Lighthouse: The Dark Being
Encyclopedia
Lighthouse: The Dark Being is an adventure game
developed and released by Sierra On-Line.
.
coast. According to the Players diary, he/she (personal effects in the new cottage, such as a handbag, suggest a female protagonist, but the gender is never explicitly defined) is a struggling writer who has just moved in, and recently met his eccentric
next door neighbor, Dr. Jeremiah Krick, and his daughter Amanda, who live in a nearby lighthouse. Glancing out of the window, he sees the lighthouse struck by lightning and, afterwards, begin to glow strangely. On the Player's answering machine, Dr. Krick has left a frantic message begging the player to come over to his house and watch Amanda.
Upon arriving at Dr. Kricks house, the player discovers the front door locked, darkness inside, and silence. After turning on the power and entering, the player finds Amanda in her crib, alone. Once the player has explored the house, a snap is heard, and Amanda begins crying. When the player enters her room, the "Dark Being", described in Dr. Kricks journal, takes Amanda, and jumps through a portal. At this point, the Player can either follow him through, or use Dr. Krick's laboratory to construct their own portal. Either way, the player ends up on a rocky beach in a parallel world. Krick's notes on this make reference to the real physical concept of Godel's universe.
As the player explores 6 different locations in the parallel world, the goal becomes clear. He must build an "Ionizing Cannon," whose 7 pieces are scattered between the different locations. Then, the player must use this cannon to capture the Dark Being, and save Dr. Krick and Amanda.
. Critics praised the game for being beautifully detailed, but objected to the vague and obscure puzzles.
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
developed and released by Sierra On-Line.
Gameplay
The game is a first person adventure with a point and click interface, similar to MystMyst
Myst is a graphic adventure video game designed and directed by the brothers Robyn and Rand Miller. It was developed by Cyan , a Spokane, Washington––based studio, and published and distributed by Brøderbund. The Millers began working on Myst in and released it for the Mac OS computer on September...
.
Plot
The Player starts the game in their new cottage on the OregonOregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
coast. According to the Players diary, he/she (personal effects in the new cottage, such as a handbag, suggest a female protagonist, but the gender is never explicitly defined) is a struggling writer who has just moved in, and recently met his eccentric
Eccentricity (behavior)
In popular usage, eccentricity refers to unusual or odd behavior on the part of an individual. This behavior would typically be perceived as unusual or unnecessary, without being demonstrably maladaptive...
next door neighbor, Dr. Jeremiah Krick, and his daughter Amanda, who live in a nearby lighthouse. Glancing out of the window, he sees the lighthouse struck by lightning and, afterwards, begin to glow strangely. On the Player's answering machine, Dr. Krick has left a frantic message begging the player to come over to his house and watch Amanda.
Upon arriving at Dr. Kricks house, the player discovers the front door locked, darkness inside, and silence. After turning on the power and entering, the player finds Amanda in her crib, alone. Once the player has explored the house, a snap is heard, and Amanda begins crying. When the player enters her room, the "Dark Being", described in Dr. Kricks journal, takes Amanda, and jumps through a portal. At this point, the Player can either follow him through, or use Dr. Krick's laboratory to construct their own portal. Either way, the player ends up on a rocky beach in a parallel world. Krick's notes on this make reference to the real physical concept of Godel's universe.
As the player explores 6 different locations in the parallel world, the goal becomes clear. He must build an "Ionizing Cannon," whose 7 pieces are scattered between the different locations. Then, the player must use this cannon to capture the Dark Being, and save Dr. Krick and Amanda.
Reception
Lighthouse received mediocre reviews, averaging a 67% on Game RankingsGame Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
. Critics praised the game for being beautifully detailed, but objected to the vague and obscure puzzles.