Lantern Forge

About

Lantern Forge is a single player role playing game. It was developed by Hearthfire Studios and was released on July 18, 2014. It received neutral reviews from players.

Lantern Forge is a sandbox survival game with building, crafting, and RPG elements. Mine and forage for resources to build a home, plant crops, and craft weapons and armor. Then venture out to explore the wilderness, find hidden dungeons and temples, fight unique monsters, and collect the treasures they guard.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

53%

Audience ScoreBased on 404 reviews

gameplay24 positive mentions

grinding60 negative mentions

Lantern Forge offers a fun mix of crafting, survival, and exploration, suitable for various playstyles.
The game features a variety of biomes and a large underground area to explore, providing a sense of adventure.
Regular saving and the ability to continue from where you left off make it convenient for casual play.

The game is incomplete and has numerous bugs, leading to crashes and frustrating gameplay experiences.
Controls are awkward, lacking traditional WASD movement, which can make navigation and combat cumbersome.
Development has seemingly stopped, leaving the game feeling abandoned and lacking in promised updates.

gameplay
68 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
50%
15%
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with players noting enjoyable mechanics and a fun crafting system, but also highlighting significant issues such as bugs, crashes, and a lack of content that leads to a dull experience after a few hours. While the combat and RPG elements add some depth, many feel the game is incomplete and not polished enough for a full release, with repetitive gameplay and tedious controls detracting from the overall experience. Overall, the game shows potential but requires further development to enhance its gameplay and fix existing issues.
- “First the good: the combat is fun (although simple), and the RPG mechanics give it a little extra flavor that other similar games lack.”
- “While I think this game got out of early access too soon as some ideal content is to be desired, it still has gameplay that is currently pretty fun. The crafting is straightforward as all your recipes for what can be made with what workbench are listed, which doesn't require me to look up or remember how to make something. The game starts out with a 'Don't Starve' vibe, which I think is pretty nice.”
- “Besides the survival and crafting gameplay elements, the game offers a decent and solid RPG experience with different types of armor, weapons, enchantments, and skills for you to develop your own unique character.”
- “Unfortunately, broken gameplay, poor design decisions, and a buggy client make it really hard for me to recommend this game in its current stage of development.”
- “At most, you will get an hour or two of gameplay out of it, but it's obvious that the game isn't finished and there is very little content.”
- “There are many tedious bugs and the gameplay/interface needs much work.”
grinding
62 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
3%
97%
The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players enjoying the extensive farming, crafting, and exploration opportunities, while others find the repetitive nature of these activities tedious and unfulfilling. Many noted that farming becomes less necessary as players accumulate resources easily from combat, leading to a sense of redundancy. Overall, while the game offers a variety of activities, the grind can feel excessive and detracts from the overall experience for some players.
- “So in the end, it's really repetitive and grindy, and I'd say avoid it, unfortunately.”
- “This gets tedious rapidly, and the problem is this is the entirety of the game.”
- “It is quite grindy... I almost feel like I am playing a free-to-play phone game at times, even though other times it feels like a fully fleshed out RPG.”
story
50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
56%
20%
The game is primarily a sandbox experience with no overarching story, plot, or objectives, leading to a sense of aimlessness after initial gameplay. While some players appreciate the freedom from narrative constraints, many express disappointment over the lack of engaging content and the absence of quests or a clear goal, suggesting that the game has potential if future updates include a storyline or more structured gameplay elements. Overall, the consensus is that the game feels incomplete and could benefit from a more developed narrative to enhance player motivation.
- “While I enjoyed what I have played so far, without any story, plot, or some sort of engaging element, Lantern Forge tends to fall short.”
- “Things to do and a purpose behind the game or at least a story of the world would be good.”
- “Overall, I'd wait a spell for more bug fixes, some more enemies, a plot, story, or agenda to accomplish, and generally for it to be somewhat more expanded than this (if it ever is expanded on further).”
- “The game has limited content to explore, and story-wise, the game provides no plot, no choices, and no sense of urgency to motivate me to keep advancing.”
- “The game's complete lack of story or even a framing device just makes this worse, because while you can build your town and collect all the vendors, there's no reason to.”
- “There is no story whatsoever - sandbox only.”
graphics
48 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
45%
