A downloadable game

Buy Now$5.95 USD or more

You will be the protagonist of a lonely quest to find a loved one who has disappeared in a cursed forest. A forest where the night is eternal and evil dances in the shadows, taking, at times, the shape of a strange creature.

The Lantern is a solo/coop journaling game with boardgame-like exploration, strategy and resource management mechanics. On this dark and dangerous expedition, you will have to find a path through the forest in search of clues, trying to survive as you keep the lantern lit. This cursed lantern, a gift from a strange creature, is the only light capable of piercing the darkness of the forest. Who this creature is and what their intentions are, are the questions that you will need to answer during your journey.


Your character will keep a diary in which they will record their experiences every night. This diary will be their only connection to reality and their past. As a player, you will have to balance exploration and investigation with the acquisition of resources, all while watching over your own survival. The map is randomly generated ensuring the uniqueness of every game. Each location has its own characteristics and the curse of the forest will spread differently each time.



You will play as one of eight character archetypes, each of them with a unique skill and strategy, venture deep into the forest to find their loved one and end the curse that has clung to the forest and plunged it into an endless night.

The available characters are:

  • The Wanderer
  • The Blacksmith
  • The Kid
  • The Scholar
  • The Peddler
  • The Groundskeeper
  • The Woodsman
  • The Apoticari

Each time you find clues about your loved one and about the curse, you will narrow down and gradually define the nature of this search, the reasons that led you to it, the secrets that the curse of the forest hides and the way in which you can put an end to its nefarious influence.


The game uses a minimalist design that condenses a nuanced, complete and balanced game system allowing each new game to be different, both narratively and mechanically, leaving room to try new strategies each time. 

FEATURES

The game features:

  • Print-friendly files including the rules trifold, reference cards, tokens and character cards.
  • Digital readfriendly version of the rules in PDF.
  • An ever-changing map-making system that you can draw as you please or use the illustrated hextiles included in the game as a printable asset.
  • A virtual tabletop for every character and hexmap. All separated in single files ready to import on PlayingCards.
  • Access to upcoming updates, such as an OpenDyslexic version and a designer's notebook with alternate and additional rules and a collection of short stories.

------------------------------------------------------------

EL FAROL


En este juego serás protagonista de una solitaria búsqueda para encontrar a un ser querido que ha desaparecido en un bosque maldito. Aquí la noche es eterna y el mal danza entre las sombras, tomando a veces la forma de una extraña criatura.


El Farol es un juego de diario en solitario/cooperativo con mecánicas de exploración, estrategia y gestión de recursos. En esta oscura y peligrosa expedición, tendrás que recorrer el bosque en busca de pistas, tratando de sobrevivir y manteniendo el farol encendido. Este farol maldito, un regalo de una extraña criatura, es la única luz capaz de perforar las tinieblas del bosque. La identidad de la criatura y sus intenciones son incógnitas que tendrás que responder durante tu travesía por el bosque.


Tu personaje llevará un diario en el que registrará sus vivencias cada noche, y que será su única conexión con la realidad y con su pasado. Como jugador, tendrás que equilibrar la exploración y la investigación del mapa con la adquisición de recursos, a la vez que velas por tu propia supervivencia. Cada partida será única, ya que el mapa se genera de manera aleatoria y cada localización tiene sus propias características, algunas más peligrosas que otras.


Interpretarás a uno de los ocho arquetipos de personaje, cada uno con su propia estrategia de juego y te adentrarás en el bosque en busca de esa persona que ha desaparecido o, con suerte y algo de maña, acabarás con la maldición que se ha aferrado al bosque y lo ha sumido en la negrura.

Los personajes disponibles son:

  • El Viajero
  • La Herrera
  • El Niño
  • La Erudita
  • El Buhonero
  • La Guardesa
  • El Leñador
  • La Apoticari

Cada vez que encuentres pistas sobre tu ser querido y sobre la maldición, irás acotando y definiendo cada vez más la naturaleza de esta búsqueda, los motivos que te llevaron a ella, los secretos que oculta la maldición del bosque y la forma en que puedes poner fin a su nefasta influencia.


El juego incluye:

  • Ficheros para imprimir que incluyen el tríptico de reglas, las tarjetas de referencia, las fichas y las tarjetas de personaje.
  • Versión digital de lectura de las reglas en PDF.
  • Un sistema de creación de mapas siempre cambiante que puedes dibujar a tu antojo o utilizar los hexágonos ilustrados, incluidos en el juego como recurso para imprimir.
  • Un tablero virtual para cada personaje y mapa hexagonal. Todo separado en archivos únicos listos para importar en PlayingCards.
  • Acceso a próximas actualizaciones, como una versión OpenDyslexic y un cuaderno de diseño con reglas alternativas y adicionales, una colección de relatos cortos y todo el arte del juego en alta resolución.


