The night waits. Choose one improvement to the light; it lasts until dawn. Keys 1, 2 and 3 choose too.
Paused
The lamp burns on and the sea holds still. Press P, Escape or the button to continue.
Release notes
v1.10.2current
Readable release records
Existing documentation becomes readable and citable without launching a watch.
The closed release-notes panel is included in the initial HTML, with stable links to its versions. Existing notes and help are exported as Markdown and JSON.
Canonical and structured metadata describe the game using the existing introduction and author-supplied provenance. Gameplay, watches, logbook and commendations are unchanged.
v1.10.1
Readable notes and a way back
Release notes receive scrolling input, and the keeper can return to the preceding page.
Release notes, help and logbook receive pointer input instead of passing it to the game underneath. Their panels use the viewport so long entries remain readable on portrait phones and short landscape screens.
Panels support wheel, touch and keyboard scrolling. Opening a panel focuses its scroll area; closing it returns focus to the control that opened it.
A Back link returns to the preceding same-site page, with the AI games collection as the destination for direct visits. The controls wrap on narrow screens.
Existing gameplay and the distinct lightkeep_game_start event are preserved. The event now reports game_version 1.10.1.
v1.10.0
Commendations
Goals beyond the score, a better first impression, and sound that comes from where the ship is.
Twelve commendations, earned by play and kept in this browser: First light, Dawn keeper, Spotless, Unbroken, Lifeboat, Storm pilot, Off the bank, Every rig, Quick hands, By lamp alone, Second week and Old salt. Each is announced over the sea when earned, listed on the end screen, and shown in the logbook with its condition.
The title screen is now kept by a competent keeper: behind the card the beam finds the darkest ship in reach and brings ships home, instead of letting them wreck.
Horns, bells, wrecks and thunder now come from the left or right according to where they happen.
The HUD only touches the page when a value changes, which spares slower devices.
The title card scrolls on short screens so the resume button and the oath are always reachable.
v1.9.0
The keeper's rest
A release about your time. A watch now saves itself and can be resumed from the title screen, the nights announce themselves on the water, the logbook keeps lifetime totals, and the help is sorted into sections.
Resume: the watch is saved every few seconds, on pause and when the tab closes. The title screen offers to resume it at the night and score it was at, with every ship, upgrade, lamp and the keeper's choice in progress exactly as left. Finishing or starting a watch clears the save.
Title cards: Night, Dawn and Week announce themselves in large letters over the sea, with the upgrade just chosen beneath the night number.
Lifetime totals at the top of the logbook: watches, ships home, dawns, nights kept and best streak.
Help is now in four sections: Controls, The sea, Score and choices, Ways to play.
Fixed: pause could be toggled while the keeper's choice was open, leaving a pause screen under the cards.
Enter or Space on the title screen resumes a saved watch when there is one.
v1.8.0
Harbor lights
Feedback and welcome. The harbor fills with the ships you bring home, a run of safe arrivals is rewarded, ships answer the light, their course is readable at a glance, and keepers who want a calmer week can have one.
Streak: every ship home without a loss in between raises the next reward by 5 %, up to half again at ten in a row. The HUD shows the streak and its multiplier from two onward; the end screen records your best run.
Moored ships: ships you bring home lie alongside the pier for the rest of the watch, nodding on the swell, up to six at a time.
Course hints: a ship in the beam shows a dotted line to where she is steering next, pale for the safe ring and green once she is bound for the harbor.
Hails: a ship answers the light with a short horn when the beam first finds her, deeper for a barge and brighter for a clipper, no more than once every six seconds per ship.
Fair weather: a gentler week from the title screen, with no fog, half the wind and two fewer ships at once, at three fifths of the reward. It sits apart from the oath hardships and is marked in the logbook and the copied result. The daily watch ignores it.
Help describes streaks, course hints and fair weather.
v1.7.0
Shadows and mirrors
More ways to build a light and more to look at. Three new keeper's choices, long shadows thrown by whatever the beam touches, an island with a cottage, pines and surf, gulls at dawn, and a renderer that quietly lowers detail on machines that cannot keep up.
