This is fine game: keep smiling, the room is on fire
"This is fine" comes from On Fire, a 2013 strip in KC Green's webcomic Gunshow. A dog in a hat sits at a table with a mug while the room burns around him, and says it is fine. The first two panels became one of the most used reaction memes, and they make a neat game: stay calm while everything goes wrong.
The comic behind the meme
KC Green posted the six-panel strip in January 2013. The dog stays calm the whole way through, and that is the joke. About a year later the first two panels went viral on their own, cut away from the rest. People used them for any moment that was clearly not fine: exams, group projects, a messy kitchen.
Green has called the dog Question Hound. In 2016 he drew a follow-up, This is Not Fine, where the dog finally panics, and Adult Swim animated the original strip. The dog now shows up on mugs, plushies and stickers.
Rules for a stay-calm game
- Calm meter. Your score is how calm you look. Run, shout or spill your drink and the meter drops.
- Small fires, small fixes. Put out the toaster, the curtains and the bin one at a time, without ever standing up too fast.
- Smile button. Tap to smile when a guest walks in. They must not notice the flames.
- It keeps growing. Every minute something else catches. The last level is the whole house, and the goal is to finish your drink.
- Co-op chaos. Friends share one burning room. One fixes, one smiles, one keeps the guest talking.
Roam games about keeping cool
Order Counter is a fast-food counter service sim like Overcooked: burgers, fries, a line at the counter, go. Overload Island is a power-grid builder where you light up every house without blowing the grid. Both are about holding it together while the pressure climbs, the same feeling as the dog at his table.
Play it on Roam
More on Roam
Make your own this-is-fine game with Roam
Describe the room, what catches fire and how you stay calm. Roam builds it, and you can add more chaos by asking. Roam is rated 13+ on the App Store.
Try: "stay-calm party game, I am a dog in a hat at a table, small fires start around the room, calm meter drops if I run, friends are the guests who must not notice"Roam ("Roam - Make Games" on the App Store) is an iPhone app where you play games and make your own by describing them or from a photo. It is free to download and play, and making games works without a subscription; optional Spark and Reality plans and credit packs add more creation. Android: pre-register on Google Play.
Questions people ask
Who made the This is fine dog?
Cartoonist KC Green, in his webcomic Gunshow, in 2013.
What is the This is fine dog's name?
Green has called him Question Hound.
What does This is fine mean?
It is used when someone acts calm in a situation that is clearly going badly.