How to Play Lighthouse Keepers
Two keepers, two lighthouses and a harbour full of rocks between them. Take turns to fire across the water, and be the first to smash the other keeper's lantern.
Aiming: angle and power
You fire from the gallery of your lighthouse, the West light on the left or the East light on the right. Each shot takes two numbers:
- Angle, from 0° to 90°, measured up from the horizontal towards the other light. A low angle sends the shot out fast and flat; a high angle lobs it up and over.
- Power, from 1 to 100. The more power, the faster the shot leaves the gun and the further it goes.
Shots follow a true arc: gravity pulls them down from the moment they leave the gun. With no wind and level ground, 45° throws a shot furthest for a given power. Your last shot stays on the picture as a dotted trail, so you can see how far off it was.
The wind
The wind is shown above the harbour, from calm up to 10, with an arrow for its direction, and the pennant on each lighthouse roof streams the same way. It pushes every shot sideways for as long as the shot is in the air, so a high lob drifts much further than a low, fast shot. A wind blowing towards the other light carries your shots further; a wind against you holds them back.
The wind is set at the start of each round and stays the same until a lantern is smashed. It's the same wind for both keepers, which means it helps one of you and hinders the other.
The harbour
Every round is played over a new harbour: a headland at each side, and open water between them with rocky islets and sea stacks in the way. Where a shot ends decides what happens:
| The shot… | What happens |
|---|---|
| hits the other lantern | The light goes out and you win the round. |
| hits your own lantern | Your light goes out, and the round goes to the other keeper. |
| hits a stone tower below the lantern | Nothing: the stone holds. Your turn is over. |
| lands on rock | It bursts and knocks a chunk out of the rock. Keep hitting a stack and you can blast a way through it. |
| falls in the sea | A splash, and nothing more. |
| flies off the side | It's gone. Shots that go above the top of the picture are still in play, marked by a small arrow, and come back down. |
After every miss the game tells you roughly how far short or long the shot fell of the other light, measured along the line of fire.
Rounds and matches
- Keepers take turns, one shot each, until a lantern is smashed. That ends the round.
- The West keeper fires first in the first round, and the first shot alternates from round to round after that.
- A match is first to 3 or 5 lanterns; you choose before you start.
Opponents
Play a friend on the same screen, taking turns at the controls, or play the computer, which always keeps the East light. The computer finds its shot the way a good player would, then adds mistakes, which shrink with each shot it fires in a round: it learns from its misses, just as you do.
| Level | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Easy | Wild first shots, and slow to settle. Good for learning the controls. |
| Normal | Usually close within a few shots. Win the race by bracketing quickly. |
| Hard | Often hits with its first or second shot. You need to be close from the start. |
Your record against each computer level is kept: matches won, winning streaks and your accuracy.
Controls
- Drag the Angle and Power sliders, press − and + to change them one step at a time, or type a number in the box.
- With a slider focused, the arrow keys change it one step at a time.
- Press Fire, or Enter in either number box.
- A dashed line from your gallery shows the direction you're aiming; it gets longer with more power.
- Click or tap the picture while a shot is flying to see where it lands straight away.
The match is saved on your device after every shot, so you can close the page and carry on later. Ready? Play a match, or read the strategy guide first.