Your Lantern Burns With Borrowed Light
A downloadable game
Your lantern burns with borrowed light.
Describe feeding it memories, dreams, regrets— you've two of each.Roll 1D6: 1-4 dims, 5-6 ignites.
If the lantern ignites thrice, you escape darkness. Without light, you are forever lost.(a 36-word ttrpg)
Notes
A minimalist narrative tabletop RPG made for the 36-word RPG Jam.
Art by the amazing @Sisaliks.
The game was designed and tested for solo play, but I encourage you to play with two or more people, each taking a turn to light your lanterns.
This game is inspired by Mechanical Oryx—a 200-word RPG.
The world grows dark.
You carry a lantern that burns essence to hold the shadows at bay.
Each offering pushes back the darkness.
Download
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Comments
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Your work is seriously incredible. Keep going from now until the end of time!
Thank you. That means a lot. I don't get to spend as much time as I would like making games, but there are a couple of things in development that I hope to release over 2025 and 2026. Comments like this really help motivate me!
This game is beautifully written, eerily simple, and wow Jo's art suits it so well.
I wanted to note specifically that I think your word choices here are so elegant. I think it takes a confidence and carefulness to, rather than go, "How do I maximize every single word of the 36 I'm allowed," instead sit in the space of, "How can I use those words to evoke a specific mood, make someone feel a certain way." It's one of my favorite things about more lyrical style games, and here you are, doing that AND nailing a simple but effective mechanic/win condition?
Well done!
Thank you for taking the time to leave this comment. It made my day.
I spent a lot of time trying to work an end condition into the tiny ruleset. I'm really glad it landed for you. :)
Ohhh this was creepy! I did not escape, but it was brilliant to try. I used Paul Czege's idea of the 'approximate self ' to play and found the game mildly therapeutic as well.
I am really glad the game connected with you. Thank you for sharing.
Looks yet another brilliant game from Spring Villager :)
Thanks for your comment and for your support over the years. Glad you like this small game!