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.
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 yokai in the garden
Each one behaves differently.
Named spirits — drawn in ink, animated in the engine. None of them idle the same way twice.
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Common
Hitodama
A drifting soul-flame. Bobs gently — until your beam finds it.
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Tough
Kage
Hooded shadow with glowing eyes. Takes two hits to quiet.
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Kamikaze
Kasa-obake
One-eyed umbrella. Hops on a wooden sandal straight toward your lantern.
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Sleeper
Karasu-tengu
A crow demon that perches and waits. Wings flap before it dives.
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Boss — every Level 10
Oni
Red-horned, club raised. Summons minions. HP scales each tier.
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.
火 Ember Orb
Glass Lantern
1 petal, faster lantern, longer reach. Unlocks at Level 5.
月 Moonbeam
Stone Keeper
5 petals, slower stride and lantern. Unlocks at Level 10.
炭 Cinder Shard
Twin Lantern
2 petals. Begins with Twin Flame already lit.
双 Twin Chord
Wandering Light
Fast as the wind. Fewer petals, slower lantern. Unlocks at Level 15.
火 Ember Orb
17 upgrade cards
Build your lantern.
Three cards appear between every level. Stack effects across the run — no two runs play the same.
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Twin Flame
Fires an extra beam at the 2nd-nearest moth.
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Chain Spark
+30% chance a catch arcs to the next nearest moth.
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Thorn Petals
When you take a hit, 6 beams burst outward.
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Lantern Bloom
Every 1.5 s the lantern flares — moths within 80 px fall.
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Lantern's Heart
Once per pick, survive a fatal hit and heal to full.
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Warden's Resolve
When down to 1 petal, gain 2 s of grace.
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Piercing Light
Beams pass through +1 moth per cast.
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Breath of Dawn
Every 8 fireflies caught, restore 1 petal.
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
Screenshots
In action.
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Title screen
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Solo · Dusk
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Solo · Winter
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Level-up picks
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Boss run
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