About Shadow Lantern
A lantern-carver's workshop: on the stand sits a knobbly lump of driftwood, jade or bronze. Turn it, and its shadow on the plaster wall twists and stretches until, at one angle, it is a griffin, a ship or a rearing horse. The picture then rises through the shadow like a mural.
160 carvings in eight halls: first spin only, then tilt and roll, two pieces whose shadows join into one picture, idols with two faces, and halls where the wall gives only a name. Every carving keeps your first time and turns, with the best of everyone beside them.
How to play
- Goal
- Turn the carving in the lantern light until its shadow matches the shape on the wall.
- How it ends
- The carving is solved when its shadow matches; you cannot lose, and Back to start turns it back to where it began.
- Record
- Your first unaided solve of each carving sets your time and your turns; solving it again is practice.
- Drag the carving to turn it: across to spin it round its upright, up and down to tilt it toward the wall; in the later halls twist two fingers, or use the buttons, to roll it. Arrow keys spin and tilt, Q and E roll.
- It turns in steps of 15°, and each step is a turn. When it comes to rest with its shadow over the gold outline — or one step short, already reading as the shape — it is solved; the lantern burns brighter the closer you are. You cannot lose.
- Two pieces: tap a piece to choose it. Two faces: find the first shape and the idol turns away for the second. Name halls show only the name; Reveal draws the shape. Stuck anywhere, Hint lights the button that turns one step toward the answer. A solve after Reveal or Hint is practice.
- The clock starts when a carving opens and never stops; Back to start turns it back to where it began, but the clock and turn count run on. Your first solve sets your time and turns. A hall opens when ten carvings of the one before are solved.
Controls
| Input | Action |
|---|---|
| Drag the carving | Spin (across) and tilt (up and down) |
| Two-finger twist · roll buttons | Roll, in the halls that roll |
| Arrow keys · WASD | Spin and tilt one step |
| Q · E | Roll anticlockwise · clockwise |
| Tab · tap a piece | Choose which of two pieces turns |
| R | Restart the carving (the clock and turns run on) |
| V | Reveal the shape in a name hall (the solve becomes practice) |
| H | Hint: light the button for one step toward the answer (the solve becomes practice) |
| Escape | Menu |
Good to know
Turns are counted on a 15° grid, so a shadow that fits is solved, never nudged. Each carving is cut so that only one view casts its shape, checked over every position. Progress stays in this browser.
