Fireboy and Watergirl controls and co-op on the Steam release of Fireboy & Watergirl 1: The Forest Temple use the original 2009 Oslo Albet keyboard layout: Fireboy on WASD or arrows and Watergirl on arrows as a paired second player on one keyboard. The Steam store page adds controller support and Steam Cloud as platform features, so pad play and save sync are available on top of the legacy layout. Steam online multiplayer beyond local co-op is not announced as of 2026-09-06.
Default keyboard layout
The Fireboy and Watergirl controls and co-op design has its foundation in the original 2009 Oslo Albet Flash build, where two players share one keyboard by default. That layout carries forward into the Steam release as the developer-of-record basis for the Forest Temple chapter. Fireboy uses the WASD keys (W to jump, A to move left, D to move right, S to crouch where supported), with the arrow keys as an alternate mapping per the original design. Watergirl uses the arrow keys (Up arrow to jump, Left arrow to move left, Right arrow to move right, Down arrow to crouch where supported) as a paired second player on the same keyboard. Both characters share the same physical keyboard, so a two-player team sits side by side at one machine. This shared-keyboard layout is the legacy Oslo Albet mechanic that defines the co-op experience in the Forest Temple chapter. The Steam store page does not replace it; it adds Steam Cloud save support and controller support on top of it.
Single-player keyboard layout
When you play solo, you control one character at a time and use the keyboard to switch between the two. The keyboard layout remains WASD or arrows for Fireboy and the arrow keys for Watergirl, and the simultaneous-button triggers still require both characters to step on switches at the same time, which means a single player has to time jumps between the two halves of the puzzle. The browser mirrors (Friv, CrazyGames, Yandex Games, Poki, Kizi) use the same keyboard mapping, so muscle memory from the 2009 Flash original carries straight into the Steam release without remapping.
Two-player local co-op on one machine
The Fireboy and Watergirl controls and co-op design is built around two players sharing one keyboard and one machine. Player one takes Fireboy on WASD, player two takes Watergirl on the arrows, and the cooperative puzzles in the Forest Temple chapter require the two players to coordinate their movements in real time. Local co-op is the only multiplayer mode confirmed on the Steam store page for AppID 5084260 as of 2026-09-06. Online multiplayer beyond local co-op is not announced as of 2026-09-06, so two players in different locations cannot join the same Forest Temple session through Steam matchmaking.
Controller support on the Steam version
The Steam store page for AppID 5084260 lists controller support as a platform-level feature of the Steam release. This is the headline Steam-vs-Flash change for Fireboy and Watergirl controls and co-op, since the 2009 Flash original did not offer native pad play. With controller support enabled in the Steam client, a single player can run both Fireboy and Watergirl from one pad using Steam Input, or two players can each plug in a controller and use the Steam controller remapping layer to assign the same Fireboy / Watergirl split across two pads. The exact mapping is handled through the Steam Input interface rather than through an in-game menu, so a player who prefers the original shared-keyboard layout can keep using the keyboard without enabling controllers. This addition does not change the underlying cooperative triggers. Simultaneous-button cooperative triggers still need the two characters to step on their switches at the same time, whether the inputs come from a keyboard or a controller.
Steam Cloud saves for co-op progress
Steam Cloud is also listed on the Steam store page, which means diamond counts and level progression sync across Steam clients on the same account. For two-player co-op, this matters because each player's Steam client can carry the same Forest Temple chapter save forward across machines, rather than tying progress to the keyboard at one desk.
Simultaneous-button cooperative triggers
The Fireboy and Watergirl controls and co-op design includes a specific puzzle mechanic that depends on input timing rather than movement timing alone. Simultaneous-button cooperative triggers require both Fireboy and Watergirl to step on weighted switches at the same moment, often separated by fire or water hazards that one character cannot cross alone. These triggers are the legacy Oslo Albet mechanic at the heart of the Forest Temple chapter. In a two-player local co-op session, one player calls the timing and the other player echoes it. In a single-player run, you switch between the two characters using the keyboard layout described above and time your own jumps between the two halves of the trigger puzzle.
Browser-mirror controls as a free alternative
The Fireboy and Watergirl controls and co-op layout is identical on the original 2009 browser mirrors because those mirrors use the same Oslo Albet Flash-era code. Players who want to confirm the keyboard layout before buying the Steam release can use any of the free browser mirrors to test Fireboy on WASD and Watergirl on the arrows. The browser mirrors run on a single keyboard and a single machine the same way the Steam build does. They are play-alternatives, not a separate game, so the controller support and Steam Cloud additions on the Steam store page do not apply to the browser mirrors.
FAQ
How do the cooperative controls work?
The original Oslo Albet design places Fireboy on WASD or arrow keys and Watergirl on the arrow keys as a paired second player on one keyboard; the Steam build adds controller support and Steam Cloud.
Does the Steam release support online multiplayer?
Steam online multiplayer beyond local co-op is Not announced as of 2026-09-06. The Steam build supports local two-player co-op on one keyboard.