History VideoGame / Firewatch

** The Teenagers at the lake also count for their blatant disregard towards of rules by building campfires and illegally using fireworks in the park and their drunken antagonizing and insults towards Henry when he confronts them.

* AnAesop: Running away from your problems isn’t a solution.

* BadassBeard: Henry has one. Since the game is shown through his eyes, his beard is only shown in pictures.
* BearsAreBadNews: A "Problem Bear" is alluded to on several occasions, Henry thinks it's probably more than a problem. [[spoiler: He never encounters it, and it turns out he has better things to worry about anyway.]]

* BrickJoke: If Henry asks about Pork Pond, Delilah will mention that people stole the sign a lot, so the Forest Service eventually stopped bothering to replace it. She will then argue that it would look great in a den- and hastily corrects her wording to "anywhere". [[spoiler:The sign is hanging in her lookout tower when Henry arrives at the end of the game]].
** When Henry first discovers Brian's abandoned backpack, he accidently blinds himself with the disposable camera. [[spoiler: The credits show all the pictures the player took with the camera... ending Henry's accidental selfie.]]

* CrosswordPuzzle: What Delilah does in her spare time (besides drinking). Henry can even find crossword puzzle books in her tower.

* EvidenceDungeon: [[spoiler:Ned]]'s hideout you find in the closing chapter.

* PantyThief: The two teenage girls accuse Henry of stealing their underwear from the tent [[spoiler:when, in fact, it was Ned]] ... [[BearsAreBadNews or some bear]].

* TheUnsolvedMystery: [[spoiler: We never ''do'' find out if Brian's death was accidental or not.]]

** Near The end of the game Henry can follow a signal that leads him to a dead elk (possibly the same animal that he hears while heading towards wapiti through the canyon) which has a tracking collar, we never learn if it was a Bear or Ned Godwin that was responsible.

* WeddingRingRemoval: At some point, Henry takes off his wedding ring. He may have done this to make sure he doesn't lose the ring somewhere in the forest. The player can have Henry take the ring and put it back on, though, and it reappears on his hand for the rest of the game. Alternatively, they can have him leave it.
** Another possibility as for why Henry took the ring off could be [[spoiler: because he's having an affair with Delilah. Note that the wedding ring can only be found removed and on Henry's desk after the events of the night of large fire (June 31st), where one of the dialogue options heavily implies the two are engaging in sex over the radio.]]

* NotInMyContract: Henry claims this a few times when he is asked to do dangerous or potentially illegal things by Delilah. You can even name a dangerous ridge after the trope.

** For some reason, Delilah calls Henry "Hank". She claims that she chose it because it rhymes with "thanks". Henry disagrees, naturally.

*** The Teenagers at the lake also count for there blatant disregard towards of rules by building campfires and illegally using fireworks in the park and their drunken antagonizing and insults towards Henry when he confronts them.

* The Teenagers at the lake also count for there blatant disregard towards rules by building campfires and illegally using fireworks in the park and their drunken antagonizing and insults towards Henry when he confronts them at the lake.

** When Delilah informs henry that the teenagers have been reported missing she chooses to lie about it to the police because she doesn't want to be bothered (despite Henry’s discovery of the wrecked camp suggesting the serious possibility that the girls could have been killed or abducted) which later puts the unassuming Henry at risk of being prosecuted because of her decision to withhold information.
** We learn that when her ex-boyfriend lost his brother and she didn't go home to support him, after he broke up with her she lied to her sister and said that he cheated on her.

* The Teenagers at the lake also count for there blatant disregard towards rules by building campfires and illegally using fireworks in the park and their drunken antagonizing and insults towards Henry when he confronts them.

* MinimalistCast: Henry doesn't interact with many people during the course of the game, which makes sense as he's in the middle of nowhere. The few people he does interact with are either just a voice on the radio (Delilah), or obscure figures off in the distance (the two teens, and [[spoiler: Ned]]). [[spoiler: In fact, in the entire game you only come face-to-face up close with one other human being, and that person had absolutely no role in the plot whatsoever (it's the rescue personnel who helps you get into the evac chopper at the end, and they're wearing a helmet that covers their face, so you couldn't even see it anyway).]]
* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: [[spoiler:Ned vandalizing the lookout, and cutting the Thorofare wire - Vandalism and Destruction of Public Property, end up exposing much more serious crimes, Attempted {{Blackmail}}, Stalking, Arson, and attempted Murder which reveals the entire plot in the first place, (possibly Accidental) Manslaughter and Obstruction of Justice.]]

** When Delilah informs henry that the teenagers have been reported missing she chooses to lie about it to the police because she doesn't want to be bothered (despite Henry’s discovery of the wrecked camp suggesting the serious possibility that the girls could have been killed or abducted).

** We learn that she lied about Brian Goodwin being out in the forest with his father Ned despite it being against the rules [[spoiler: (which we learn lead to his death when his body is found in the cave by Henry)]]

** When Delilah informs henry that the teenagers have been reported missing she chooses to lie about it to the police because she doesn't want to be bothered (despite the wrecked camp suggesting the serious possibility that the girls could have been killed or abducted).

* AntiEscapismAesop: One common interpretation of the game's overall plot arc and ending. After finishing the game, [[Creator/TheCynicalBrit Total Biscuit]] noted that he found this rather condescending.

* YouBastard: [[Creator/TheCynicalBrit Total Biscuit]] once compared the game's message to that of ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'', suggesting that the message of the ending was "stop ignoring your problems by playing video games and go back to your wife, dude" (which he personally found to be condescending).

* CutPhoneLines: One of [[spoiler:Ned's]] attempts to sabotage your investigation after braking into henry's Tower is cutting the Thorofare wire and framing the teenagers.

