Turbo Pudding
In Vitrea, the town of stained glass, it’s half past morning, and the sun hasn’t shown up. Dawn is stuck inside the windows, and Mira, the lamplighter’s apprentice, means to let it out. Gaffer, an old talking streetlamp, would never tell a young lady to break windows. “…Use the Spark,” he says instead.
Lantern Lane is the first corner of town: five levels with a boss at the end, all free to play. Here is how to get through it with three stars, where all fifteen chimes are hidden, and how to wake the Grand Chandelier.
How the stars work
Every level has three stars. The first is for clearing the glass. The second is for not losing a single Spark. The third is for reaching the level’s score.
The quickest points are the chimes, the little bells wrapped in dark red velvet. There are three in every level. The Spark only has to touch one, and it rings for 250 points. Ring all three and you get 750 more. Catch a falling capsule with your Prism for 75. When the glass is clear, you get 2,000 if you didn’t lose a Spark, 250 for every Spark still flying, and a bonus for every second you beat the level’s par time.
Stars never lock you out of anything. The next level opens as soon as you win the one before.
Level 1: First Light
The panes here are shaped like a sunrise, and the chimes are easy to find. One hangs in the top left corner. One sits above the middle pane at the top. The third is tucked into the bottom row of the sunrise itself.
Here is the secret: on this level, the chimes and a clean run alone are worth 3,500 points. That’s exactly the score for the third star. Ring all three without losing the Spark, and the third star is yours.
The Prism decides where the Spark goes. In Gaffer’s words: “Hit the Spark with the edge to send it sideways. The middle sends it up.” On your first night, a glass floor under the Prism saves the Spark once, and even after that, a dropped Spark comes back to you. It still counts as lost for the second star, though.
Level 2: Twice as Thick
Gaffer grumbles: “Double panes. Those little moths doubled the glass. Hit it twice.” The sparkly panes take two hits, so don’t chase them early. The first capsule of the game waits in the single pane at the very bottom, under the big lantern of glass. It’s Broadpane, and it makes your Prism wider for 20 seconds.
Chimes: one at the very top in the middle, one on the left near the top, and one deep inside the lantern, ringed by double panes. Leave that last one for when you have Broadpane.
Level 3: Gift Wrapped
Gold panes with a ribbon are gift glass, and every one of them drops a capsule when it breaks. The little moths who doubled the glass aren’t happy about it: “Hey… those are our presents… yawn… fine, take them.”
The gift in the middle of the bottom row always holds Twinkle, which turns every Spark into three. Break it early and let three Sparks clear the stack for you. Chimes: the top right corner, one up on the left among the pink panes, and one in the middle of the cream panes.
Level 4: Hot from the Kiln
The glowing panes are ember glass, hot from the kiln. When one breaks, it bursts and breaks every pane around it, and an ember next to another ember sets it off too.
All four embers sit together at the bottom of the shape, with a chime just underneath. Send the Spark straight up the middle: it rings the chime, sets off the embers and blows a hole into the shape. The Hourglass falls out of the middle ember. It slows the Spark down for 15 seconds, which is just what you want while you reach the other chimes, in the middle of the shape and at the very top.
Call the Spark
There is a gem in the middle of your Prism, and every pane you break fills it a little. After twelve panes it burns gold, and Gaffer tells you what to do: “Click where the Spark should go — it hears you.” On a phone, tap. With the keyboard, press Space and the Spark flies to the nearest glass. Save it for a chime in a far corner.
Level 5: The Grand Chandelier
The festival chandelier is wrapped in black crystal and fast asleep. “Shhh… the square… must stay… dim…” Gaffer knows the trick: “She’s dreaming. The candle in her heart is the real her. Break a gap in the spinning crystals, then hit the candle.”
The candle needs eight hits. A broken crystal grows back in about eight seconds, so once you open a gap, aim for it right away. Every few seconds she drips wax at your Prism. A drop that lands makes the Prism smaller for six seconds, but the Spark can break a drop on its way up.
The gift in the middle of the bottom row holds Honey. The Spark sticks to your Prism, so you can stop, take aim and send it through the gap. Chimes: the top right corner, the left side, and just under that gift.
After four hits she stops smiling. “Mmm… more crystals… spin faster, my darlings…” A second ring of crystals spins the other way, she drips three drops at once, her rings grow back on their own, and every now and then the candle shields itself for a moment. The picture at the top of this post is this second half. If you go twenty seconds without a hit, she gets tired: the rings stop growing back and the shield stays down until you hit her again.
If she beats you in the second half, you can try again from there, and once per level you can take a second wind: one more Spark, same glass. Win, and she wakes up: “Oh! Light! I remember light!”
If the last panes won’t break
The town helps out. With two panes or fewer left and no break for ten seconds, the Spark bends toward the nearest one. With three or fewer and no break for eighteen seconds, a firefly capsule falls. After forty seconds without even a crack, every pane cracks down to one hit. All three cost you the time bonus, so try to finish first.
Lantern Lane is free to play in your browser at panemonium.com: the first five levels and the first boss. The full game is $4.99, paid once. More about the game is on its Panemonium page.
