In a 2024 interview with Sci-fi Now, Weston Razooli spoke about his influences for the film: "In terms of filmmakers, one would be François Truffaut, and I wanted to create my version of Os Incompreendidos (1959), set in the mountains of Wyoming! I also wanted an Akira Kurosawa grandiose adventure quality, sort of like A Fortaleza Escondida (1958), with a freewheeling, enchanted adventure of sorts, where these characters seem almost lost in the forest. I was also inspired by... The Little Rascals from the 1920's, just shows about funny kids doing funny things. Then I'd have to name the film Onde Fica a Casa do Meu Amigo? (1987) from Abbas Kiarostami. It's the simplicity of a kid trying to return a friend's notebook to his house that he can't find, and the plot of Riddle of Fire is very similar to that. I am often inspired by the literature of Robin Hood and his merry men kind of just frolicking in the forest on adventures, and Brothers Grimm as well.
There's also a board game called The Enchanted Forest which I grew up playing, it has a mysterious and slightly scary quality to it. My brothers, cousins and I used to say it was sort of like Jumanji (1995) where you have to keep playing the game, or else terrible things will happen! I guess it created this thing in our imaginations, bigger than the game itself."