TWILIGHTHOUSE
TWILIGHTHOUSE
*A survival arcade game made for Ludum Dare 59 — Theme: Signal*
You are a lighthouse keeper on a stormy night. Your only tool is the lighthouse beam — a rotating signal that cuts through the darkness.
Boats lost at sea depend on your signal to find safety. But the darkness hides more than just sailors…
---
Controls
- `←` / `A` — rotate beam left
- `→` / `D` — rotate beam right
- `Enter` / `E` — confirm
- `Q` / `Esc` — back / pause
*On mobile: tap the on-screen ◀ ▶ buttons to rotate the beam*
---
How To Play
- Rotate the beam to light up approaching boats — they use your signal to navigate safely to shore
- Mermaids swim toward the lighthouse in the dark — illuminate them to scare them off. Let 3 reach you and it's over
- The Kraken lurks in darkness and charges at you — shine the beam on it to drive it away
- Police boats are a different story — don't light them up. Every cop you illuminate confiscates a crate from the supply stash. Lose all 3 crates and the game ends very badly
- The lamp burns out over time — the beam narrows and flickers. Keep an eye on it
- Save 10 boats to win
---
The Story
Young Robert takes a job at a remote lighthouse run by grizzled old sailor Willem — a man deep in debt to the Colombian cartel.
What starts as a quiet night shift quickly spirals into chaos: raging seas, monstrous creatures, and authorities closing in.
Between the cynical old wolf and the cocky young pup, the real storm is just beginning.
---
Authors
- @adriana — concept art
- @r1m — concept art
- @lina — concept art
- @bobanko — programming, game design
- @noki_a — programming, game design
- @stepastepa — game design
- @claude — programming
Music: suno.com | Sounds: pixabay.com, libsounds.com
Tech: PixiJS, Firebase, Vanilla JS
Genres: action
Comments47
LDJam user 31290021 Apr 2026, 12:59
Cool concept, and also really great graphics. Game felt easy to understand and intuitive. One thing was it felt like the majority of ships etc had a tendency to come from the bottom, especially the right. Nice job on the entry
fabelay21 Apr 2026, 13:07
Nice look and feel! Really immersive for such a game. I like the Kraken the most. I didn't understand why boats starts sinking mostly after they already saw my beam, I guess they get super eager to get to safety that they stop looking for obstacles, lol. Music is also nice.
metalim21 Apr 2026, 13:15
Short game session. Great graphics. Boats are hard to distinguish though
Kenoshka21 Apr 2026, 13:16
had a problem with lamp burning out too fast, always died by kraken, looks like a spawn balance issue
red-horde-games21 Apr 2026, 16:34
Difficulty is on a bit higher side, otherwise great idea
AO-8521 Apr 2026, 17:18
The idea is cool I liked it! It looks interesting.
skeyven21 Apr 2026, 17:43
The idea is really great. I think I didn’t fully understand all the mechanics. For example, the light bulbs that get delivered seem to affect the width of the lighthouse beam. But I didn’t understand what the crates do. And the health hearts seem to get used up immediately if you let even one enemy through.
But it was fun to play. Although it feels like the segments with the neural lighthouse keeper don’t quite fit and stand out from the main game’s style (even if it was also generated—I’m not sure).
But it was fun to play. Although it feels like the segments with the neural lighthouse keeper don’t quite fit and stand out from the main game’s style (even if it was also generated—I’m not sure).
Myokka21 Apr 2026, 22:00
My lighthouse got captured by a kraken while I was trying to make life miserable for the cops.
LDJam user 42387222 Apr 2026, 00:29
Yippee! I saved 10 boats. Too bad I didn't see the kraken
penagwin22 Apr 2026, 01:16
It's an interesting idea, and the graphics are decently well polished
CrimsonTrouper22 Apr 2026, 02:31
one of coolest game with lighthouse. But I died due to thinking that you SHOULDN'T look at the octopus. The game is great, all 10 boats survived on second attempt
HelloImBenjamin22 Apr 2026, 03:14
I thought the game was very well polished. Has huge amount of potential if you wish to continue. Great work!
kayrum22 Apr 2026, 03:55
Great atmosphere and lovely sprites.
LDJam user 42628822 Apr 2026, 11:17
The gameplay is simple and easy to get into, and the art style is exquisite
MaruMari22 Apr 2026, 14:14
Simple but fun and polished.
GARYglhf22 Apr 2026, 19:01
Игра хорошо проработана, красивая графика и музыка. Скажу сразу мне очень понравилось и поиграл не один раз. Отдельное спасибо за русский язык. По ощущениям хочется больше динамики, раздражало когда луч наводишь на катер доставки он едет и врезается в льдину (хотя должен ее объехать) когда врезается в льдину останавливается и долго ее объезжает. Хотелось бы какие нибудь апгрейды.
fkjaha23 Apr 2026, 11:57
Nice idea for a simple web game :)
Nikiroz23 Apr 2026, 15:15
A fun little game, though the music feels a bit out of place. Overall, it’s fine.
