🎃 The Lightkeeper | Long Play – I Came Here to Forget. Something Here Remembers

It’s Halloween night, and we’re celebrating with a special long play of The Lightkeeper. An isolated lighthouse, unsettling mysteries, and the uncomfortable feeling that something from the past refuses to stay buried. What could possibly go wrong?

For the final evening of our Halloween streaming week, I wanted something atmospheric that we could complete in one sitting. Having played this game several months ago, I knew it was quite short, but it tells an interesting story. There was also the possibility of a few rounds of Marbles on Stream afterwards, assuming everybody survived the lighthouse!

🌊 About the Game

The Lightkeeper is a psychological horror game set in 1925. We play as Arthur, a First World War veteran who takes a job maintaining a lighthouse on a remote island, hoping to escape his troubled past.

What initially looks like a peaceful existence involves operating the lighthouse, managing supplies, exploring the island and investigating what happened to its previous keepers.

It’s almost a walking simulator in some respects, with the story unfolding as we explore. There are unsettling encounters, mysterious deaths and multiple endings, although I think the real horror comes from understanding what Arthur has brought to the island with him.

🧭 Where We Are in the Journey

This was a complete playthrough rather than another episode in an ongoing series. I’d previously finished The Lightkeeper in approximately an hour and fifteen minutes, including collecting the various items scattered around the game.

This time, our plan was to experience the entire story during our Halloween special. It was also the conclusion of a full week of spooky games, so the lighthouse seemed an appropriate place to finish.

We began with Arthur arriving on the island, apparently facing an unknown period of isolation. By the end of the evening, we would discover why he had come there and follow his story through to one of its possible conclusions.

🔦What Happens in This Episode

Our first job was to get settled into the lighthouse, put away our belongings and begin the evening maintenance. We switched on the main light before heading down to turn off the foghorn. It was a fairly straightforward introduction to the game, although the camera movement was a little jarring, and some of the controls could be rather awkward. The objectives also had a habit of not updating until I walked away from whatever I’d just operated, which occasionally left me wondering whether I’d actually completed the task.

Of course, reaching the foghorn immediately distracted me from the actual game. I wanted to understand how these older steam-powered systems worked. Presumably, steam pressure builds inside a vessel before being released through a valve or diaphragm to produce the sound. But where exactly was the water coming from? Was there some sort of pipe running from the sea, perhaps hidden beneath the ground?

Gary and JD joined the discussion, and we even asked AIDA to explain the mechanism. Her explanation involved a boiler, pressurised steam and a vibrating valve, which was pretty much what I’d been thinking. I was probably reading far too much into a piece of game scenery, but I still find that sort of machinery fascinating. I even got talking about the old hand-cranked air raid sirens, which I’d quite like to have, although I suspect I’d eventually get told off for using one!

The lighthouse also reminded me of fire watch towers and Firewatch, which we played several times years ago. We got talking about how enjoyable a few months somewhere remote might actually be. Imagine maintaining the equipment, then spending the rest of the day relaxing with a good book. I’ve watched videos about people working at remote stations, and it is something I could imagine trying for a few months just to get away from everything.

Chat naturally raised practical concerns, particularly whether there was a bathroom at the top of the tower. Happy Cat suggested using the window, which would certainly be one solution! The lighthouse keeper’s pipe also inspired suggestions involving smoking jackets and pipes for future streams. Gary pointed out that we wouldn’t actually need to smoke them, and Happy Cat suggested getting pipes that blow bubbles instead. We even wondered whether smoking jackets would be appropriate for when I eventually have my photographs taken with William Shatner.

Back in the game, our next priority was getting some rest. Unfortunately, Arthur’s room was rather cold, so we had to get the fire going before settling down for the night. The fire started remarkably quickly, prompting a few comments from chat about how convenient that would be in real life. Gary also noticed that our supply of matches didn’t seem to be going down, despite us using them. Apparently, Arthur had brought a rather special matchbox with him.

As we continued with the lighthouse’s daily routines, things gradually became more unsettling. The seagulls were behaving strangely, and we started finding dead birds around the island. We also discovered various keys, mysterious objects and areas that weren’t immediately accessible. At one point, there appeared to be somebody standing high up in the lighthouse, although investigating didn’t provide any straightforward answers.

I also managed to reach midnight without remembering to turn the main lighthouse light on! You would think that a lighthouse keeper might consider that a fairly important part of the job. I was also questioning why Arthur didn’t simply replenish the oil during the day, rather than waiting until the last moment to deal with it. It seemed a much more sensible way of organising things.

Throughout all this, chat was keeping itself entertained. Mr Smith, who was listening in audio-only mode, selected a random jukebox song. It turned out to be a rather cheeky parody of the infamous Beverly Crusher ghost episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. We had a good laugh about that one, particularly as I still consider the original episode one of the worst in the series.

