Lanterns of Vel

Lanterns of Vel is the kind of game we didn't expect to fall for. You wander a hand-painted valley, solving small environmental puzzles to relight lanterns and slowly reveal where everyone went. There's no combat, no timer, just curiosity pulling you forward.

The controls are a simple tap-to-move system that stays out of the way, and the puzzles are built around observation rather than trial and error. Every solved area shifts the music and the light a little, and that quiet sense of progress kept us playing far longer than the short description promised.

It's not a long game, maybe a weekend, but it leaves a warm impression. If you want something to unwind with after a hard day, this is the one we keep handing to friends.

What we liked

• Beautiful hand-painted world
• Calm, observation-based puzzles
• Lovely reactive soundtrack