JoeGreen24 Apr 2026, 08:33
Дизайн отличный и отдельная благодарность за быстрый формат прохождения. Немного неудобно работает луч света, когда лодки близко к маяку: они, вроде, и на свету, а начинают уплывать
digital bacon24 Apr 2026, 23:45
Very nice little game. Beautiful art and sound design. Nice, simple controls. Easy-to-understand instructions.
Excellent work -- very well done!
Excellent work -- very well done!
Croped24 Apr 2026, 23:49
Nice game, a bit inconsistent with the spawning (didnt get enough smugglers on first run and just died to kraken but worked like a charm on second run) but thats just tuning. Other than that solid entry nicley polished and all. Good Job!
LDJam user 025 Apr 2026, 12:23
Hello, nice game. However, I noticed the presence of AI-generated content. It seems to me that the least you could have done was be transparent about its use and remove your game from the graphics category.
The same goes for the music. You credit an AI generator. If you didn't create the music for this game, you should remove your game from the music category.
The same goes for the music. You credit an AI generator. If you didn't create the music for this game, you should remove your game from the music category.
Gurtek25 Apr 2026, 14:32
Hello, nice game. However, I noticed the presence of AI-generated content. It seems to me that the least you could have done was be transparent about its use and remove your game from the graphics category.
The same goes for the music. You credit an AI generator. If you didn't create the music for this game, you should remove your game from the music category.
The same goes for the music. You credit an AI generator. If you didn't create the music for this game, you should remove your game from the music category.
bobanko25 Apr 2026, 18:24
Hey @gurtek, thanks for checking out our game and for the feedback!
This is our first Ludum Dare ever (Twilighthouse), so we're still figuring things out. The rules page is currently throwing a 404 for me — mind dropping the exact link or quote about AI stuff and categories? Would really help us get it right.
Quick note: we hand-drew a bunch of the graphics and used AI as a tool for the rest (mostly win/lose screens). Music is Suno track, SFX are from free libraries. If the rules say we should uncheck Graphics or Music because of that, we're totally cool with removing the ticks.
PS
Appreciate the sharp eye on the six-fingered dude btw 😂 Classic AI moment.
This is our first Ludum Dare ever (Twilighthouse), so we're still figuring things out. The rules page is currently throwing a 404 for me — mind dropping the exact link or quote about AI stuff and categories? Would really help us get it right.
Quick note: we hand-drew a bunch of the graphics and used AI as a tool for the rest (mostly win/lose screens). Music is Suno track, SFX are from free libraries. If the rules say we should uncheck Graphics or Music because of that, we're totally cool with removing the ticks.
PS
Appreciate the sharp eye on the six-fingered dude btw 😂 Classic AI moment.
rhewid25 Apr 2026, 20:28
Cool gameconcept, had some fun but couldn't manage to win!
Gurtek26 Apr 2026, 08:40
Hello @bobanko , thanks for your reply. Yes, the rules are unavailable (the website is having a lot of issues :/). I found this page on the topic of AI: https://ludumdare.com/resources/questions/can-i-use-ai/
Ultimately, it comes down to individual judgment. So it's complicated ^^.
From my point of view, you either have to be transparent about the graphics you've created so that people can rate what you've done, or not put yourself in the graphics category.
Some people do everything from start to finish during the game jam and aim for the graphics category in the rankings because it's their specialty. I think it casts a shadow on them if they're compared to work done by AI.
I think the main goal isn't to win, but to participate and maybe be featured in a category. It's always nice to see the top pages of each category especially the graphic one to discover new artists and styles.
There is this sentence at the end of the page i shared: "That said we still want to celebrate artists, which is why we ask those using AI tools to opt-out of artistic categories." Which sums up my point of view well.
Sorry for the long post, I hope it helps ^^. Very good game for your first Ludum Dare and good luck! :D
Ultimately, it comes down to individual judgment. So it's complicated ^^.
From my point of view, you either have to be transparent about the graphics you've created so that people can rate what you've done, or not put yourself in the graphics category.
Some people do everything from start to finish during the game jam and aim for the graphics category in the rankings because it's their specialty. I think it casts a shadow on them if they're compared to work done by AI.
I think the main goal isn't to win, but to participate and maybe be featured in a category. It's always nice to see the top pages of each category especially the graphic one to discover new artists and styles.
There is this sentence at the end of the page i shared: "That said we still want to celebrate artists, which is why we ask those using AI tools to opt-out of artistic categories." Which sums up my point of view well.
Sorry for the long post, I hope it helps ^^. Very good game for your first Ludum Dare and good luck! :D
LDJam user 4243262 May 2026, 04:55
A good concept!
