Turbo Pudding
In Vitrea, the glass town, every pane you break lets out a bit of morning. Now and then it lets out something else as well: a capsule, tumbling down toward Mira’s Prism. The first time it happens, Mira is as surprised as anyone: “Something fell out! Catch it with the Prism!” It’s Friday, so here is a small field guide to everything that can fall out of a broken window.
The picture at the top shows one of each kind over the rooftops of Lantern Lane: an amber diamond, a gold star and a purple shard with sleepy eyes. They aren’t just pretty. The shape tells you what a capsule is before you can make out its symbol.
Read the shape
There are fourteen capsules in all. Each one turns up for the first time on a level of its own, from level 2 to level 18, and after that it can fall anywhere. The first time you catch one, its name pops up over the Prism, “Wider!” or “Sticky!” or “Yawn…”, and after that it never does again.
There are no letters on them, only small drawn symbols, so they read at a glance in any language. Helpful ones are amber diamonds that sway and turn like a gem on a string. The two that work on the Spark itself are teal hexagons. The Spare Spark is a tiny lantern with a flame flickering inside. The rare breakers are gold stars that spin flat. And the pranks are purple torn shards with a bite out of one side and two sleepy eyes, and they shiver as they fall.
A capsule takes about a second and a half to fall from the middle of the field to the Prism, which is just enough time to decide whether you want it. No more than two fall at once, never more than one prank, and never two pranks in a row.
The helpful ones
The Prism is a glass bar of five panes. A Broadpane makes it seven panes wide for 20 seconds, and every extra one makes it a little wider and adds ten more seconds. An Hourglass slows the Spark down by a quarter. Honey makes the Prism sticky, so the Spark rests on it until you send it off again, up to eight times. Flares shoot two little flares from the ends of the Prism, three times a second, for ten seconds. A Glass Floor lays a floor of glass under the Prism, or as Mira puts it, “One save, use it well.” And a Spare Spark goes into Gaffer’s lantern, up to five of them.
Then there’s Twinkle. Every Spark in play splits into three, and Mira can hardly believe it: “Three Sparks! Gaffer, they’re multiplying!”
Lodestone, the choosy magnet
Gaffer sums up the Lodestone in one line: “A lodestone. Drops fly to the Prism on their own.” For 20 seconds, pale amber arcs reach out from the Prism to every helpful capsule in the air and pull it in. It has taste, though. A prank it leaves exactly where it is.
The breakers
The gold stars are rare, and they don’t last long. A Sunbeam lets the Spark go straight through anything made of glass for six seconds. Fireflies sends three little seeking sparks out from the Prism to find the glass on their own. And Full Sun makes the Spark nearly twice as big for eight seconds. Gaffer is a little alarmed: “The Spark’s grown! It breaks four panes at a time.”
The pranks
A Pinch squeezes the Prism down to three panes for twelve seconds. Jitters speed the Spark up by a quarter. And Yawn, the last capsule to show up, on level 18, pulls a lilac haze over the top part of the field for five seconds, with sleepy little z’s floating up through it. The Sparks stay on top of the haze, so you can still see where they go. A Dimling wishes you a good night: “Fog for you. Sleep tight.”
So why catch a prank at all? Because it pays double: 150 points instead of 75. And some of them have an antidote. A Broadpane and a Pinch cancel each other out, and the Prism goes straight back to its usual size. An Hourglass ends the Jitters at once, and Jitters end an Hourglass.
One that never falls by chance
There’s a fifteenth capsule, and it isn’t on any list. When only three panes or fewer are left and 18 seconds go by without a break, one of them drops a capsule with a single firefly inside. Catch it, and the firefly flies over the stone, straight to the last panes. The caption over the Prism keeps it short: “A firefly!”
Lantern Lane is free to play in your browser at panemonium.com: the first five levels, the first boss included. The full game, all twenty levels, is $4.99, paid once. More about the game is on its Panemonium page.
