Hollow Lantern

Hollow Lantern leans into atmosphere. You wander an emptied seaside town solving environmental puzzles, and the game trusts you to notice details rather than spelling everything out. I spent a good ten minutes stuck on one door before realising the clue had been sitting in a painting two rooms back.

Puzzles are fair but not always easy, and the pacing gives you room to just soak in the setting. The sound design does a lot of heavy lifting — the wind and distant bells make even quiet rooms feel tense.

It's short, maybe four hours, but it stayed with me longer than plenty of bigger games. Worth it if you like a slow, thoughtful mystery.

What we liked

• Rich atmosphere
• Fair environmental puzzles
• Excellent sound design