Lantern Hollow

Lantern Hollow is a quiet, beautiful adventure that trusts you to explore. There's no map marker nagging you forward — instead you wander a dim forest, light old lanterns, and slowly piece together what happened to the people who lived there. Every lit lamp reveals a little more of the world.

It plays like a point-and-tap journey. You walk, you examine things, and occasionally you solve a gentle environmental puzzle involving light and shadow. The art is all soft watercolor, and the sound design — crackling fires, distant wind — pulls you right in.

This is a game for a calm evening, not a frantic commute. It's short, maybe four hours, but it stayed with me longer than games three times its length.

What we liked

• Gorgeous hand-drawn world
• Exploration without hand-holding
• Memorable atmosphere and sound