I really enjoyed this one. The lantern-as-a-weapon mechanic worked well, and I liked how much of the combat was about managing distance rather than attacking directly. I was constantly trying to keep enemies inside the damaging light while staying just outside their reach, which gave the fights a nice survivors-style tension.
The day/night structure worked really well too. Survive the night, then choose a route, visit the shop or gamble on one of the alternate locations, then head into the next encounter.
The branching map reminded me a little of Slay the Spire, and I liked having small decisions between the combat sections instead of simply moving from wave to wave.
The boss was probably my favorite part of the design, even though I never managed to beat it. It built naturally on what the earlier nights had already taught me. I was still managing spacing and keeping enemies in the lantern, but now I also had projectile waves to dodge, summoned ghosts providing my lantern fuel, and the boss able to pull uncollected souls away from me.
It added difficulty without suddenly changing the rules of the game.
Visually, I thought this looked great. The pixel art was cohesive, the forest atmosphere worked, and the overlapping light circles gave the lantern a distinctive look.
The audio supported everything nicely too, with music that fit the tone without becoming distracting.
The theme integration was especially strong. The monsters only appearing once darkness falls, while daytime is used for traveling, shopping, and preparation, made âit only comes out at nightâ part of the actual structure instead of just the setting.
I did run into two interface issues.
The fullscreen option didnât seem to work correctly for me. Toggling fullscreen in the game settings didnât make the itch embed fullscreen, and the embedâs fullscreen control didnât seem to change that either.
Controller support also felt partially implemented.
Movement with the stick felt good, and A worked for some world interactions, but I couldnât confirm menu choices or route selections with the controller. I could move between options, but then still had to press E on the keyboard or use the mouse to actually select one.
If full controller support is intended, carrying the same confirm action through menus and the route map would make it feel much more complete.
Overall, this was a strong jam game. I made it to Night 3 consistently after a couple of runs, and even though the boss beat me every time, I kept wanting another attempt.