JD also organised a chat heist, which everyone managed to survive, despite a little confusion over the commands needed to join. Cheesecollector was experimenting with jump scares and translation commands, while Happy Cat was threatening to cause mischief. We even had a discussion about whether the game really counted as horror, although some of the later events would make that classification a little easier to understand.

There was also a more personal moment when Cheesecollector shared some sad news about losing his grandfather. It was lovely seeing everyone offer their support and condolences. As I said during the stream, we’re all here for one another, whether somebody wants to talk about what’s happening or simply sit and spend some time with the community. That’s an important part of our little group.

Returning to Arthur’s increasingly unpleasant situation, we eventually made our way to the radio room. The message we received was hardly reassuring. Essentially, Arthur was told to stop complaining, carry on with his duties, and wait for somebody to relieve him in a few days.

Meanwhile, the strange occurrences were getting worse. We encountered an unfamiliar skull, disturbing messages, more dead birds and problems with the lighthouse itself. At one point, Arthur didn’t appear to have a reflection, even though his lamp did. There were also some rather unpleasant encounters and a few jump scares, although I still thought the game was more unsettling than genuinely frightening.

The story became particularly interesting when we started exploring beneath the lighthouse. The underground passages seemed to go on forever, with rooms turning upside down, doors refusing to open and corridors leading us around in circles. Gary pointed out that the underground area appeared to be bigger than the island itself, and I was beginning to think Arthur had a TARDIS hidden down there somewhere.

We spent a little time trying to work out which passages we’d already explored and which doors we could now unlock. There were moments when I was convinced we’d missed something, only to discover another route nearby. The repeated message that the light unveils the truth was also becoming increasingly important as the story developed.

Even during these more disturbing sections, there were plenty of distractions from chat. AIDA temporarily appeared to stop answering JD’s questions about what lighthouse keepers would have eaten in the nineteenth century. I suspected her responses were taking too long and timing out, so we tried a simpler question to see whether she was still working.

Eventually, we received an answer involving preserved food, bread, tea and, naturally, cheese under Cheesecollector’s supervision. Mr Smith also accepted a Pokémon hunting contract to deal with a Golurk infestation at an observatory, armed with nothing more than a water balloon. Unfortunately, the contract failed, although the resulting story about soaking the telescope and having the invoice rejected was rather entertaining.

Back in The Lightkeeper, the story was moving towards its most important revelation.

As we explored further, we began encountering First World War recruitment posters and military imagery. We got talking about when the game was supposed to be set and whether the posters and equipment belonged to the First World War. Mr V helped identify the period, and Cheesecollector even recognised one of the rifles as a Lee-Enfield.

Eventually, we witnessed a military radio exchange in which Arthur was urgently asked to provide enemy coordinates for an airstrike. He supplied the coordinates, but something had gone terribly wrong. The strike hit his own men, and we subsequently discovered that civilians sheltering nearby had also been killed.

We were taken through scenes of the trenches and the consequences of that mistake, which completely changed how I interpreted the story.

Rather than the monsters simply being supernatural enemies, I felt they represented the personal demons Arthur had brought with him. What would probably have been called shell shock at the time, or PTSD today, seemed to be at the centre of his suffering.

Arthur had made a terrible mistake during the war, resulting in the deaths of fellow soldiers and innocent civilians. He had then attempted to escape those memories by isolating himself on the island and turning to alcohol.

As he found more alcohol around the lighthouse, his experiences seemed to become increasingly disturbing. My interpretation was that he was regressing into those memories, with the monsters and strange events representing the guilt and torment he’d been carrying around for years.

The game also introduced the idea of souls trapped beneath the island, unable to escape the devil. There were references to previous keepers, strange deaths and attempts to bury the darkness. Whether those supernatural elements were intended to be entirely real or part of Arthur’s suffering was something I found interesting to think about.

For me, the main point was that he hadn’t escaped anything by coming to the lighthouse. He had simply brought his problems with him, and the isolation was forcing him to confront them.

Eventually, we reached the conclusion of the story and were presented with three possible choices. I remembered from my previous playthrough that the game had multiple endings, although I couldn’t remember exactly what was required to reach each one.

This time, I selected the option to escape the island and return to civilisation. I wanted to see whether Arthur could finally leave his personal demons behind.

The story then jumped forward twenty years, to the conclusion of the Second World War. We heard a radio announcement reporting the death of Adolf Hitler, with the repeated declaration that the devil was dead.

It was an interesting connection to the earlier events, particularly given the game’s recurring references to the devil and the suffering Arthur had experienced during the previous war.

Unfortunately, the ending wasn’t particularly happy. The scene eventually revealed Arthur lying dead on the ground as well.