Three new choices in the pool of nine: Spare lamp (one more lamp, offered from night three, once), Rear mirror (a short second beam straight behind the lens, once) and Bell buoy (ships commit to the channel from further out, once). Once-only picks never return to the offer.
Shadows: rocks and ships caught in the beam throw long shadows away from the lamp across the water. Shoals, being under the surface, cast none.
The island has a keeper's cottage with a lit window, wind-bent pines and a ring of surf that swells with the wind. Gulls wheel over the tower as the sun comes up.
Adaptive quality: the renderer measures its own draw cost and drops shadows, most of the sparkle, the afterglow density and most of the rain when a frame runs long, then restores them when it can.
The lamps row in the HUD grows when a spare lamp is taken.
v1.6.0
The long watch
For keepers who see the dawn and want more: a second week of longer nights, an oath of hardships with a reward to match, seas you can share by link, and a quiet music bed under the sea and wind.
Another week: after dawn, stay for a second week. Dusk falls, night eight begins, and from there arrivals come faster, more ships sail at once, more are taking water, and the wind blows harder up to a plateau. Upgrades, lamps and score carry over. Each week ends at its own dawn and the offer repeats.
Keeper's oath: three hardships on the title screen, remembered between watches: Dark lantern (no flares), Thin oil (two lamps), Early fog (fog from the first night). Each adds a fifth to every reward and is listed on the end screen, in the logbook and in the copied result. The daily watch ignores the oath so its scores stay comparable.
Sea links: open the game with ?seed=NUMBER to play a particular sea, and copy a link to the sea you just kept from the end screen. The copied result now ends with that link.
Music: a slow synthesised pad that changes chord each night and opens up in storms. N or the Music button turns it off without touching the effects; the choice is remembered.
Fairness: a ship taking water now always gets at least enough time to make the harbor if the light finds her at once, however far out she appears. Wind no longer grows without limit, so slow barges still make headway in a late gale.
Messages and first-night tips are announced to screen readers.
v1.5.0
Shoals and moonlight
A second kind of hazard that gives second chances, a moon on the water, and the trimmings of a longer relationship with the game: a tally each night, a logbook, and a gamepad in your hands.
Shoals: about a third of the hazards are now pale sandbanks. A dark ship that runs onto one is stranded rather than lost. Hold the beam on her for two and a half seconds to work her free; the memory of the light is not enough. A stranded hull breaks up after forty seconds and then counts as a wreck. A refloated ship forgets the quick-passage bonus.
Moon path: the moon's reflection wheels slowly across the sea through the seven nights. A ship crossing it shows as a silhouette even in the dark, so there is always one more way to find a ship. Fog and storms dim it.
The keeper's choice card now opens with the tally of the night just finished: ships home, ships lost, points.
Logbook: the title screen keeps the last twelve watches with date, score, ships home, outcome and the upgrades taken.
Gamepad: left stick aims the beam, A fires a flare, Start pauses, and A, B and X pick the keeper's choice. Any button starts a watch from the title.
Messages for a stranding and a refloat, and help entries for shoals, the moon path and the gamepad.
v1.4.0
The keeper's choice
A watch is now a run you shape. Each night from the second begins with a choice of one improvement to the light, and the late nights push back harder to match. The beam leaves a glow where it has been, results can be copied with one press, and the game respects reduced-motion settings.
Keeper's choice: at the start of nights two to seven the night waits while you pick one of three improvements from six: Wider lens, Oiled bearings, Fresnel glass, Spare rockets, Lit buoys and Harbor pilots. Choices stack until dawn. Keys 1, 2 and 3 pick too.
Harder late nights to pay for the upgrades: up to eight ships at once (was seven) and the gap between arrivals now shrinks by 1.1 s per night to a floor of 2.2 s (was 0.9 s to 3 s).
