The Golden Lanthorn

Press kit

Factsheet

Name
The Golden Lanthorn
Developer
Marcus Kellerman
Platforms
Mac, Windows, Linux and Android, and a Docker image for home servers
Plays
Z-machine games (versions 1–8, including the graphical v6 games), Glulx and Blorb, and Scott Adams adventures
Features
Library with IFDB covers and details; IFDB search and download of free games; maps that draw themselves; room and item search; hints and a Documents tab of manuals, feelies, solutions and maps; the Guiding Light's suggestions; separate fonts and sizes for prose and fixed-width text; play from other devices on the home network; saves and settings shared with the free Lanthorn TUI
Demo
Free, on itch.io now, with the whole of Zork I, built from Infocom's source code, which Microsoft released under the MIT licence
Full app
Out now, on itch.io
Price
A small one-time price; see itch.io
Website
goldenlanthorn.com
Contact
hello@goldenlanthorn.com

In one sentence

The Golden Lanthorn is a warm, modern player for classic and modern interactive fiction, with a library of covers, IFDB search, maps that draw themselves and every game's own look.

In one paragraph

The Golden Lanthorn is a player for interactive fiction for Mac, Windows, Linux and Android, out now on itch.io, with a free demo. It shelves your game files as a library with covers and details, searches IFDB and downloads free games, sets them in proper book typefaces in the font and size you choose, draws a map beside you as you explore, and opens hints and a game's manuals and feelies in a side panel without losing your place. It plays Z-machine games, including the graphical Infocom v6 titles with their original art, as well as Glulx, Blorb and Scott Adams adventures. A built-in web server lets a tablet or another computer on the home network play the same library, with the same saves, and the full app also comes as a Docker image, so a home server or NAS can host the library for every browser in the house. It is built on Lanthorn, the free, open-source interactive-fiction TUI by the same developer, and shares its saves and settings. The free demo, on itch.io now, includes the whole of Zork I, built from Infocom's source code, which Microsoft released under the MIT licence.

Logo and lanterns

Screenshots

Taken from the app. The games shown are credited below; the Infocom ones are not included with the app. Click a screenshot for the full-size file.

Lost Pig with the map panel open beside the game.
Lost Pig (Admiral Jota), with the map.
The library of games with cover art and games in progress.
The library.
Counterfeit Monkey with its own picture window beside the game.
Counterfeit Monkey (Emily Short).
Junior Arithmancer with the command tray open.
The command tray, in Junior Arithmancer (Mike Spivey).
Zork I in its authentic Amiga colours, with the map panel open.
Zork I in its authentic Amiga colours, with the map (Infocom).
Zork I in its authentic Amiga colours, with the inventory panel open.
Zork I in its authentic Amiga colours, with the inventory (Infocom).
Zork Zero in black-and-white Macintosh artwork, with the map.
Zork Zero, Macintosh black-and-white artwork, with the map (Infocom).
Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur, in full colour, with the game text under the picture.
Arthur, Amiga artwork (Infocom).
Scopa, a card game drawn as artwork.
Scopa (Aldo Cumani), a card game.
The library with the Add a game from IFDB dialog open.
Searching IFDB from the library.
The game page for The Dreamhold, with its cover and description.
A game page: The Dreamhold (Andrew Plotkin).
The Impossible Bottle with a hand-drawn floor plan in the Documents tab.
The Documents tab, in The Impossible Bottle (Linus Åkesson).
Toby's Nose with every word the game knows underlined.
The Guiding Light, in Toby's Nose (Chandler Groover).
Zork I as the free demo plays it, with the map.
Zork I, included with the free demo.
Zork I in Spanish with the English beneath each line, and commands typed in Spanish.
The Babel Lamp: Zork I in Spanish, with the English beneath (Infocom).
Journey from its Amiga disk, with a tavern picture and the party's command menus.
Journey, Amiga artwork (Infocom).
Photopia in its own frame, with red text for the scenes on Mars.
Photopia (Adam Cadre), in its own frame.
Beyond Zork with its hint menu open in the Hints tab.
Beyond Zork, with its hint menu (Infocom).
Violet in EB Garamond with the settings panel open for this game.
Settings for one game, in Violet (Jeremy Freese).
Lost Pig on a phone.
Lost Pig on a phone.

Infocom games shown are not included, apart from Zork I in the free demo; Zork, Zork Zero, Beyond Zork, Arthur and Journey are trademarks of their respective owners.

Contact

hello@goldenlanthorn.com