Hollow Lantern

Hollow Lantern is a hand-crafted adventure that trusts you to poke around. You wander an emptied coastal town by tapping to move and examine, piecing together what happened through notes, objects and the occasional environmental puzzle. There's no combat and no timer, just atmosphere and curiosity.

The art is gorgeous in a melancholy way, all muted blues and the glow of oil lamps, and the sound design does a lot of heavy lifting. Puzzles are logical rather than obtuse, mostly asking you to connect something you read to something you found, which is my favourite kind.

It's short, maybe three hours, and some will want more. I thought the length was perfect. It tells its story, lands its ending, and gets out before overstaying its welcome.

What we liked

• Rich, melancholy atmosphere
• Puzzles that respect your intelligence
• A story that knows when to end