I’d like to see a bit more development in the game, maybe a few more levels, but even as it is, it already feels like a complete experience
I’d like to see a bit more development in the game, maybe a few more levels, but even as it is, it already feels like a complete experience
YugiMuto2 May 2026, 12:46
Игра огонь! Играется прикольно, все аспекты на высоте, пришла двухлетняя дочка и ей понравилось что мы светим в лицо Кракену и отгоняем)
DarthWaxus3 May 2026, 10:40
The shy Kraken was cute =) Awesome game!
zhangzhimu3 May 2026, 14:26
I think it's very interesting to express the theme through such a setting! A great game!
KALABHERS4 May 2026, 13:34
Cool game! It could use some difficulty scaling - starting easy and gradually getting harder. Overall a nice experience though
Chaseplays5 May 2026, 04:14
Haha this is so fun seeing your guys' version of our game! We actually had talked about the idea of having the lighthouse try and get the ships to the middle, and the idea of using the light to push monsters away, so it's really cool seeing that version!
bobanko6 May 2026, 21:51
@chaseplays thanks for review!
yeah, you've pushed that idea to the next level.
unfortunately, we've wasted first jam day to test a lot of other concepts, before we stopped at lighthouse version.
our first idea was to drive the ship, while lighthouse is watching, and stop when it turns away.
yeah, you've pushed that idea to the next level.
unfortunately, we've wasted first jam day to test a lot of other concepts, before we stopped at lighthouse version.
our first idea was to drive the ship, while lighthouse is watching, and stop when it turns away.
Artur Hawkwing7 May 2026, 00:43
Unfortunately I'm getting stuck at "Loading texture ... 0%". I gather this is on my end as this works for everyone else in the comments -- but if anyone else has this error, would you mind letting me know how you fixed it? (I'm in Firefox private mode, no extensions, on the itch.io version)
Papaver7 May 2026, 14:13
Fun game! The choice of music and sound effects sets the mood. I like how the kraken covers its eyes :laughing:
The game works smoothly, and I like the light beam effect.
I managed to finish the game on my first try.
Awesome that you managed to implement a leaderboard, but since the game finishes when you save 10 boats, it seems weird to have the leaderboard sorted by longest time.
The game works smoothly, and I like the light beam effect.
I managed to finish the game on my first try.
Awesome that you managed to implement a leaderboard, but since the game finishes when you save 10 boats, it seems weird to have the leaderboard sorted by longest time.
RAFFE7 May 2026, 18:00
Hey, this was a super fun entry! I always respect LD entries that aren't too long and this was just the perfect duration very well polished. Music was nice, mechanics worked just as they were meant to. I would've certainly liked to see a couple more levels of this with perhaps a harder difficulty! Good job on this entry peeps!
HagamosVideojuegos7 May 2026, 20:17
Well executed, I think the game works really well. It’s polished, free of noticeable issues, and fits the theme nicely. The concept is solid too. I understand that the AI-generated art at the end was probably due to time constraints for creating those illustrations. Personally, if the goal was to avoid losing votes because of that, I might have gone with a more generic ending screen instead.
I don’t think the game becomes more interesting just because the ending screens are more visually striking, the important part is everything that comes before them, and that part is already genuinely good. Sometimes we forget that we don’t need to force attention when what we’ve created already speaks for itself.
Well done! :ship:
I don’t think the game becomes more interesting just because the ending screens are more visually striking, the important part is everything that comes before them, and that part is already genuinely good. Sometimes we forget that we don’t need to force attention when what we’ve created already speaks for itself.
Well done! :ship:
bobanko7 May 2026, 20:36
@papaver thanks for review! yeah, we had different versions how to calculate the score, at first it was "faster - better", then we switched to "longer - better", but now we're planning to implement new approach with levels, with increasing difficulty and limited health, to simplify score logic.
bobanko7 May 2026, 20:52
@artur-hawkwing , sad to hear. We haven't checked on FF. Give it a try on chrome or safari, or EVEN EDGE -- it should work perfectly on those.
LDJam user 4249438 May 2026, 21:43
Very good design — not just in the game itself, but in the menus as well.
Thanks for the tutorial and the translation. Finally, proper onboarding! 🙂
The gameplay is conceptually interesting, but the arrows at the bottom of the screen confuse me. When the beam is pointing downward, pressing A moves it to the right, while D moves it to the left, but the arrows seem to indicate the opposite
Thanks for the tutorial and the translation. Finally, proper onboarding! 🙂
The gameplay is conceptually interesting, but the arrows at the bottom of the screen confuse me. When the beam is pointing downward, pressing A moves it to the right, while D moves it to the left, but the arrows seem to indicate the opposite
Please, play it at itch.io:
https://bobanko.itch.io/twilighthouse