Tidal Lantern: Color Circuit

About Tidal Lantern: Color Circuit

A lighthouse keeps its watch over a night sea, and the keepers have hung buoy lamps in the water: thick glass lenses in riveted brass cages, ringed like a Fresnel lens and lit from within. Six colours come in six shapes, round, tent, box, kite, hexagon and star, each with its own mark inside, so you can tell them apart without relying on colour.

Each board has a circuit, a short row of colours shown beside it. Clear the colours in that order and the current runs on; close the circuit as many times as the board asks. But the board sits in a gravity field. A brass compass shows which way it pulls, and the lamps fall that way: down, to the left, up or to the right. Each objective of a board asks for a number of lamps of one colour. Meet it and the tide turns, and the field takes a new direction.

The sea shows the pull. A shoal of light streaks flows the way the lamps fall, and when the tide turns the whole current swings round to the new direction while the lighthouse beam makes a full circle and a foghorn sounds, lower for down and higher for up. A swap that works in one pull may do nothing in the next, so read the compass first.

The music is a slow night watch on a low harmonium, a bell buoy and a deep swell, and the sounds are brass, rope and water. Every board can be won: it is built together with a player that solves it first, and a hint is one press away. Settings offers more moves, or none at all, and a switch for the tide effects. Stars and best scores stay in this browser and nothing is uploaded.

How to play

Drag a lamp toward a neighbour, or tap one lamp and then the next. Arrow keys and Enter or Space also work.
Line up three or more of a colour to clear them. New lamps enter from the side the field pulls away from.
Clear the colours of the circuit in order. A colour out of turn does not break it: the current simply waits.
Meet each objective, a count of lamps of one colour, and the tide turns. Check the compass before you swap.
Press H or the Hint button for a move that works. Press P, Escape or Start to pause.

Controls

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

Frequently asked questions

What does the gravity field do?

It decides which way the lamps fall after a clear. The brass compass beside the board shows the direction. When you meet an objective the field turns to a new direction, so the same swap can make a very different fall.

How does the circuit work?

The circuit is a short row of colours beside the board. Clear the first colour, then the second, and so on to the end to close it. Clearing a colour out of turn does not undo anything: the current waits at the colour it needs.

What happens when the tide turns?

The shoal of light in the sea swings round to the new direction, the lighthouse beam makes a full circle and a foghorn sounds. You can switch the effects off in Settings; the compass stays.

Does it save my progress?

Your stars, best scores and badges are saved in this browser only, and nothing is uploaded.