I love thunderstorms. They're oddly relaxing. I love fireflies, too, and anyone who also grew up in a backyard full of them might understand why.
I also love games that are beautiful, and Light the Night is one such game. Playing as a firefly (or lightning bug), you zip through dark skies—by moving your finger on the touch interface up or down—that occasionally light up with the strike of lightning. For once, lightning is actually your friend.
As you're navigating the night, you need to be cognizant of the flowers that poof on collision. One too many hits will steal the light away from you, eventually killing your poor, adventurous firefly protagonist. Lightning, however, can actually resuscitate you. So not only is it peaceful, intermittent cracks of thunder and bursts of bright color, but it's also your savior.
Light fills your meter when you swipe your firefly towards the direction of soft balls of light called lumens. Collect enough and you can spend them on upgrades. These vary from cosmetic ones—who can resist the pastry cat design that looks deceptively like Nyan Cat, or the panda firefly skin!?—to more useful ones like double lumens points, longer boosts, and 25% more dandelion encounters.
Dandelions, those typically pesky, allergy symptom-inducing weeds, act as bonus or power-up items in the game. It's only appropriate that light replenishment, boosts, and a protective barrier are lifelines thrown to you by a plant that's known for blowing wishes on it.
It bears repeating that Light the Night is a beautiful looking game. But the music is just as noteworthy. While lots of mobile games seem to have music as a supplementary experience, I can definitely see myself trying to find a download of this one to use for my work playlist.
But the best part? It's free for a limited promotion. Go grab it!
Light the Night [Free, iTunes]