Lanternfoot
Run, jump and slide across four painted lands with a lantern at your hip.
An endless runner with its own courier and its own world. A lamplighter's courier runs right on their own, a brass lantern at the hip, across four lands that change every 1,000 m: dawn meadows, an ochre canyon at noon, frost pines at dusk and ember ruins at night. Jump crates and standing stones, slide under hanging beams, clear pits, hop over whatever rolls your way and time your way past bobbing wisps. Coins hang in arcs over every hazard; wings give a double jump, a magnet pulls coins in, a shield takes one hit. The pace rises as you go. Every meter scores, every coin scores five, and near misses push a multiplier up to 5x. Three roads, easy, medium and hard, plus a Daily road that is the same for everyone.
- Category
- Arcade
- Modes
- Easy · Medium · Hard · Daily
- Controls
- Touch · Mouse · Keyboard
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How to play
The courier runs on their own. Tap to jump; hold for a higher jump. Swipe down to slide under a beam, or to drop out of a jump (you land in a slide). While in the air, a tap on the lower half of the screen drops too. On a keyboard: Space, Enter, W or the up arrow to jump (hold for higher), S or the down arrow to slide or drop. Crates and low rocks need a tap, tall stones a held jump, beams a slide, pits a jump. Rolling hazards come at you, so jump them early; a wisp bobs up and down, so run under it when it is high and jump it when it is low. Wings give you a second jump in the air for 12 seconds, the magnet pulls in coins for 10 seconds, the shield takes one hit or carries you over one pit. Every meter scores the multiplier, every coin five times it. A near miss (clearing a hazard by a hair, a late slide, a jump from the very edge of a pit) raises the multiplier by one, up to 5x; six seconds without one and it drops back a step. One hit and the run is over.
What is Lanternfoot?
Lanternfoot is an endless runner: the courier runs right on their own and you decide when to jump and when to slide. The road never ends, the pace keeps rising, and one hit ends the run. The skill lies in reading the road a moment ahead and keeping your timing clean as everything speeds up.
The courier and the world are our own. A lamplighter's courier in a teal hooded cloak and an orange scarf, a little brass lantern glowing at the hip, runs across four painted lands that change every 1,000 m: Dawn Meadows, the Ochre Canyon at noon, the Frost Pines at dusk and the Ember Ruins at night. After the ruins, the road starts round the four lands again.
How to play Lanternfoot
- Jump. Tap anywhere to jump. Hold for a higher jump: a quick tap clears a crate, a held jump clears a tall stone.
- Slide. Swipe down to slide under a hanging beam. Beams hang on ropes from above, so there is no jumping over them.
- Drop. Swipe down in the air, or tap the lower half of the screen while airborne, to drop straight to the road. You land in a slide, which is how you get under a beam that comes right after a jump.
- Pits. Jump them. The wider the pit, the longer you hold.
- Rolling hazards. Hay bales, tumbleweeds, snowballs and millstones roll toward you, so jump them early.
- Wisps. A wisp of light bobs up and down. Run under it when it is high, jump it when it is low.
- Keyboard. Space, Enter, W or the up arrow jump (hold for higher); S or the down arrow slide or drop.
Power-ups and scoring
- Wings: a second jump in the air, for 12 seconds.
- Magnet: coins fly to you, for 10 seconds.
- Shield: takes one hit, or carries you over one pit, then it is gone.
- Distance: every meter scores the multiplier.
- Coins: every coin scores five times the multiplier.
- Near misses: clearing a hazard by a hair, sliding under a beam at the last moment or jumping from the very edge of a pit raises the multiplier by one, up to 5x. Six seconds without a near miss and it drops back a step.
Tips and strategy
- Watch the far side of the screen. By the time a hazard is close it is too late to choose. Decide on the move as it comes into view, then time it.
- Tap for crates, hold for stones. A held jump over a crate wastes time in the air, and the next hazard may already be on its way.
- Use the drop. A jump that is going to land you under a beam is saved by a swipe down: you drop and slide in one move.
- Chase near misses carefully. The multiplier is worth a lot, but a near miss is also a near hit. Take them when the road is calm.
- Save the shield for the fast part. It lasts until something hits you, so carrying it into the later lands is a good habit.
Frequently asked questions
Is Lanternfoot free?
Yes. Like every game on Play, it runs free in your browser, with no download and no account.
What changes between the three roads?
The easy road starts slower, tops out lower and leaves more room between hazards, with narrower pits and more power-ups. The medium road is the standard one. The hard road starts faster, gets faster still, puts hazards closer together, opens wider pits and brings in combinations and moving hazards early on.
What is the Daily road?
Every day everyone runs the same medium road, hazard for hazard and coin for coin, so the scores compare directly on the leaderboard.
Is the road random?
It is built from a seed, a stretch at a time, so every run is different. The room between hazards is measured at the speed you will have when you reach them, so there is always a way through.
Does it work on a phone held sideways?
Yes, and that is the roomiest way to play: the road fills the screen and the score sits beside it. Upright works too, with a little less road ahead in view.