Afterglow: the water keeps a fading smear of light where the beam has just swept, so you can read your own sweep.
Copy result: the end screen has a button that copies a one-line summary (score, ships by class, outcome, upgrades, and the daily date when relevant) to the clipboard.
Reduced motion: when the system asks for less motion, the frame no longer shakes, lightning flashes are dimmer and HUD animations stop.
The upgrade chosen each night is announced in the message line and listed in the copied result.
v1.3.0
Ships of every kind
Depth for the sea and a gentler first night. Not every ship handles the same any more, some arrive already in trouble, the first watch explains itself as it goes, and there is one shared sea per day to compare scores on.
Three classes of ship. Sloops are the everyday ship (100 points). Barges arrive from night two: slow, slow to turn, long in the memory, and worth 180. Clippers arrive from night three: fast, agile, forgetful of the light after two seconds, worth 150. Hull size and rigging tell them apart.
Taking water: from night four about one ship in five arrives with a red timer around her. Bring her in before it runs out and she pays double; otherwise she goes down and costs a lamp. Slow ships get proportionally more time.
Guided first night: short tips appear the first time a ship arrives, the first time your light reaches one, the first arrival, the first time two ships are dark at once, the first storm and the first ship taking water. They retire after your first completed watch.
Daily watch: the title screen offers the same sea for everyone on a given calendar day, with its own best score kept in this browser.
The end screen lists how many of each class you brought home and how many were rescued.
Wrecks leave a dark hulk and a ring of foam that settles over forty seconds, the frame shudders when a ship is lost, and the water roughens with the wind.
v1.2.0
The keeper's quarters
Quality-of-life for longer watches. Nothing about the rules or the difficulty changed; this release is about control, memory and legibility.
Pause with P or Escape, or by switching tabs. The lamp keeps burning and the sea holds still.
Best watch: your highest score, ships home and furthest night are remembered in this browser and shown on the title screen and after each game.
Touch support: tap or drag anywhere on the sea to point the beam. The page no longer scrolls or zooms under your finger, and the HUD folds down on narrow screens.
Edge markers: an amber chevron on the edge of the sea marks a ship that is on its way but not yet in view.
The lighthouse is now an upright tower with a glazed lamp room, and dawn breaks from the east with a sun on the horizon instead of a flat wash of colour.
v1.1.0
Flare, sound and a crowded sea
Scripted keepers showed the first release was too forgiving: a slow, noisy keeper that re-aimed only every two seconds still survived 29 nights out of 30. This release raises the pressure, gives you one scarce tool for the worst moments, and adds a synthesised soundscape.
Flare: press Space or the Flare button to light every ship at sea for a moment. One flare every thirty seconds; the dial in the bottom right shows the recharge.
More ships: up to seven at once on the late nights (was five), with shorter gaps between arrivals.
Ships now remember the light for three seconds instead of four.
Sound, synthesised in the browser with no audio files: sea and wind beds that follow the weather, a harbor bell for every arrival, a thud and spray for a wreck, a foghorn when a storm rises, thunder with lightning, and a dawn chord. Press M or the Sound button to mute; the choice is remembered.
Fixed: ships entering from the top or bottom edge could meet a reef within three seconds of appearing. Reefs now keep further from those edges and those ships start slightly off-screen.
Help lists the new controls.
v1.0.0
First light
Lightkeep is a single-player lighthouse game drawn entirely on an HTML canvas. You tend the lamp of a lighthouse on a rocky island. Ships arrive out of the dark from every edge of the sea and cannot see the reefs around the island. Your beam is the only thing that lets them see: a ship caught in the light steers around the rocks, follows the safe inner ring and turns into the harbor channel on the east side. A ship left in the dark keeps its heading, drifts with the wind and sooner or later strikes a reef, runs aground or is lost to the open sea.
Point the beam with the mouse or touch, or turn it with A/D or the arrow keys. The lens is heavy and swings with momentum.
Seven nights of sixty seconds each. Ships arrive faster and in greater numbers every night.