My interpretation was that, while the world was celebrating the destruction of one demon and the approaching end of the war, Arthur’s own demons had finally caught up with him. Despite leaving the island, he hadn’t truly escaped what had happened all those years earlier.

It was a rather sad conclusion, but I thought it was an interesting little story. The Lightkeeper isn’t especially long, and much of the gameplay involves walking around and interacting with objects, but I do think it is worth experiencing. The psychological side of the story was considerably more interesting to me than the occasional jump scare.

We completed the entire game in approximately an hour, which was pretty much what I’d expected. When I originally bought it several months ago, my first playthrough took around an hour and fifteen minutes, including the time spent searching for collectibles.

If you enjoy shorter, story-driven horror games, particularly ones that leave you thinking about what you’ve just experienced, I would recommend giving The Lightkeeper a try.

With our lighthouse duties finally completed, we moved over to Marbles on Stream for a few races before finishing the evening.

Unfortunately, Marbles initially refused to load properly. I’ve been having more problems with it following recent updates, and it sometimes seems that every update introduces another issue. After a couple of attempts, we eventually got everything working and looked for some suitably Halloween-themed tracks.

Our first race took place on a rather unusual course involving UFOs, a cornfield maze and various obstacles. Mr Smith was among the first to head into the maze, while JD was taking his time further back. We watched everyone making their way through the course, wondering who would get caught by the obstacles or sent over the edge.

Mr V eventually claimed the first victory, with Mr Smith finishing second while much of the remaining field failed to survive. The second race brought another collection of eliminations, with AIDA managing to take the win.

For our final race, Ace Wolf Gaming joined the competition and managed to secure a victory after taking a substantial lead. There were some close moments further down the field, and JD was certainly doing better than some of his earlier attempts.

Once the results of our three-race Grand Prix were calculated, the final standings were revealed.

Unfortunately, out of our six contestants, I finished in sixth place! Mr Smith took fifth, AIDA finished fourth, and our newcomer Ace Wolf Gaming secured third place. JD was the first of the losers in second, while Mr V reclaimed his crown as the overall winner of the evening.

At least somebody had a successful night!

That brought our Halloween special to an end. We’d managed to complete The Lightkeeper, uncover Arthur’s story, discuss the workings of historical foghorns, enjoy some rather unusual conversations with chat and finish with a few entertaining marble races.

We concluded the stream by raiding Fahr_Avayana, bringing our Halloween week of streaming to a close.

Next week we’ll return to our regular themed streaming schedule, although the following week will be a little shorter because of Comic Con. As always, the updated schedule will be available on the blog and Discord, so everyone can see what we’ve got planned next.

🎬 Watch the Episode

If you missed our Halloween special, you can experience the complete playthrough, discover Arthur’s story and enjoy the Marbles chaos afterwards.

Watch The Lightkeeper Long Play on YouTube

You can also explore the full series playlist and visit my YouTube channel for more gameplay adventures.

If you enjoy the video, please give it a like, leave a comment with your interpretation of the ending, and subscribe for future episodes.

🔴 Join the Adventure Live

You never quite know what we’re going to discover during a livestream. One minute we’re investigating a haunted lighthouse, the next we’re discussing steam engineering or wondering why everyone has fallen off a marble track.

Come along and join us live on Twitch or YouTube. Whether you’re joining the conversation, helping us work through a mystery or simply relaxing with the community, you’re always welcome.

💬 Community & Links

The lighthouse might be isolated, but our community certainly isn’t. Here are all the places you can find me and keep up with what we’re doing next.

Live — Join us for the next game, discussion or unexpected distraction:

Twitch | YouTube

Community — Keep in touch between streams and follow the schedule:

Discord

Socials — Follow the latest updates and moments from our adventures:

TikTok | Bluesky | Instagram | Facebook | Threads | X

Music — Something to listen to when the lighthouse is quiet:

Spotify | Apple Music

Support — Help keep the streams and future projects going:

Fourthwall | Teespring | Streamlabs

More — Discover my other projects, services and writing:

Business Centre | Download the Brochure | About Me | Blog

🏆 The Lighthouse Closes and Mr V Reclaims His Crown

That brings our Halloween streaming week to an end. We completed The Lightkeeper, uncovered Arthur’s troubled past and finished with some entertaining Marbles races, even if my sixth-place result wasn’t particularly impressive!

We ended the evening by raiding Fahr_Avayana, and next week we’ll return to our regular themed streaming schedule. The following week is Comic Con week, so we’ll only be streaming for part of it. Keep an eye on the blog and Discord for the updated schedule.

Thank you to everybody who joined us throughout Halloween week. I hope you’ve enjoyed the games, and I’ll see you for our next adventure.

— Dr Ravenholm