LANTERNFALL

Carry the last lantern through a haunted forest. Anything that steps into your light burns. Last five minutes until dawn.

LANTERNFALL All games

LANTERNFALL

Carry the last lantern through a haunted forest. Anything that steps into your light burns. Last five minutes until dawn.

You only move: everything fires on its own. Out in the dark the forest is pairs of glowing eyes, and anything that wanders into your lantern's circle slows down, catches fire and drops an ember. Collect embers to level up and pick one of three gifts - twenty-three in all, from orbiting wisps and firefly bolts to thorn hedges, shield moths and a sweeping lighthouse beam. Max a weapon, own its partner charm and open a chest, and it evolves into one of nine bigger forms.

The night lasts five minutes and gets worse as the moon crosses the sky: wolves that dash, slow hollow trees, wraiths that lunge through the light, the Grey Stag at 2:30 and the Night Warden at 4:30. Reach sunrise and it burns everything away. The embers you gather turn into Oil for the Lamplighter's Shed, achievements unlock four more lantern bearers, the Fogmarsh map and Moonless mode, and there is a Daily run with the same seed for everyone.

What is in it: Cartoon forest creatures (moths, wolves, walking trees, ghostly wraiths) catch fire and fade away in your lantern light; no blood or gore. The dark is spooky, with glowing eyes and a big shadowy boss, and there are bright flashes when weapons evolve, when the boss arrives and at sunrise. More for parents

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Controls

  • W A S D / arrowswalk
  • Hold mouse buttonwalk towards the pointer
  • 1 / 2 / 3pick a gift
  • Rreroll the gifts · restart after a run
  • Xskip the gift
  • Spacestart · take the chest
  • P / Escpause
  • Touchdrag anywhere to walk, tap a card to pick
Max a weapon and grab its partner charm (Orbiting Wisps + Kindling, Firefly Bolts + Glass Lens, Thorn Hedge + Ironbark...), then burn the golden moth that turns up: its chest evolves the weapon.

Tags

How to play

LANTERNFALL is a survive-the-horde game set in a haunted forest at night. You carry the last lantern, and your light is your weapon: anything that steps inside its glow burns. All you do is move. Walk with W A S D or the arrow keys, hold the mouse button to walk towards the pointer, or on a touch screen put your thumb down anywhere and drag. Everything else fires on its own.

Out in the dark the forest is only pairs of glowing eyes. When something comes into your light it slows down, catches fire and, if it stays long enough, falls and drops an ember. Walk over embers to collect them. Each time the ember bar fills you level up, the game pauses, and you pick one of three gifts with 1 2 3 or a tap. You get one reroll a run (R), and Skip (X) trades the choice for a few extra embers.

A run lasts five minutes, from dusk to dawn. The night gets worse as the moon crosses the top of the screen: moths at dusk, wolves that dash at 0:40, slow hollow trees at 1:30, wraiths that lunge through your light at 2:00, the Grey Stag at 2:30, brood nests at 3:20 and the Night Warden at 4:30. Reach 5:00 and the sunrise burns everything away. P or Esc pauses.

Tips and strategy

  • Keep moving. Walk in wide loops so the crowd trails through your light instead of piling onto you.
  • Build around one weapon. You have six weapon slots and four charm slots, and a weapon goes up to level 5. Once you have a favourite, the cards start offering it far more often, so lean into it.
  • Learn the pairs. A level 5 weapon plus its partner charm evolves when you open a chest. Orbiting Wisps with Kindling makes the Sunwheel, Firefly Bolts with Glass Lens makes the Prism Beam, Thorn Hedge with Ironbark makes the Briar Crown, and there are nine in all.
  • Chase the golden moth. When an evolution is ready and no chest is around, a golden moth turns up and hovers just outside your light. Burn it for the chest.
  • Let the Stag come to you. After its charge the Grey Stag stands still inside your light for a moment. That is when it takes damage. Kill it for a chest; at 3:30 it runs off.
  • Watch the red rings. In the Warden fight, dashed red circles on the ground are hands about to grab. Step out of them.

What's in it

Twenty-three gifts in four families: Light, Flame, Ward and Spirit. There are nine weapons, from the Flicker Pulse ring and the sweeping Beacon Beam to Shield Moths that take a hit for you and a Spirit Bell that stuns, plus thirteen charms such as Long Wick and Hot Oil, and the Brighter Lantern itself. Each weapon has its own evolution, nine in all.

Five lantern bearers, each with a different light. Wren has a steady round lantern. Old Bram the Miner has a narrow headlamp that reaches over twice as far and burns 40% hotter. Brother Ash's light swells and shrinks. Pip carries a tiny jar but starts with three firefly friends. Morrow's green witchfire keeps burning and leaps to neighbours. You unlock them by reaching dawn, evolving a weapon, burning 3,000 enemies in total and beating the Night Warden.

There are two maps, the Hollow Forest and the Fogmarsh, where fog shrinks your light and black water slows you, and a harder Moonless mode. Part of the embers you gather in a run turns into Oil (more if you reach dawn or beat the Warden), which you spend in the Lamplighter's Shed on twelve small upgrades with five tiers each. There are fourteen achievements and a Daily run, the same seed for everyone that day, with a streak and a picture of your result to share.

Questions

How is the score worked out?

Your kills, multiplied by one plus the minutes you lasted. Reaching dawn doubles it, beating the Night Warden adds half again, and Moonless mode adds half again on top.

What happens if I beat the Night Warden?

Dawn comes early, with a score bonus and extra Oil.

Can I play on a phone?

Yes. Touch anywhere and drag to walk, like a stick under your thumb, and tap a card to choose it.

Does it save?

Yes, in your own browser: your Oil, Shed upgrades, unlocked bearers and maps, achievements, Daily streak and settings. Clearing your browser's site data clears the save.

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