Glimmerwick

Two lantern-keepers, one meadow, and a lot of very easily distracted moths.

Opponent

Play as

How to play

You and your rival each keep lanterns in a night meadow. Moths drift toward light. A moth that flies into your lantern is yours. First to 7 moths wins. After 30 rounds, whoever has more wins (Honey wins ties).

On your turn, do one thing

• Kindle — click an empty cell to light a new strength-1 lantern. It must be at least 3 steps from every moth and cocoon. You may keep 3 lanterns.
• Stoke — click your lantern, then +. Strength goes up by 1 (max 3).
• Carry — click your lantern, then a neighbouring cell to walk it one step (same 3-step rule).
• Douse — click your lantern, then ✕, to blow it out and free a slot.
• Rest — do nothing.

Then every moth flies one step

• Light adds up from all lanterns, yours and your rival's. A lantern shines its strength + 2 on its own cell, and 1 less for each step away.
• Each moth moves to the brightest neighbouring cell, if that is brighter than where it is. Moths never share a cell.
• If two ways are equally bright, the moth dithers ? and stays put.
• Catching a moth dims that lantern by 1. At 0 it burns out.

Cocoons

• When a moth is caught, a cocoon appears in the darkest spot of the meadow and hatches a round later. Every third one is a golden moth worth 2.

Tips

• Arrows show where each moth will fly next; dots show the next few steps. Hover a move to see how it changes them.
• Your rival's light pulls moths too. A lantern lit at the edge of their glow can steal what they gathered.
• Bright lanterns reach far, but every moth caught dims them.