Holding the beam on a ship until its ring fills, so the captain finally sees the reef and turns, is a nice inversion of the usual 'keep it sweeping' lighthouse idea — the lamp only helps if you commit, and oil keeps burning the whole time it's on. Pirates speeding up in your light is a sharp little trap. On a first Classic night, do you end up killing the lamp more often to save oil, or does the two-side surge make you keep it lit and just accept the burn?
Thanks for digging into it so much! The "commit vs. sweep" was the core tension from day one — most lighthouse games treat the beam as a searchlight, but here it's a tool of choice: you can't save everyone, so who do you lock onto?
To your question: honestly, on my own first Classic night I panicked and killed the lamp way too early. The two-side surge is specifically designed to punish that instinct — if you keep flicking it off to save oil, ships pile up on both sides and you end up burning more time relighting. The intended rhythm is: pick your targets fast, hold the beam through, kill the lamp only when you're actually safe. But I love that the game makes you figure out your own answer.
Pirates are indeed a trap. They only spawn at night with a full moon, but the real trick is: if you catch them just as they enter your beam and hold it, they burn out faster than regular ships. Miss that window and they're gone. Happy someone noticed. ☕