Hollow Lantern

Hollow Lantern is the closest thing to a proper adventure game I've played on a phone in ages. You wander a fog-bound seaside town, tapping to explore, collecting odd items and slowly piecing together why everyone left. It trusts you to figure things out, and that trust pays off.

The puzzles are logical rather than cruel — no pixel-hunting nonsense — and the atmosphere is thick enough to cut. Sound design is a huge part of it, so play with headphones if you can. I got genuinely stuck once, sat with it, and the satisfaction when it clicked was worth the wait.

It's a shorter game, maybe four or five hours, but every scene feels handmade. This is a rare mobile title I'd recommend to people who claim mobile games can't tell a real story.

What we liked

• Logical puzzles that never feel unfair
• Outstanding atmosphere and sound
• A story that actually lands