Hollow Lantern is proof mobile games can have real soul

Every few months a mobile game reminds me why I do this, and this year Hollow Lantern was that game. It is a quiet adventure through a hand-drawn town where the lights keep going out, and you are the one poking around trying to understand why.

There is no combat, no timers, no pressure. You explore, you talk to strange little characters, and you notice things. The puzzles are gentle and never made me reach for a guide, which is rarer than it should be.

What got me was the mood. The art and the soft soundtrack build this melancholy, dreamlike feeling that most phone games never even attempt. I found myself slowing down just to look at the backgrounds.

It is short, maybe five or six hours, and I mean that as a compliment. It says what it wants to say and gets out of the way. I would rather have five tight hours than fifty padded ones.

If you have written off mobile games as shallow, this is the one I would put in your hands to change your mind. Just play it somewhere quiet and let it breathe.