** When travelling back to Henry’s tower through [[{{Irony}} ''Thunder Canyon'']] Henry will hear thunder and the player can choose to report it to Delilah who will him that she has spotted a storm to the north which can lead to a discussion about a (real-life) ranger, Roy Sullivan who got struck by lightning seven times and later died from suicide.

** When travelling back to Henry’s tower Henry will hear thunder While travelling through [[{{Irony}} ''Thunder Canyon'']] and the player can choose to report it to Delilah who can tell Henry about a (real-life) ranger, Roy Sullivan who got struck by lightning seven times.

* After Henry hears and reports thunder while in [[{{Irony}} ''Thunder Canyon'']] Delilah can tell him about a (real-life) ranger, Roy Sullivan who got struck by lightning seven times.

* InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons: No dragons actually appear in the game, however there are discussions between Henry and Delilah about dragons from a D&D style role-playing game called “Wizards and Wyverns”.

** In Cache 305 on side of Jonesy lake is a sweater which says "University of Eastern Colorado" which is a reference to ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs''.

* IntergenerationalFriendship: Implied between Delilah (a 43-year-old woman) and Brian Goodwin (a twelve-year-old boy). [[spoiler:Their friendship leads to Delilah blaming herself when Henry tells her that Brian's body is in the closed off cave.]]
* InteractiveFiction: The game focuses a lot on choices you make. Think carefully about what you can say or do. It could alter the path you take. [[spoiler: While your choices don't really alter the progression of the game' main plot, it does somewhat affect minor elements (such as whether or not you end up with a pet for your tower) and how Delilah treats you.]]

* {{Jerkass}}: Delilah definitely applies due to her constant unprofessional and irresponsible behaviour. Some noteworthy examples are:

** After Henry discovers the teenagers campsite completely destroyed Delilah's immediate reaction is to ignore it.

Henry is a middle-aged man, happily married to his wife, Julia. Ever since he learned that she was suffering from early onset dementia, however, he has been struggling with how to care for her, if he even should. One day, he finds an ad for a firewatch position in Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming, and takes it to get away and maybe contemplate. Arriving at the Firewatch tower “Two Forks” where he is stationed for the summer, his only regular human contact is through the radio to his supervisor “Delilah” who is based in the nearby Thorofare tower.

* CutPhoneLines: One of [[spoiler:Ned's]] attempts to sabotage your investigation after braking into henry’s Tower is cutting the Thorofare wire and framing the teenagers.

** After Henry discovers the teenagers campsite completely destroyed Delilah’s immediate reaction is to ignore it.
** When Delilah informs henry that the teenagers have been reported missing she chooses to lie about it to the police because she doesn’t want to be bothered (despite the wrecked camp suggesting the serious possibility that the girls could have been killed or abducted).
** We learn that when her ex-boyfriend lost his brother and she didn’t go home to support him, after he broke up with her she lied to her sister and said that he cheated on her.

* MoralMyopia: Delilah has a history of playing loose with the rules, and has frequently encouraged you to do things which would get everyone in trouble, not to mention lying to the authorities on multiple occasions. All that's being passed over since she's on your side. [[spoiler: It does ultimately come back to bite her though, when Henry finds a doctored recording Ned planted to blackmail them, and again when Henry finds Brian's body, as he would've been alive if Delilah hadn’t bent the rules for him.]]

** In Cache 305 on side of Jonesy lake is a sweater which says “University of Eastern Colorado” which is a reference to ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs''.

** [[Near The end of the game Henry can follow a signal that leads him to a dead elk (possibly the same animal that he hears while heading towards wapiti through the canyon) which has a tracking collar, we never learn if it was a Bear or Ned Godwin that was responsible.]]

** Near The end of the game Henry can follow a signal that leads him to a dead elk (possibly the same animal that he hears while heading towards wapiti through the canyon) which has a tracking collar, we never learn if it was a Bear or Ned Godwin that was responsible.]]

* MinimalistCast: Henry doesn't interact with many people during the course of the game, which makes sense as he's in the middle of nowhere. The few people he does interact with are either just a voice on the radio (Delilah), or obscure figures off in the distance (the two teens, and [[Spoiler: Ned]]). [[spoiler: In fact, in the entire game you only come face-to-face up close with one other human being, and that person had absolutely no role in the plot whatsoever (it's the rescue personnel who helps you get into the evac chopper at the end, and they're wearing a helmet that covers their face, so you couldn't even see it anyway).]]

** In Cache 307 by Ruby river contains the classic novel Literature/JaneEyre.

* After Henry hears and reports thunder while in ''[[{{Irony}} Thunder Canyon'']] Delilah can tell him about a (real-life) ranger, Roy Sullivan who got struck by lightning seven times.

** --> '''Henry:''' '''''[[Music/{{Toto}} I bless the rains down in AAAAAAAAAAAAAAFRICAAAAAAAAAAA!]]'''''

** In Cache 307 by the Cave is a Fossilised Claw which could be a shout-out to a ''[[{{Film/JurassicPark}} certain movie]]''.

** In Cache 307 by the Cave is a Fossilised Claw which could be a shout-out to a ''certain [[{{Film/JurassicPark}} movie]]''.

** In Cache 307 by Ruby river contains the classic novel ‘Jane Eyre’.

** In the Cache on the right side of the lake is a sweater which says “University of Eastern Colorado” which is a reference to ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs''.

** In one of the shelters at the scout camp is a piece of wood with the ''VideoGame/Bloodborne'' symbol on it.

** In the Cache on the right side of the lake is a sweater which says “University of Eastern Colorado” which is a reference to VideoGame/TheLastOfUs.

** In one of the shelters at the scout camp is a piece of wood with the VideoGame/Bloodborne symbol on it.