Lanterns
One word, one lantern, one sea for everyone tonight.
- Round
- 2 minutes
- Scoring
- Casual only
- Works on
- Mobile & desktop
- Category
- Casual
Lanterns controls: Tap a word, a colour, then the water · arrows + Space work too. Press Play, then the game takes the keyboard. Press Tab to leave it.
Free play · 2 minutes · no sign-in
Tap a word, a colour, then the water · arrows + Space work too
How to play Lanterns
Look at tonight's sea: the count on the moon, the most-lit words under it and the lanterns drifting out.
Tap one of the six words for your lantern, or tap Other words for six new ones.
Tap one of the eight paper colours.
Tap the water above the card where your lantern should go (on a keyboard: ← and → to move it, Space to set it down).
Watch it settle, light up and drift out among everyone else's. Only your first lantern of the day joins the sea.
Controls
| Input | Action |
|---|---|
| Touch: tap a word, then a colour | Choose your lantern |
| Touch: tap the sea above the card | Set the lantern down there |
| Mouse: click; move over the water to aim | The same as on a phone, with a ghost lantern following the mouse |
| Arrow keys | Move between the words or colours; ← and → move the lantern along the shore |
| SpaceEnter | Pick the word or colour, set the lantern down, then finish |
| EscapeBackspace | Go back one step |
Tips
Set your lantern down away from the busiest spot on the shore: it is easier to follow when it has a bit of water around it.
The current carries every lantern the same way today, so a lantern set down on the side it flows from stays in view longest.
Come back in the evening (UTC) to see the horizon filled with the day's lanterns, and just after midnight UTC to light one of the very first.
The words under the moon are the ones lit most today: pick one of them to join the crowd, or a rare one to stand out.
About Lanterns
Lanterns is a calm, free floating lantern game you play together with everyone online at the same time. There is one night sea for the whole world, and it starts again every day at midnight UTC. You choose a single word for your lantern, a paper colour and a spot on the water, set it down, and watch it drift out from the shore to join every other lantern lit today. The moon keeps the count ("12,408 lanterns tonight"), the most-lit words of the day are printed under it, and new lanterns keep arriving while you watch. It runs in your browser with no download and no sign-up form, and a visit takes about half a minute.
It is inspired by lantern festivals, where people set paper lanterns on a river or the sea to carry a wish, a thank-you or a memory. Here the sea is shared: your lantern floats among lanterns set down by people you will never meet, and theirs among yours. Every lantern drifts the same way for everyone, carried by the day's current and slowly out toward the horizon, so a busy evening becomes a glittering band of tiny lights where the sea meets the sky. Near the shore you can read the words on the lanterns: HOPE, HOME, THANKS, PEACE, TOMORROW.
There is nothing to win and nothing to lose. Lanterns has no score and no leaderboard: it is a toy, one of our most relaxing games, meant for a quiet minute at the end of a day. You can light one lantern a day. Choosing a lantern needs only a few taps; to keep it to one a day, setting it down signs you in with a free guest account, the same kind the daily challenge uses, and the lantern itself is stored without your account. There is no free text anywhere: every word comes from a fixed list of gentle words, so nothing unkind can ever float on the sea. Come back tomorrow and the sea is empty again, waiting for the first lantern of the new day.
A visit has three small steps. First pick one of six words (tap Other words for six new ones), then pick one of eight paper colours, then tap the water where your lantern should go. It settles on the water with a soft chime, lights up and starts to drift, marked YOURS so you can follow it among the others. Stay as long as you like; after a few seconds a tap finishes the visit and you can share it ("I lit hope tonight, one of 12,408").
Lanterns plays the same on every screen. On a phone, tap a word, a colour and then the sea above the card with one thumb. On a computer, click the same way, with a ghost lantern following the mouse over the water, or use the keyboard: the arrow keys move between the words and colours, Space or Enter picks, ← and → move the lantern along the shore and Space sets it down. You will find it among our quick games, our casual games, and our mobile games and PC games.
Details
- Category
- Casual Games
- Tags
- Genre
- Casual
- Orientation
- Portrait (9:16)
- Works on
- Mobile & desktopPhones, tablets and computers
- Controls
- Keyboard, mouse or touch
- Released
- Updated
- Credits
- Design and development: Gamefinity
- Age rating
- 4+
Lanterns FAQ
How long does a visit to Lanterns last?
About half a minute: a few seconds to choose a word, a colour and a spot, then up to 16 seconds of watching your lantern drift. A tap ends it sooner once it has settled.
Can I write my own message on a lantern?
No. Every word comes from a fixed list of gentle words, and there is no free text anywhere, so nothing unkind can ever appear on the shared sea.
Why can I only light one lantern a day?
So the sea stays a fair picture of everyone who came by. Your first lantern of the UTC day joins the sea; you can still choose and set down more, but they float only on your screen.
Do I need an account?
No sign-up. Setting a lantern down creates a free guest account in your browser, as the daily challenge does, only to keep it to one a day. The lantern is stored without your account.
Can I play Lanterns on my phone?
Yes. It plays the same on phones, tablets and computers: tap or click through the three steps, or use the keyboard on a computer.
When does the sea start again?
Every day at midnight UTC the sea is empty again and the count starts from zero. Yesterday's lanterns are not kept.
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