Amber Lantern: Color Circuit

About Amber Lantern: Color Circuit

Long ago the night market sank beneath the bay, and it never stopped trading. Lantern screens still hang between the pagoda roofs, koi drift past the bridges, and every evening the lamplighter comes down to hang the paper lanterns again.

Swap two lanterns to line up three or more of a colour. Some lanterns wear an amber paper shade, and under each shade is a second face. The shade is stamped with what you will find: a snowflake means frost, and the face underneath is iced to its hook until a neighbour clears; a flame means a wick, and clearing that face burns its whole row; a ginkgo leaf means gold leaf, worth three times the points. The colour decides it, so after a few screens you will know at a glance that amber and jade hide frost, vermilion and sky a wick, plum and ivory gold.

The festival string beside the screen is the circuit. Clear its colours in order to light each small lantern; when the string is complete its lanterns let go and rise through the dark water to the surface, where they stay as a growing constellation of every string you have lit. A screen is won when the string is lit and every shade and face is cleared. Read the layers well and they pay you back: a gold-leaf clear that also lights the string gives a move back, and each lit string sends the lamplighter to lift one more shade for you.

Twenty-four screens are drawn by hand, from the Lamplighter’s Step to the Thousand Lights, and then the late market brings them back with new lanterns. Before a screen is hung, the game’s own lamplighter plays it through to a win with moves to spare, so none is a dead end, and the Hint button always knows a swap that works. Stars, bests, badges and your sky lanterns stay in this browser, and nothing is uploaded.

How to play

Drag a lantern toward a neighbour to swap them, or tap one lantern and then the next. The arrow keys and Enter or Space work too.
A shaded lantern hides a second face, and its stamp tells you which: a snowflake is frost (iced in place until a neighbour clears), a flame is a wick (burns its row), a ginkgo leaf is gold leaf (triple points).
Light the festival string by clearing its colours in order, as many times as the screen asks.
Win by lighting the string and clearing every shade and face before the moves run out. A gold-leaf clear that lights the string gives a move back.
Press H or the Hint button for a swap that works. Press P, Escape or Start to pause.

Controls

Drag a lantern, or tap two lanterns — swap
Arrow keys or WASD, then Enter or Space — swap
H or Ⓨ — hint
P, Escape or Start — pause

Frequently asked questions

How do I know what is under a shade?

Look at its stamp, or at the lantern’s colour. Amber and jade hide frost, vermilion and sky hide a wick, plum and ivory hide gold leaf. A screen reader reads the rule out when you move to a shaded lantern.

Why can I not move a lantern?

It is iced in place: it was a frost face. Clear any lantern beside it and the ice cracks away.

The string is lit but the screen goes on. Why?

A screen is won when the string is lit and every shade and face is gone too. The card shows how many layers are left, and the string can keep lighting while you clear them.

Can every screen be won?

Yes. Each screen is solved by a player in the code before it is shipped, with moves to spare. The hint shows a swap that works, and Settings offers more moves or no limit.

Does it save my progress?

Your screen, stars, bests, badges and sky lanterns are kept in this browser only, and nothing is uploaded.