Maren's Light
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About Maren's Light
Maren's Light is a coastal defense arcade game in pixel art. One night the moon over Saltreach cracked, and since then its shards fall on the five stilt villages along the shore: Tarrow, Kelpmoor, Gullhaven, Brinewick and Sedgeholm. Maren keeps the lighthouse on the cliff and an old beacon on the sea stack across the bay, and every night she hands out what she has: a box of flares for each lamp.
Click or tap the sky and a flare climbs from the nearest lamp to that spot and blooms into a ring of light that grows, holds for a moment and fades. Any shard that touches the light bursts, and the burst is a smaller bloom of its own that can catch the next shard, and the next. The lighthouse fires fast flares with a small bloom; the beacon is slow but its bloom is wide. Each lamp has its own supply, so where you aim decides which one you spend.
Chains are the heart of the game. The second shard in one flare's chain scores double, the third triple, up to eight times. Every third link kindles: a spent flare is put back into the lamp that started the chain, so a good chain pays for itself and a missed shot is gone for the night.
The nights grow harder. Plain shards come first, slow and in small groups, and everything that falls draws a trail from the moment it appears, so you always see where it will land. From night two red shards burst into three on the way down, from night three green wisps weave from side to side, from night four great moths cross the sky dropping shards behind them, and from night six white comets hang glinting at the top for a moment before they dive at a lamp. Every fifth night is a moonfall, when whole swarms come down at once: the best chains of the run, if you catch them. Later nights fall faster and pay more for every pop.
At dawn every village still standing and every flare left unused pays a bonus. After each of the first three nights the villagers rebuild one lost village for free, and after that every 10,000 points pays for one more at the next dawn. A shard that hits a lamp puts it out until the next night. When the last village burns, the light goes out, and the game tells you which night it was and what took the last village.
Game Details
- Developer
- PixelDen (original)
- Released
- Genre
- Arcade
- Platforms
- Desktop, Mobile
- Controls
- Click anywhere in the sky to fire a flare from the nearest lamp that still has flares. Z fires the lighthouse and X fires the beacon at the aiming mark, which you move with the arrow keys or WASD, or with the mouse. Space or Enter fires the nearest lamp at the mark. P or Esc pauses and M toggles sound. On a phone or tablet, tap where you want the flare to bloom; the PAUSE and SOUND buttons sit below the play field.
- Languages
- English, Español, Deutsch
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I fire a flare in Maren's Light?
Click or tap the spot in the sky where you want the flare to bloom. It flies there from the nearest lamp that still has flares. With a keyboard you can also move the aiming mark with the arrow keys and press Z for the lighthouse or X for the beacon.
How do chains work?
Every shard that bursts makes a small ring of light of its own, and that ring can burst the next shard. The second pop in a chain scores double, the third triple, up to eight times the points. Every third pop puts one flare back into the lamp that started the chain.
What is the difference between the lighthouse and the beacon?
The lighthouse on the left has eleven flares that fly fast but bloom small. The beacon on the right has eight flares that fly slowly but bloom wide. Fast flares are for single shards close to the ground, wide ones for groups.
What happens if a shard hits a lamp?
The lamp goes out and cannot fire until the next night, even if it still had flares. Both lamps are relit and refilled at the start of every night.
Can I get a burned village back?
Yes. At the dawns after the first three nights the villagers rebuild one burned village for free. After that, every 10,000 points they save up to rebuild, and at the next dawn one burned village stands again. You can bank up to two rebuilds.
What are comets and moonfall nights?
From night six, white comets appear at the top of the sky. Each one hangs there glinting for a moment, with a dotted line showing which lamp it is aiming at, and then dives fast. Burst it while it hangs or keep a fast flare ready. Every fifth night is a moonfall: the shards come in large, tight swarms, slower than usual, which makes them the best nights for long chains.
How is the score calculated?
Each pop is worth its base points (25 for a shard, 50 for a splitting shard, 60 for a wisp, 150 for a moth, 80 for a comet) times its place in the chain, up to eight, times the night multiplier, which grows every second night. At dawn each standing village pays 100 and each unused flare 5, also times the night multiplier.