Purchase

Buy Now$5.95 USD or more

In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $5.95 USD. You will get access to the following files:

TheLantern_VTT_PlayingCards_EN.rar 25 MB
thelantern-trifold-pnp-en.pdf
thelantern-characters-pnp-en.pdf 1 MB
thelantern-assets-pnp-en.pdf 1 MB
tokens25MM.pdf 517 kB
PnP_HEXTILES.pdf 1 MB
ElFarol_VTT_PlayingCards.rar 27 MB
Triptico-pnp-ES.pdf 2 MB
ElFarol_PnP_Triptico_ES.pdf 2 MB
elfarol-componentes-pnp-es.pdf 1 MB
elfarol-personajes-pnp-es.pdf 1 MB
ElFarol_CuadernoDeDiseño_hojas.pdf 202 MB

Download demo

Download
The Lantern - English Rules.pdf 3 MB
Download
elFarol_lectura.pdf 2 MB
Download
ElFarol_CuadernoDeDiseño.pdf 94 MB

Development log

Comments

Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.

hey Oscar! just wanted to come make a post here and let you know, i shot you a tweet on... Twitter (lol) inquiring about a phsyical copy of the game! would love to co-op this with my wife.

all the love,

Egan

(-1)

I just got back to you! 

Thank you for the interest!

the Cuaderno de Diseno looks AMAZING especially with all the optional rules! Will you translate this to English? Or would you mind sharing the file editable? (so I can translate it to english myself). Thanks

Alternatively having the spanish text alone would be sufficient!

Will definitely do this this year, but I will release a cropped version of the translated optional rules ASAP.

Thank you for your time and interest!

In case when I infect Condition, Do I must random it or I can choose? 

in dubio, pro player. Your choice (the game is already hard enough haha). 

(1 edit)

Thank you, and I have 2 more question.
1.How can I know catagory of Condition or it in the same column?

2.In Trifold Section The Forest, Heart card section has consequence M,E,F what does it mean?

(1 edit)

Its the same column (top to bottom) and it's Mental, Emotional and Physical (that F is a typo), so it means the consequence is marking the next condition in the Mental, Emotional or Physical column (and remember, if it reaches the X, the character is gone)

Thank you for your fast reply. I have more questions

1.Disorient : Can I choose any empty space? 

2.Amnesia : How can I choose random location? 

3.Ambush : I will lose flame just 1st time I pass that route?

1. Any empty space that is adjacent to a discovered location. You could randomize this by rolling a d10 and counting clockwise along the discovered locations at the edge. 

2. Same as above, roll a d10 and move around. 

3. Exactly, it only damages your flame one time, then the ambush disappears.

I have a question about dimension of the paper of package bag because the file have only component for playing game

The package is a black kraft button and string envelope, DL size (99mm x 210mm, just like a tri-folded A4). The envelope was part of the physical product, which is now sold out. Let me know if this answers your question. Thank you for your interest.

Hola! Compré una versión anterior del juego (me encanta),pero no recuerdo que vinieran los hexágonos. ¿Cómo puedo conseguirlos?  Gracias!

Los hexágonos están en los archivos. Solo hay una versión del juego y todo lo demás  son añadidos digitales. ;) 

Hola, buscaré mejor, porque se me han pasado por alto. Gracias!

Is this great-looking game available for purchase as a physical copy?

Find me on Twitter or Telegram and send me a PM, let's see what we can do about it. Thank you for your interest!

is it possible to still get a physical copy of this. Just found out about this. Thanks!

Find me on Twitter or Telegram and send me a PM, let's see what we can do about it.

Hello, I have some questions. 

1) Do I choose the starting tile? 

2) What happens if I need to place a tile (hex) not present anymore? 

3) On what basis do I choose the Forest actions? 

4) What are the lantern and bottles token for? 

Thanks! 

(+1)

Hi! first of all thank you for giving it a try!

1) Technically you start in the tile with a shelter (there is always one in the starting locations), which makes sense but I see now it is not clear. I will add this to the FAQ in the Designer's Notebook (coming soon).

2) The game is intended to be played using a traditional draw-your-own map, but if you choose to use the tiles (which was a stretch goal) you can just print more. There are copies of all the starting locations. however, if you are using the Playingcards hexmap, you just need to enter edit mode (the suitcase icon), click on the tile collection and add more tiles of whatever type you need. This will add the tiles to the holder.

