SAUNA Online

The Peculiar World of Finnish Sauna Culture

I’ve always been intrigued by the contrasts in Finnish culture. In public, we Finns tend to be reserved, even shy, rarely engaging with strangers. But step into a sauna, a small, hot room where everyone is bare and vulnerable, and suddenly, the conversations start flowing as freely as the steam. This paradox has always fascinated me, and it inspired me to create Sauna Online, a social experiment and digital homage to the Finnish sauna. I wanted to offer everyone a taste of this unique cultural experience, a virtual space where people from around the world could gather, leave pretenses behind, and connect authentically with strangers.

More than a Game: An Art Piece in Warmth and Vulnerability

For me, Sauna Online isn’t just a multiplayer game; it’s an art piece. It’s an exploration of vulnerability and a tribute to the unexpected magic that happens in the sauna, where walls fall away, and shared moments, both quiet and conversational, mean more than the sum of their parts. In this virtual sauna, players from all over the world can come together, unburdened by typical social expectations, to experience the sauna’s warmth and find a rare kind of online interaction that goes beyond words on a screen.

Bringing Real Thermodynamics into a Virtual Sauna

I’m also fascinated by real-life physics and thermodynamics, and this curiosity has played a huge role in the game’s development. Back in school, I studied physics, and the idea of simulating a realistic sauna experience digitally immediately intrigued me. Sauna Online actually began as a Discord bot back in 2020, a playful attempt to recreate the sauna experience through text. It was basic and far from realistic, but to my surprise, people connected with it, finding a sense of warmth and community in its simplicity. That experience left me wondering, what if I could go further? What if I could capture the actual physics of a sauna, not just the feeling?

From Discord Bot to Full-Fledged Sauna Simulation

With those thoughts in mind, the idea for Sauna Online as a game took hold. I wanted to create a place where anyone could host or join a sauna, with every detail, from the heater’s wattage to room density and water thrown on the stones, calculated to reflect real-life thermodynamics. Balancing realism and gameplay has been a challenge, but it’s also one of the most rewarding aspects of the project, giving Sauna Online an authentic feel that’s both relaxing and amusing.

A Journey of Restarts, Setbacks, and a Lot of Steam

I started developing the game in mid-2020, and it’s been a journey with more than a few restarts and setbacks. I’ve scrapped and rebuilt the project multiple times, often telling myself that the idea was too strange, maybe too niche to pursue. But each time, I found myself coming back to it, drawn by the vision of sharing this unique aspect of Finnish culture. Over time, Sauna Online has become a true passion project, something I work on when inspiration strikes, without any strict deadlines.

The Fun of the Absurd: An Experience to Share and Enjoy

While I want people to experience the beauty of Finnish sauna culture, I don’t take the project overly seriously. Sauna Online is as much about laughing at the absurdity of this virtual sauna world as it is about connecting. The game includes voice chat, so silence isn’t the goal here, rather, I hope players will laugh, chat, and share a genuine experience with strangers from across the globe. Maybe one day, I’ll share it with the world, and in that warmth, people will find something unexpected, something uniquely Finnish, yet something universally human.

Follow the Journey

If you’d like to follow along with Sauna Online’s journey, I try to post updates when I remember. For more in-depth posts, this page is where I’ll share most of the detailed progress, like images, videos, and devlogs. On X, I also share some updates and glimpses of the process, so it’s a good place to follow too if you want to see the project as it unfolds.