A cozy bullet-heaven · 1–2 players · Godot 4
A garden for quiet moths
Lanterns is a cozy bullet-heaven about a Keeper, a swarm of moths, and the soft light that holds the night together.
Steam page coming soon — meanwhile, leave feedback on the demo.
Play in your browser
No download required.
Click inside the frame, then WASD to move and Space to dash. The lantern auto-aims — you only move.
What is Lanterns?
A small, soft kind of chaos.
You are the Keeper, alone in a twilight garden. Moths swarm from the dusk and your lantern catches them, one by one. Every level brings a new goal, a new modifier, a new shape to the swarm — and three upgrade cards to choose from.
Along the way you will meet five named yokai — Hitodama, Kage, Kasa-obake, Karasu-tengu, and Oni — each with their own idle behaviour and attack pattern. Sometimes there's a friend with you, lantern and all.
Lanterns is built in Godot 4. The visuals follow a mokuhanga woodblock print direction — ink on washi, paper grain, hand-cut silhouettes, procedural audio. No external assets; everything you see and hear was made for this game.
What's in the lantern
A run worth replaying.
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Auto-aim combat
Move; the lantern handles the rest. Seven enemy types — moths and five named yokai — each with their own behaviour.
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17 upgrade cards
Pick three between every level. Stack effects, build your lantern.
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5 keeper classes
Each starts with different stats and a signature upgrade. Unlock as you play.
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Local co-op
Press an arrow key to spawn P2 mid-run. Independent HP, shared score.
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Procedural audio
An eight-chord ambient progression, wind, crickets — all generated, no asset files.
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Woodblock biomes
Dusk, Autumn, Winter, Storm — rotating every five levels. Rendered with a mokuhanga woodblock shader: paper grain and hand-cut edges.
Four moods of the garden
The biomes rotate every five levels.
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Dusk
The first moths of the night. Soft, generous, slow.
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Autumn
Wind picks up. The swarm splits and reforms.
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Winter
Tougher shells, longer nights. Pace yourself.
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Storm
Thin beam, dense swarm, scattering aim. Bring a friend.
Five ways to hold a lantern
Pick your keeper.
Each starts with different stats and a signature upgrade. New classes unlock as you play.
The Keeper
Balanced. 3 petals, steady stride. Always unlocked.
Glass Lantern
1 petal, faster lantern, longer reach. Unlocks at Level 5.
Stone Keeper
5 petals, slower stride and lantern. Unlocks at Level 10.
Twin Lantern
2 petals. Begins with Twin Flame already lit.
Wandering Light
Fast as the wind. Fewer petals, slower lantern. Unlocks at Level 15.
Status
In active development for Steam.
Lanterns is being built in Godot 4. The most recent milestone is v1.0 — mokuhanga art direction: woodblock print shader, animated yokai, class-specific projectiles (Ember Orb / Moonbeam / Cinder Shard / Twin Chord), and EB Garamond typography. The web demo plays the same content.
For the press
Press kit
About Dynaum
Dynaum is a small studio of one. Lanterns is its first game — a slow, soft bullet-heaven made for late nights.
Assets
Press kit (zip) — logo, screenshots, fact sheet. Coming soon.
Contact
Help shape the game
Tell me what you thought.
If you played the demo — even for a minute — I'd love to hear what kept you playing, what made you bounce, and what you wished was different.
The feedback form is being set up. Until then, please email elber@dynaum.com — short notes are welcome.
Or reach out directly: elber@dynaum.com