3) This is an unforgiving game and it is designed for you to choose whatever is less harmful (or, at least, what you think is less harmful at the moment). If, nonetheless, you want to play the hardcore mode or you just can't decide, you can roll a d10 and let fate be your demise.

4) The lantern token is just a way for you to keep track of your character's position on the map (if you are drawing it). If you printed the tiles, there are tokens for every character. The bottles are the elixirs you can craft if you are playing the Apoticari.

I hope this helps! Let me know how it goes.

Thank you so much for your time!

(-1)

Amazing, thank you!

I have some additional questions after playing a little more if I may:

1) are the +1 for the blacksmith cumulative? eg. can I spend 2 tools for a +4 on the control check?

2) can I build multiple tools with 1 action? Or just 1 tool per action?

3) Do failed investigations leave a mark (for the two investigations per hex rule) or only successful ones?

Thanks!

(1 edit)

Great! 

1) Yes, every tool used by the Blacksmith adds an extra +1 to the regular bonus. 

2) You can build as many items as you wish and can afford in the same action. 

3) Every time you investigate, it counts as one of the two uses per location. This way, the game forces you to keep exploring and discovering new locations. 

Here I am back with a few more questions!

1) I'm guessing the woodsman gets +1 flamewood per action only? I mean he doesn't get +1 for every flamewood gained (via tools) as well does he? So if he Chops Wood using 2 tools, he would get 4 flamewood, correct? (1 base, 1 extra, 2 from tools)

2) Players suffer two conditions if they do not find shelter. This applies as soon as the 8 actions are spent, correct? If the player suffers Amnesia (via Forest action) and he ends up in a tile without Shelter, this doesn't trigger the two conditions, right?

3) When the Forest action applies Torment, what type of condition is received?

4) Because 1 King and 2 Queens are shuffled into the Spades deck, the player cannot win if he doesn't suffer the Twist Reality effect from the Forest action, is this correct?

Thanks!

Hi! Glad to anwser all these. 

1) That is correct, +1 wood per action. Might not seem much, but it is way easier for him to recover from zero and save the tools for the hard events when investigating. Also that +1 flamewood will come in handy for trading at towns and such. 

2) That's correct. 

3) As with the rest of the game, it is designed for the player to chose whatever is or seems less harmful at the moment. So, whichever you want. 

4) It is 2 K and 1 Q. The idea is that the player will choose Twist Reality/Spread the Darkness often, since those are the "less harmful" actions. Also, whenever the Diamond pile empties up, you start drawing from Spades every time you investigate. Also, whenever you find the Cemetery, you can retrieve "and find" one of the special cards from the Spades deck, be it the last Q or one of the Ks. So there's 3 failsaves in the mechanics to keep the game from endlessly stalling

Hope this helps! 

(1 edit)

hi on the tri fold the rules say mental emotion and physical (M,E,P) is there a mistake on the table as it shows M,E,F,?


also the hex tiles. Should there be multiple tiles with the same number and icons? 8hearts shows 4 times, 8clubs 3x,  

(+1)

Actually that typo was already corrected, now I'm thinking I uploaded the same file. Thanks for the heads up and yes, it should read P instead of F. 

Regarding the tiles, on an earlier version (when the tiles were designed) one of the Forest's actions was to spawn a flamewood forest location, sort of like a plague. This has been changed and it is now an optional rule included in the designer's notebook, which will be uploaded this month in Spanish and next month in English. 

In Heart card section it still F instead of P.

I think  there's an english file missing: the one with components. The respective spanish is : elfarol-componentes-pnp-es

Indeed! I will put it up there tonight as soon as I have a moment on the computer. Thank you! 

File is uploaded. Thank you for the heads up!

(+1)

You're welcome! Congrats for the game! It's awesome!

(+1)

Todavía no lo pruebo. Estoy descargándolo y mañana a impresión. Sin embargo el concepto y el arte me ha encantado. Qué bueno ver más juegos y diseñadores hispanohablantes que dan la cara en este hobby y los PNP! Increible trabajo, mi más sincera y calurosa admiración!

(1 edit)

El Farol me parece un juego sólido y una idea interesante. Todas sus opciones (idiomas, ser amigable con personas afectadas por daltonismo y dislexia, etc.) hablan de su autor y su conciencia.

----

The Lantern seems to me like a solid game and an interesting idea. All its options (languages, to be friendly to color blind and dislexic, etc.) talk about its author and his consciousness.