17%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the appealing art style and detailed environments, while others criticize the overall quality as "meh" and reminiscent of browser games. Players report various graphical glitches and a lack of polish, suggesting that the game feels unfinished. Despite these issues, many agree that the engaging gameplay and charming aesthetics can outweigh the graphical shortcomings.
- “The graphics are awesome, I loved the different biomes that made each game unique.”
- “The lovely art style and perfect overview of the isometric perspective is also very refreshing in a genre that is getting very saturated these days.”
- “But the graphics are engaging with a charm that has quite an appeal.”
- “The graphics are glitchy, and I'm forced to constantly restart the game (it got worse after the crash).”
- “Finicky and unnecessarily difficult/weird controls, overly simple graphics, really bad GUI, and it just always feels like a browser game for some reason.”
- “The game isn't marked as early access - it really should be, since very little about its gameplay or aesthetics feel polished enough to be a final released game.”
stability
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with numerous reports of bugs, glitches, and incomplete features that detract from the overall experience. While some players report no major issues, the majority highlight game-breaking errors and a lack of meaningful updates from the developers, leading to a perception of abandonment. Overall, the game is deemed unfinished and not worth its full price due to its persistent instability.
- “Any updates after their initial offering on Steam have largely done nothing to improve either gameplay or bugs and glitches.”
- “Near-constant runtime errors, glitches, and bugs (sometimes my character's hair will disappear, sometimes the animal sprites are replaced with large blinking white boxes, other times my hair stays visible but my armor disappears, and further still, sometimes my character is just replaced with a big ol' white box).”
- “Unfortunately, broken gameplay, poor design decisions, and a buggy client make it really hard for me to recommend Lantern Forge in this stage of development.”
music
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
50%
25%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews; while some players appreciate its fitting atmosphere and integration with sound effects, others find it repetitive and uninspiring, particularly during combat. Additionally, there are reports of bugs affecting the background music, such as incorrect timing for day/night transitions. Overall, the music contributes to the game's ambiance but suffers from technical issues and a lack of variety.
- “Gfx and animation is sweet, music and SFX fits the game nicely with great atmosphere.”
- “- fitting music & sound”
- “(music puts you to sleep and doesn't change in combat)”
- “I get a black screen with music that I cannot exit from with any key combination.”
- “The background music plays, but no logo or main menu pops up.”
- “(Music puts you to sleep and doesn't change in combat) (no structure stacking [2nd floors]) (very limited and dull GUI)”
replayability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
The game offers significant replayability, with players noting its enjoyable content and potential for more, especially considering its low price of $10. Many users feel that the value provided justifies repeated playthroughs, making it a worthwhile investment.
- “That equals infinite replayability for a measly ten bucks.”
- “The game you do get is very enjoyable and has a lot to do for that $10, and has replay value.”
- “Yes, the devs sort of left us hanging and it hurts since the game is very fun and has a lot of potential to be something more, but the game you do get is very enjoyable and has a lot to do for that $10, and has replay value.”
- “Tons of replay value here and worth the asking price of $10 USD.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Recent updates have significantly improved the game's performance, addressing previous issues related to long load times after the introduction of z-levels. The developers continue to work on optimization and polish, enhancing the overall experience while also adding new content.
- “The devs have also been poking around and patching a bit lately and have improved performance (one of my biggest negatives since changing z-levels was painfully long) and added some content.”
- “Now, working in their free time after their job, they just released a new update with optimization, some polish, and a little more content.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players appreciate the character development in the game, noting that it offers good potential for those who enjoy crafting and adventuring. The emphasis on character growth enhances the overall gameplay experience.
- “If you are into crafting, character development, and adventuring, this game has good potential.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the humor in the game's potential, noting that it is already enjoyable and has not yet reached its final form, suggesting that even more comedic elements may be on the way.
- “The funny part is it is already a great game and not even done yet, so there's still more to come.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its impressive graphics and animations, complemented by fitting music and sound effects that enhance the overall experience.
- “The graphics and animation are stunning, and the music and sound effects fit the game perfectly, creating a fantastic atmosphere.”
- “The graphics and animation are stunning, and the music and sound effects fit the game perfectly, creating a fantastic atmosphere.”