Lantern Trail

Lantern Trail is a calm, hand-drawn adventure about carrying a lantern through a forest that's half asleep. You tap to move, swipe to interact, and solve light environmental puzzles — redirecting fireflies, waking creatures to clear a path, finding hidden routes off the main trail.

There's no combat and no fail state, and the game is better for it. The puzzles are clever enough to feel like accomplishments but never so obtuse that you reach for a walkthrough. The soundtrack does a lot of heavy lifting, shifting mood as you move between areas.

It's short — about four hours — and that's the point. It's the game we recommend to people who say they don't like mobile games, because it feels nothing like the usual tap-for-timers grind.

What we liked

• Beautiful hand-drawn art
• Relaxing, fail-free pace
• Smart but fair puzzles