should
- The 4 A's - analyzing the bonfire's components
- Environmental Storytelling - bonfire as spatial meaning