Storms from night two: the wind doubles, rain sweeps the sea and lightning briefly reveals every ship.
Fog from night three: rolling banks shorten the reach of the beam.
Ships remember the light for four seconds after the beam moves on, then sail blind again.
Three lost ships extinguish the light. Survive until dawn and every ship still at sea comes home.
Scoring: 100 per ship home, plus 10 per night, plus 25 when a ship needed less than six seconds of light.
Release notes and help open from the buttons in the top right corner; opening either pauses the night.
Logbook
Commendations
Recent watches
How to keep the light
You are the keeper. Ships arrive from the dark edges of the sea and cannot see the reefs. A ship inside your beam can see: it steers around the rocks, follows the safe ring and turns into the harbor channel on the east side of the island. A ship remembers the light for three seconds after you move on, then sails blind again, drifting with the wind.
Controls
Mouse / touch
Point the beam at the cursor. The lens is heavy and takes a moment to swing.
A / D or ← / →
Turn the beam with the keyboard.
Space or Flare button
Fire a flare: every ship at sea sees the rocks for a moment. One flare every thirty seconds.
P or Escape
Pause. The game also pauses when the tab is hidden or when Help, Release notes or the keeper's choice are open.
M · N
Sound effects on or off · music on or off.
Gamepad
Left stick aims, A fires a flare, Start pauses, A/B/X pick the keeper's choice.
The sea
Lamps
Three ships wrecked, run aground, sunk or lost to the open sea and the light fails.
Nights
Seven nights of sixty seconds. Storms arrive on night two, fog on night three. Survive until dawn.
Ships
Sloops are the everyday ship (100). Barges from night two are slow and turn like barns but pay 180. Clippers from night three are fast, agile and forget the light in two seconds; they pay 150.
Taking water
From night four some ships arrive with a red timer. Bring them in before it runs out and they pay double; otherwise they go down and cost a lamp.
Shoals
Pale sandbanks among the reefs. A dark ship that runs onto one is stranded, not lost: hold the beam on her for a few seconds to work her free. A stranded hull breaks up after forty seconds.
Moon path
The moon's reflection wheels across the sea through the night. A ship crossing it shows as a silhouette even in the dark.
Edge markers
An amber chevron on the edge of the sea marks a ship that has not come into view yet.
Course hints
A ship in the beam shows a dotted line to where she is steering next: pale for the ring, green for the harbor.
Shadows
Rocks and ships caught in the beam throw long shadows away from the lamp. Shadows and some sparkle are dropped automatically on machines that cannot keep up.
Score and choices
Score
The ship's value, plus 10 per night, plus 25 when a ship needed less than six seconds of light.
Streak
Every ship home without a loss in between raises the next reward by 5 %, up to half again at ten in a row. Any loss resets it.
Keeper's choice
At the start of every night from the second, the night waits while you pick one of three improvements: a wider lens, faster bearings, Fresnel glass, spare rockets, lit buoys, harbor pilots, a spare lamp (from night three, once), a rear mirror (once) or a bell buoy (once). Choices stack until dawn.
Ways to play
Resume
A watch saves itself every few seconds and when the tab closes. The title screen offers to resume it.
Another week
After dawn you may stay for another week. The nights from eight onward bring ships faster, more of them, more taking water, and stronger wind. Upgrades and lamps carry over.
Keeper's oath
Hardships chosen on the title screen: Dark lantern (no flares), Thin oil (two lamps), Early fog (fog from night one). Each adds a fifth to every reward.
Fair weather
A gentler week: no fog, half the wind, two fewer ships at once, rewards at three fifths.
Daily watch
One shared sea per calendar day, so scores can be compared. It ignores the oath and fair weather.
Sea links
Open the game with ?seed=NUMBER to play a particular sea; the end screen copies a link to the one you just kept.
Logbook
Lifetime totals, twelve commendations to earn, and the last twelve watches with the upgrades taken.
Best watch
Your highest score is kept in this browser and shown on the title screen.