Lantern Forge

Lantern Forge is a sandbox survival RPG blending crafting, building, and dungeon crawling elements reminiscent of Minecraft, Diablo, and Terraria. Players start with nothing, gathering resources to build tools, shelters, and eventually towns with merchants. The game offers a large procedurally generated world with multiple biomes and up to 90 dungeon levels. Character progression includes three archetypes—warrior, ranger, and mage—with skill trees and crafting systems. However, many players report the game feels unfinished, with clunky controls, poor pathfinding, and a lack of polish. Combat is click-based and can be frustrating due to control schemes and balance issues. Survival mechanics are considered too easy, and the game lacks a motivating story or engaging quests. While the graphics and art style are appreciated for their charm, technical issues such as bugs, crashes, and memory leaks detract from the experience. The developers ceased active development for a time but have sporadically returned to patch the game, leaving the community uncertain about its future. Overall, it offers solid gameplay for its price but is hindered by incomplete features and design flaws.

Highlights

Players praise Lantern Forge for its expansive open world, combining survival, crafting, and RPG elements. The variety of biomes and procedural dungeon levels provide exploration depth. The town-building mechanics and merchant systems add creative freedom. The art style and graphics receive positive remarks for their detailed and appealing design. Combat and character progression, with distinct classes and skill trees, add RPG flavor. Many appreciate the game's replayability and the blend of familiar mechanics from popular games, making it enjoyable for fans of sandbox and survival genres. The price point is considered fair, offering many hours of gameplay for a modest cost.

Criticisms

Common criticisms focus on control and combat mechanics, which are often described as clunky and unintuitive. Mouse-based movement without full WASD support frustrates players, and pathfinding issues cause characters to get stuck. Combat balance is poor, with enemies often overpowering players or combat feeling repetitive. Survival elements lack challenge, and the absence of a compelling story or meaningful quests reduces motivation. Technical problems such as bugs, crashes, memory leaks, and UI difficulties are frequently mentioned. The game is seen as incomplete, with limited content variety and grinding-heavy progression. Development abandonment has left many feeling the game was released prematurely and lacks ongoing support.