The artstyle and dogs are adorable. I;m a sucker for games set in the Alaskan/Canadian wilderness so the setting really appealed to me. The roguelite element feels a bit easy at times and some of the dialogue can get repetitive. Ultimately, the fact it's an indie game shows at times but I still really enjoyed exploring what the game had to offer!
Gorgeous artwork, adorable doggos with cute stories, good roguelike loop that gets easier once you find things to help in future runs.
its a little cringe dialogue-wise but its really a beautiful game with some cute parts to it!
This game is currently in the Humble Choice for January 2024, and this is part of my coverage of the bundle. If you are interested in the game and it's before February 6th, 2024, consider picking up the game as part of the current monthly bundle.
Exploring Alaska with doggos.
If you like dogs, The Red Lantern may be the game for you. The beginning of the game has players meet your character’s dog, Chomper. From there you have to choose four more dogs to fill out your sled team from 9 or so stops that the player will make on the way to a sled. Then the game officially begins with your character trying to get to the cabin with the red lantern. This is a rogue-lite, with the main resources being your dog's hunger and your own. The dog's hunger goes down as you ride on, and your hunger decreases when you explore.
The problem is the game is more frustrating than interesting. You’ll go through various scenarios, but eventually, you or your dogs will starve. The game is quite hard at first, but there are special actions that will be recorded in a journal, and that gives you more supplies at the beginning. But with the initial supplies, it may be impossible to finish the game.
That sounds like a normal rogue-lite but the biggest problem is that on my second playthrough about half of the events were repeats from the original playthrough, and while this gave me a chance to try to fill in more of my journal, playing a third time would mean I’ve already found the optimal choices, and now was just repeating them because there’s not a lot of depth in most of these situations.
Pick this up if you just want a game with dogs and sleds in Alaska, but I will caution people that the dogs in this game can get injured, though there is a big option in the menu to make it so dogs will always live. Other than that, this is a really short game from what I hear, and on my second attempt, I was so close to finishing it. Interesting concept but this needed a lot more content.
If you enjoyed this review or want to know what I think of other games in the bundle, check out the full review on or subscribe to my Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/6IY4Gl2JdaQ
Exploring Alaska with doggos.
If you like dogs, The Red Lantern may be the game for you. The beginning of the game has players meet your character’s dog, Chomper. From there you have to choose four more dogs to fill out your sled team from 9 or so stops that the player will make on the way to a sled. Then the game officially begins with your character trying to get to the cabin with the red lantern. This is a rogue-lite, with the main resources being your dog's hunger and your own. The dog's hunger goes down as you ride on, and your hunger decreases when you explore.
The problem is the game is more frustrating than interesting. You’ll go through various scenarios, but eventually, you or your dogs will starve. The game is quite hard at first, but there are special actions that will be recorded in a journal, and that gives you more supplies at the beginning. But with the initial supplies, it may be impossible to finish the game.
That sounds like a normal rogue-lite but the biggest problem is that on my second playthrough about half of the events were repeats from the original playthrough, and while this gave me a chance to try to fill in more of my journal, playing a third time would mean I’ve already found the optimal choices, and now was just repeating them because there’s not a lot of depth in most of these situations.
Pick this up if you just want a game with dogs and sleds in Alaska, but I will caution people that the dogs in this game can get injured, though there is a big option in the menu to make it so dogs will always live. Other than that, this is a really short game from what I hear, and on my second attempt, I was so close to finishing it. Interesting concept but this needed a lot more content.
If you enjoyed this review or want to know what I think of other games in the bundle, check out the full review on or subscribe to my Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/6IY4Gl2JdaQ
The red lantern is a cozy game, pretty quick to finish (around 90 minutes for me) and not really deep gameplay wise. The game revolves around running with your dogs to reach a cabin at the end of the map. You get some upgrades each runs depending on what you encountered during your previous runs. I'm honestly underwhelmed by this game, it was ok for the first few runs but becomes boring after that point, the main caracter is also annoying. So beware, the price of the game might a bit steep considering the fun/amount of hours you get out of it.
honey vanilyty. (це могло б бути краще якби гг менше балакала, її нескінчена рефлексія створюють душне становище)
I don't usually like rogue-like games due to the amount of games I play so basically I don't usually get to enjoy their design of playing but this experience took me in. The feeling I got mushin' on the small Alaska terrain with the dogs is so memorable. Also, the first musher game I ever played and currently attempting to complete the journal.
This review contains spoilers
Me encantó, se volvió tedioso una vez conseguí todos los perros y simplemente repetía para descubrir diferentes encuentros, pero lo mismo estaba dedicado a platinarlo y disfrutarlo... Hasta que descubrí que es recontra difícil completar el diario y tampoco quiero estar TODO el día TODOS los días haciendo esto así que chau. Siempre te amaré Bodega.
