Hollow Lantern

Hollow Lantern is a slow, moody adventure you play mostly by tapping to explore and piece together what happened to a quiet coastal town. There is no combat and no timer; you wander, examine objects, and slowly understand the place.

The puzzles are grounded in the environment rather than dropped in as brain-teasers. Finding a way into a locked lighthouse felt earned because the clues were sitting in earlier rooms. We rarely needed the gentle hint system, and it never held our hand too hard.

What stayed with us was the mood. The hand-painted backgrounds and sparse sound design make the whole town feel like it's holding its breath. It is a short game, maybe four hours, but it lingers.

What we liked

• Gorgeous hand-painted environments
• Environmental puzzles that make sense
• A story that trusts you to notice