Lantern
Learn the maze before dark.
A 3D maze in a forest at dusk. Look hard while the sun sets, because after dark your lantern lights only a few steps. Find the key, then the glowing door. It is still being built, so expect rough edges.
How it plays
Look hard. Then find it in the dark.
- 1
Study the maze
Each level opens at sunset with the whole maze in view. You get a few seconds to learn the way, and you can already walk.
- 2
Night falls
The light drains away and the view closes in. Your lantern lights only the tiles around you.
- 3
Find the key
Walk onto the key to pick it up. The door stays locked until you have it.
- 4
Reach the door
Get to the glowing door. Your time runs from the first moment of sunset, and a quick escape earns up to three stars.
Powers
Three ways to borrow light.
Powers work only at night, and each level hands out just a few. Dusk Garden gives you 2 flares, 3 torches and 2 fireflies. Heart of the Night gives 1 flare, 2 torches and 1 firefly.
Flare
FLights up the whole maze for 3 seconds.
Torch
TShines 10 tiles ahead of you for 5 seconds.
Firefly
GFlies the next 10 steps toward your goal.
The levels
Three mazes so far.
Each one is bigger than the last, with a shorter sunset and a dimmer lantern, and each has a creature of its own. These are captured from the game at sunset, the only time you see a maze whole.
Level 1 · 7×7 maze · 9 s of sunset
Dusk Garden
A small walled garden with light to learn the ropes, and lamp-moths that want your flame.
Level 2 · 9×9 maze · 8 s of sunset
Whispering Wood
Longer corridors, one flare, and a lost shadow that walks in your footprints.
Level 3 · 11×11 maze · 7 s of sunset
Heart of the Night
A sprawling maze and a dim lantern. Watch-lights walk their rounds, so shade your lantern to slip past.
Web beta
Playable, not finished.
Lantern runs in a browser and has no app yet. It draws in 3D, so it needs a browser with hardware acceleration turned on. There are three levels so far. Your progress is kept in this browser only.
Play the betaKeyboard or touch
Arrow keys or WASD to walk, F, T and G for the powers, Space to shade your lantern on the last level, Esc to pause. On a touch screen, use the arrows or swipe.
Night creatures
Lamp-moths that want your flame, a lost shadow that walks in your footprints, and watch-lights that check every lamp. Each one shows itself at sunset, so you can plan around it. Being caught costs time, never a life.
Characters
Choose who carries the lantern. Mira and Noor are ready from the start, and six more join as you finish levels and earn stars, Dadaji and his dog Moti among them.
Sound
Wind and birds at sunset, crickets after dark, and a sound for every step, key and flare. Press M or tap the speaker to turn it off.
Footprints
Tiles you have walked keep a faint footprint. Turn them off in the pause menu for a harder night.
Stars
Each level has a target time. Beat it for three stars, and finish a level to open the next.