Lantern City: Rhythm Game

A whole new show: new music, 125 new pictures, ten performers in 3D and four new moves. Tap to the beat and bring every headliner into the parade.

The night the Great Prism went dark, its hundred and twenty-five glow-notes scattered across twenty-five islands. Pip, a small yellow leaper, sets off with best friend Zest and Glim, the first glow-note found, to catch every one back.

Lantern City is a rhythm game about one thing: tapping right on the beat. No lanes, no scrolling bars, no reading. A marker lights up somewhere on the screen, a performer leaps to it, and you tap the performer the moment it lands. Every catch uncovers a piece of a hidden picture.

HOW A STAGE PLAYS • A marker appears a moment before the beat, in the shape of the performer on its way • The performer leaps up from below the stage; tap it as it lands • Right on the beat is PERFECT, a touch early or late is GOOD • Every catch in a row builds your combo; every ten, your multiplier goes up

TEN PERFORMERS, IN 3D Pip, Zest, Bloc, Hex, Glim, Luna, Coco, Gem, Drip and Bloom: ten shapes, each with its own trick in the air. They cheer when you catch them right on the beat and sulk when you miss. Glim, Luna and Coco are worth double.

FOUR MOVES TO LEARN Lantern City, the first island, is five levels, and each brings in a move: a big performer that bounces from spot to spot, a swipe the way the arrows point, two buddies hand in hand caught with one tap, and a present to hold while it unwraps. Then Maximo takes the stage.

TWENTY-FIVE ISLANDS, 121 HEADLINERS After Lantern City, every island has five acts, and every act ends with a headliner to out-perform, each with a track of its own, a little quicker and a little bolder than the last. The red performers are its weak points and hit hardest. From the third headliner on, each has a habit: one hides its weak points until they leap, another dims the lights.

125 PICTURES TO UNCOVER Every act opens on a picture, in cut paper, cartoon or toy-town style, cut into a jigsaw, and every catch turns a piece over. Six catches in every ten clear the stage, and a clear always finishes the picture; catch every one and it finishes on your last catch.

MUSIC WITH A BEAT YOU CAN FEEL Every track is built on a beat to land your taps on, and the menus play one of ten themes, a different one each time you open the game.

A STORY BETWEEN THE STAGES The story is told in comic panels between stages: Pip, Zest, Glim and the headliners, island by island. Nobody is wicked, and every headliner joins the parade once beaten.

THREE WAYS TO PLAY EVERY STAGE • Normal and Hard for every stage. Hard adds performers to a rhythm you already know: more to keep track of at once, never less time to catch them • Bonus rounds of gold performers: every catch counts double, and a miss never breaks your streak • Cleared stages stay open, to play again for a better score and a better rank

DJ MODE Free play on any track you have opened, with the headliners' own tracks unlocking as you beat them. A daily track picks a song for you each day.

THE HALL OF RECORDS Every best you have set, story and DJ, ranked and kept, with Game Center achievements and leaderboards if you sign in.

MADE TO BE COMFORTABLE • Every stage eases in with extra warning, and a stage that keeps getting away from you offers a helping hand • Pause any time; the music steps back two seconds and leads you back in • Music, sound effects and vibration can each be switched off in Settings • Switches for clearer colours, a calmer stage, bigger performers, and taps in place of swipes and holds • A timing screen that measures how late your speaker or headphones are, so the judging stays fair • Made for iPhone and iPad, in portrait: on iPad every stage fills the screen

FREE, WITH ONE HONEST CATCH Every island, every difficulty and DJ mode are free, and there is nothing to buy. A short ad can follow a cleared stage, and only a cleared stage: never mid-stage, never after a run that didn't clear, and never after your first clear. Ads are personalised only if you allow it.

Tap to the beat. Catch the light. Finish the picture.