Gloamwatch

About this game

Gloamwatch is a free tower defense game where nothing shoots. Raiders only take damage inside lantern beams. Aim each cone by hand across ten nights, trading narrow, hard-hitting light for wide beams that catch more raiders but burn oil. Plays in your browser with no download.

Gloamwatch is a tower defense game with one unusual rule: nothing shoots. You are the lamplighter on watch, and shadowy raiders walk winding lanes toward the Hearth, the village fire. They cannot be hurt by anything except light. Your lanterns do no targeting of their own, so every point of damage comes from where you choose to aim.

You build lanterns on fixed posts and drag each lantern's cone onto the lane. A raider takes damage only while it stands inside a beam, so the length of lane your cone covers and the speed of the raider decide how much damage lands. Cones turn at a limited rate, which means you have to lead a target instead of snapping onto it. Raiders that are lit get a bright outline and a health bar, and a raider that falls does not bleed. It dissolves into drifting light.

Width is the main decision. A narrow cone hits harder, up to one and a half times the normal damage, which suits slow, heavy raiders. A wider cone catches more raiders at once but hits each one more weakly, and the widest settings burn oil while they are actually lighting something. Oil is the only currency. You earn it when raiders dissolve and at the end of each wave, and you spend it on new lanterns, on Polish upgrades that add damage and range, and on flaring cones wide. If your oil runs out, wide cones fall back to standard, so you are never left without working lanterns.

Four lanterns arrive across the campaign: the Hand Lamp, the Beacon with its long narrow beam, the Sweeper whose beam swings back and forth around your aim, and the Brazier, which lights a circle and needs no aiming. Five kinds of raider test different habits. Skulks are the baseline, Scurriers are fast, Hulks are slow and heavy, Snuffers douse any lantern they reach, and Veiled raiders ignore wide beams entirely.

There are ten hand-made nights, each lasting roughly three to six minutes at normal speed. Winning a night unlocks the next and earns up to three stars, based on how much of the Hearth you saved. You can switch between 1x and 2x speed, pause at any time, and play with mouse, touch or keyboard. If a night fails, a tip names what slipped through, and an optional Second Wind may be offered when available, letting you resume from the wave that was running. The game saves in your browser, needs no account, and respects your device's reduced motion setting.

How to play

1. Press Play and choose Night 1. In the preparation phase the game is paused, so you can take your time.
2. Tap or click an empty post and pick a lantern from the build cards at the bottom. Building costs oil.
3. Drag anywhere on the playfield, or tap a point, to turn the selected lantern's cone toward the lane. Aim where raiders will be, because cones turn at a limited rate.
4. Press Light the watch (or Space) to send the first wave. Raiders take damage only inside beams and dissolve when their health runs out.
5. Between and during waves, set each lantern's width, Polish it, sell it to rebuild elsewhere, or call the next wave early for bonus oil.
6. Keep the Hearth above zero until the last wave is cleared. Finish with more Hearth left to earn more stars and unlock the next night.

Controls

Tips

• Aim at the spot where raiders bunch up, not at one raider. A single cone that catches a whole line makes a chain of dissolves and brings oil in quickly.
• Use Pinpoint for Hulks and Veiled raiders. Slow, heavy targets reward the extra damage of a narrow cone, and Veiled raiders ignore anything wider than Standard.
• Leave a wide setting on only for crowds. Oil burns only while a lantern is lighting at least one raider, so a wide cone costs nothing while it is idle.
• Light Snuffers before they reach your lanterns. A Snuffer that gets within about 100 pixels douses a lantern for several seconds and dissolves without paying out oil.
• Lead fast Scurriers. Because cones turn at a limited rate, start swinging a beam toward the lane ahead of them instead of reacting once they are past.
• Place Braziers where lanes bend. They light a full circle, so a corner or chokepoint is where they do the most work.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gloamwatch?

It is a free tower defense game for your browser in which nothing shoots. You build lanterns, aim their cones at the lanes, and raiders are damaged only while they stand in the light.

How is the damage done if the lanterns do not shoot?

Each lantern deals continuous damage to everything inside its cone. How much damage a raider takes depends on how long it stays in the beam, so where and when you point the cone is the whole skill.

What does making a cone wider do?

A narrow cone hits harder, up to one and a half times normal damage. Wide and Flood cones catch more raiders but weaken each hit and burn oil while they are lighting someone. Veiled raiders take no damage from Wide or Flood beams.

How do the ten nights and stars work?

Win a night to unlock the next one. One star is for winning, two for finishing with at least 10 Hearth left, and three for at least 14. You can replay any night you have unlocked to improve your stars.

What is Second Wind?

When a night fails, a Second Wind button may be offered. If you take it, you resume from the start of the wave that was running with the Hearth restored, and that night's stars are capped at two. It is optional, and the game works fully without it.

Do I need to download anything, and does it work on a phone?

No download or account is needed, and your progress is saved in your browser. It plays with mouse, touch or keyboard and is laid out for landscape, so hold your phone sideways.