Is Lullwood too hard?
Lullwood starts you on its hardest setting. A new player is put on Blackout, the top of three difficulty tiers, so dying fast does not mean you are bad at it. Switch to Lantern in Settings for one predator per species, or to Night for three of each at full sight. Only Blackout wins reach the leaderboard.
What do Lantern, Night and Blackout change?
Each tier is a set of numbers the game reads when you play. The forest, the three predator species and the goal (reach the child and press E) stay the same.
- Lantern, the forgiving tier. One wolf, one bear and one lion in the whole forest. Their sight is cut to 70% of Night's. The child's glow is 1.6 times as strong. Hiding in one spot starts to rustle after 16 seconds, then every 6. A win pays the base Embers.
- Night, the middle tier. Three of each species, nine predators, at full sight. Hiding starts to rustle after 12 seconds, then every 5. A win pays 1.75 times the base Embers.
- Blackout, the default. Nine predators at 70% of Night's sight, all of them starting out hunting. No minimap. Hiding starts to rustle after 8 seconds, then every 4. With Blackout selected and saved, the child can spawn no closer than 192 units from your start, where the other tiers place her 120 to 192 units out. A win pays 2 times the base Embers.
A rustle is a noise: any roaming predator within 20 units hears it and goes to look. The Embers you earn for a loss are also scaled by tier, 1 on Lantern, 1.35 on Night and 1.25 on Blackout.
Why is Blackout harder if its predators see less far?
Because Blackout is not harder predator by predator. Its sight multiplier is 0.7, the same as Lantern's. In the game, at the start of a run, a wolf notices you from about 24 units on Blackout and Lantern and about 34 on Night; a bear about 17 and 24; a lion about 27 and 38. That cut was added on purpose: Blackout used to match Night's sight, and nine full-sight predators on the longest route could not be balanced against any reward.
What makes Blackout hard is everything around the predators. There are nine of them rather than three. Each starts in a hunting state, which sends it straight at you as soon as it can see you; one that loses sight of you drops back to investigating. Hiding in one bush starts giving you away after 8 seconds instead of 12. And the child is farther away. So on Blackout, move from cover to cover rather than waiting out a chase in one bush.
Is there a minimap in Lullwood?
Not in a normal run. Blackout switches it off. Lantern and Night are set up to show it, but the game hides the minimap for everyone unless Admin mode is on in Settings, where the option reads "Admin mode (show pace/mist panel + minimap)". Admin mode is off by default, and a run played with it on cannot count for the leaderboard. In our check of the current build, the minimap was hidden on Lantern and Night with Admin mode off and visible with it on.
How do you change the difficulty in Lullwood?
Open Settings and choose Difficulty: "Lantern", "Night" or "Blackout". Before your first step into the forest the menu has the same three buttons. The choice is saved in your browser and applied again each time the page loads.
It does not all apply at once. Sight range, the child's glow and the hiding timers switch immediately. How many predators there are, whether they start hunting and where the child stands are decided when a run starts, so after you change tier press Try again to get the full tier. We saw this directly: choosing Lantern from the menu and walking in gave a run with nine predators but Lantern sight; the next run had three.
Which difficulty should you play first?
- Learning the forest: Lantern. With one wolf there is no pack to flank you; see how to survive wolves in Lullwood for what changes when there are three.
- Comfortable with hiding: Night, which has the full roster and a longer grace before the brush gives you away. For the one predator that tracks you hardest, see how to escape a bear.
- Going for the top rescuer spot: Blackout, with Admin mode off for the whole run. How you win Lullwood covers the goal, and how to survive Lullwood covers hiding and the mist veil.
Lullwood difficulty questions
Is there an easy mode in Lullwood?
Yes. Lantern is the forgiving tier: one wolf, one bear and one lion instead of three of each, predators that see 30% less far than on Night, a child whose glow is 1.6 times as strong, and a longer wait before hiding in one spot starts to rustle. Pick it in Settings under Difficulty, then press Try again: the number of predators and the child's distance only change on the next run, while sight and glow change straight away.
What is the default difficulty in Lullwood?
Blackout. A new player starts on the hardest of the three tiers: nine predators that begin hunting, no minimap and, once the setting is saved, a child who spawns at least 192 units from where you start. The setting you choose is saved in your browser.
Do wolves, bears and lions see further on Blackout?
No. Blackout predators see 30% less far than Night predators, the same reduction Lantern has. Blackout is harder because there are nine of them, they start hunting, the brush gives you away sooner when you hide too long, and, once the setting is saved, the child can spawn farther away.
Does Lullwood have a minimap?
Not for a normal run on any tier. Blackout turns the minimap off, and Lantern and Night only show it when Admin mode is switched on in Settings. A run with Admin mode on cannot count for the leaderboard.
Which Lullwood difficulty counts for the leaderboard?
Only Blackout, with Admin mode off for the whole run. A win on Lantern or Night shows a note telling you to switch to Blackout to compete.