A Light in the Gloam
Launches 13 October 2026 · PC · Adventure, Indie, RPG
Ten floors under a town that has fed a flame for nine hundred years. Take three people down, map it square by square, fight what lives there in turns, and find out what the feeding costs. A first-person dungeon crawler in the old style, with four endings.
Story
The flame on the hill has burned since before the town had a name. It is not fire. It is the idea of fire, it has to be fed, and feeding it is what the Lanternguard is actually for. Eleven days ago your mother went down into the Deepworks to feed it, with the Princess walking behind her as witness. Nobody came back up. The flame is down a hand's width, which it has never done before. And a man who stands where no light touches him has put an offer to the King: he has the Captain and the Princess, they are both alive, and he gives them back on the day Hearthold lets the flame go out. There is nobody else left who can hold a lantern. There is you, a recruit's lantern, your mother's knife, which is a bad knife, and the key to the Deepworks. Descend. Fight. Retreat. Save. Shop. Sleep. Descend deeper. That is the whole shape of it, and it does not get more complicated, only worse. Ten floors, one square at a time. First person, four directions, no free camera. The mazes are fixed, so the one you learn is the one that is there tomorrow. Turn-based fights for a party of three. 46 spells and 43 monsters. Nine of those are bosses, and eight of the nine answer a mechanic rather than...
Gameplay
The flame on the hill has burned since before the town had a name. It is not fire. It is the idea of fire, it has to be fed, and feeding it is what the Lanternguard is actually for. Eleven days ago your mother went down into the Deepworks to feed it, with the Princess walking behind her as witness. Nobody came back up. The flame is down a hand's width, which it has never done before. And a man who stands where no light touches him has put an offer to the King: he has the Captain and the Princess, they are both alive, and he gives them back on the day Hearthold lets the flame go out. There is nobody else left who can hold a lantern. There is you, a recruit's lantern, your mother's knife, which is a bad knife, and the key to the Deepworks. Descend. Fight. Retreat. Save. Shop. Sleep. Descend deeper. That is the whole shape of it, and it does not get more complicated, only worse. Ten floors, one square at a time. First person, four directions, no free camera. The mazes are fixed, so the one you learn is the one that is there tomorrow. Turn-based fights for a party of three. 46 spells and 43 monsters. Nine of those are bosses, and eight of the nine answer a mechanic rather than simply owning more HP. The walk back up is part of the game. You save in town, not in the dark. Turning around with a full bag and a wounded party is a win, and knowing when to do it is most of the...
Features
- Single-player
- Steam Achievements
- Full controller support
- Camera Comfort
- Color Alternatives
- Custom Volume Controls
- Adjustable Difficulty
- Keyboard Only Option
Developed by Petersen Projects. Published by Petersen Projects.