Hollow Lantern

Hollow Lantern is the kind of adventure game you play with the lights off. You wander a fog-bound village, tapping to examine things and combining items to solve puzzles that are more about observation than logic gymnastics. Nothing is obtuse for the sake of it; every solution made sense once I found it. The atmosphere does a lot of heavy lifting. The hand-drawn art is muted and gorgeous, the ambient sound is all creaking wood and distant wind, and the story reveals itself slowly through notes and overheard snatches of conversation. It trusts you to pay attention. It's not long — I finished it across two evenings — but it lingered. There's a gentle hint system if you get stuck, tucked away so it never spoils the satisfaction of working something out yourself.

What we liked

• Beautiful hand-drawn fog
• Fair, observation-based puzzles
• Story told with real restraint