I personally can't recommend this game right now because there is a blackscreen bug that wipes your save so until that gets fixed don't buy it.
However, I like this game. There's not enough to keep me interested to actually win but it's very cute. Ashly Burch, as usual, does an absolutely stellar job at playing a quirky weirdo. It's adorable but there's not quite enough game.
However, I like this game. There's not enough to keep me interested to actually win but it's very cute. Ashly Burch, as usual, does an absolutely stellar job at playing a quirky weirdo. It's adorable but there's not quite enough game.
love the puppies
The Red Lantern is an interesting indie roguelike about Dog Sledding. The game makes a great first impression with its graphics and voice acting, and even though the game is relatively short at about 2 hours long, it ends within minutes of overstaying its welcome. Credit to the team who made this for being realistic about the scope and showing some restraint. I beat it in 5 runs, but if I had to do a 6th, I would have started to sour on it. There is a post game and a way to be a completionist for those who want it, but I felt like I had seen everything after 4 runs.
I love the idea of having non-combat roguelites, but the game would have worked better if it was structured like Oregon Trail instead of having permanent upgrades. I found the basic gameplay loop enjoyable, but the meta progression very lacking. The basics are, you pick a direction, an event is set up, you can engage or not, and if you engage you have a second choice. There’s not much beyond that, there’s only 1 minigame (hunting), and it was so easy I never missed my shot. Most of your time is spent doing resource management, but that’s where the larger loop breaks down. Some of the permanent upgrades are incredibly impactful (like the flint and the dog boots) that it removes the sense of danger. Other ones, like fishing pole, axe, and trap I only used once and didn’t need them by the time I got them. Ultimately my final run was my least favorite run, because much of the challenge was taken away and I had seen enough of the content that I skipped through a lot of the dead ends that eat resources.
The roguelike design also makes the story feel incredibly contrived. You can look at the real-life examples of people who leave for Alaska from Into the Wild or Grizzly Man and they’re marginal outsiders who still have survival skills and know the risks. This story is about a San Francisco doctor decided her pet dog was going to lead an expedition to a remote part of Alaska and only packs enough for half a day of food, 2 fires, a band-aid, and 3 bullets. It’s only due to last minute nightmares of getting slaughtered or dying from exposure that she remembers to pack things like an axe. Ashly Birch’s skillful delivery can only suspend so much disbelief, and the fact that the entire game is voice acted at all times, it gets repetitive after about an hour. The game fails to make any kind of statement about the type of people who give everything up, or if doing that is a good idea. The threat of bears, starvation, and lack of resources doesn’t go away for the character once the game is over.
Still, it’s an interesting game and I’m glad I picked it up on a deep discount. I liked it a lot more while playing it then I do while thinking about it in hindsight.
I love the idea of having non-combat roguelites, but the game would have worked better if it was structured like Oregon Trail instead of having permanent upgrades. I found the basic gameplay loop enjoyable, but the meta progression very lacking. The basics are, you pick a direction, an event is set up, you can engage or not, and if you engage you have a second choice. There’s not much beyond that, there’s only 1 minigame (hunting), and it was so easy I never missed my shot. Most of your time is spent doing resource management, but that’s where the larger loop breaks down. Some of the permanent upgrades are incredibly impactful (like the flint and the dog boots) that it removes the sense of danger. Other ones, like fishing pole, axe, and trap I only used once and didn’t need them by the time I got them. Ultimately my final run was my least favorite run, because much of the challenge was taken away and I had seen enough of the content that I skipped through a lot of the dead ends that eat resources.
The roguelike design also makes the story feel incredibly contrived. You can look at the real-life examples of people who leave for Alaska from Into the Wild or Grizzly Man and they’re marginal outsiders who still have survival skills and know the risks. This story is about a San Francisco doctor decided her pet dog was going to lead an expedition to a remote part of Alaska and only packs enough for half a day of food, 2 fires, a band-aid, and 3 bullets. It’s only due to last minute nightmares of getting slaughtered or dying from exposure that she remembers to pack things like an axe. Ashly Birch’s skillful delivery can only suspend so much disbelief, and the fact that the entire game is voice acted at all times, it gets repetitive after about an hour. The game fails to make any kind of statement about the type of people who give everything up, or if doing that is a good idea. The threat of bears, starvation, and lack of resources doesn’t go away for the character once the game is over.
Still, it’s an interesting game and I’m glad I picked it up on a deep discount. I liked it a lot more while playing it then I do while thinking about it in hindsight.