Frequently asked questions

Lanternwild is a free, family-friendly collecting game you play in your web browser. You open packs of original pixel-art Lanternlings, fill your binder, solve a daily puzzle, send teams on Lantern Walks, play mini-games like the Drum Circle and Lantern Flight, and swap fairly with friends. There are 72 Lanternlings across six habitats, plus limited editions for special events.

Yes. Everything in the game is free to play. You get a free starter pack and welcome packs when you join, and you earn more packs with lantern light from playing. Grown-ups can also buy gift codes for extra packs if they want to, but nothing can ever be bought inside a player's account.

Every pack holds 5 different Lanternlings. Most are common or uncommon, a few are rare, epic or legendary, and any card has a 2% chance of being shiny. The exact odds for every slot are published on the Packs page in the game, and they never change after a pack is issued. Within a rarity, every Lanternling is equally likely.

Lantern light is the game's reward for playing. You earn it from the daily puzzle, Lantern Walks, daily quests, the Drum Circle, Lantern Flight and drumming along with your Lantern Buddy. Every 250 light can be swapped for a free pack. Daily rewards are capped, so nobody needs to play for hours, and there are no streaks to lose.

You can send a team of up to 3 Lanternlings to explore a habitat for 15 minutes, an hour or 4 hours. They come home with lantern light, sometimes a page of field notes, and now and then a wild Lanternling follows them home and joins your collection. Every walk also builds your mastery of that habitat, from Visitor to Explorer to Keeper. Nothing is ever lost on a walk.

A shiny is any Lanternling in its rare alternate colours, with a sparkle on its card. Every card in a pack has a 2% chance of being shiny, whatever its rarity. Shinies can only be swapped for other shinies.

Six limited-edition Lanternlings, one from each habitat, that are only around for Halloween 2026 (until 2 November). While the event runs, every pack has a published chance of a bonus 6th card from the Halloween set, on top of its normal 5 cards, so the normal odds don't change.

There are two ways to swap. With friends you've added using a friend code, you can offer one of your cards for one of theirs, and it only happens if they accept. On the Swap Board, you can offer a spare card for any of up to 5 Lanternlings you'd like. Names are never shown on the board, swaps are always the same rarity, and you always keep at least one of every Lanternling you've found.

Cards from your starter and welcome packs, and wild Lanternlings that followed you home from a walk, stay on your account. That stops people making lots of accounts to farm cards. Cards from packs you earn with lantern light, or from gift codes, can be swapped. On the Swap Board, only spares can go up, so you never swap away your only one.

It's designed to be. There's no chat or messaging, no adverts, no location and no tracking. Profiles are private, friends can only be added with a friend code you share yourself, and the only thing other players ever see is a handle, which is checked to keep it friendly. Swap Board trades are anonymous, and high scores are only shared between friends. We follow the UK Age Appropriate Design Code.

Anyone can play. If a player is under 13 (or under the age of digital consent where they live), a parent or guardian needs to create the account, agree to the terms and look after it. We never ask players for their real name, email address, phone number or photo.

No. Nothing can be bought inside a player's account. Extra packs come as gift codes, which only grown-ups (18 or over) can buy on our gift page. A code works once and adds its packs to the account that uses it. Payments are handled by Stripe, which acts as the seller (merchant of record), and we never see card details.

Choose 1, 3 or 5 packs on the gift page and pay with Stripe. The code is shown straight away and emailed to you. Your child signs in, goes to Packs and types the code into "Got a gift code?". If a code hasn't been used, you can get a full refund within 14 days by contacting us. Gift codes aren't sold in Belgium or the Netherlands, where paid card packs are restricted.

No. Your buddy only hears taps, clicks and key presses inside the Lanternwild page. Websites can never see what you type in other apps or tabs. You can switch the buddy off in your Profile at any time.

Yes, in a safe way. On any card, or on the collection page, players can make a picture of a Lanternling or of their binder. The picture is made on the device and never includes a friend code or anything private, and the handle is only added if they choose to. It goes through the device's own share options or saves as a picture, so a grown-up can decide where it goes. There are no public profile pages.

Use the recovery code you were given when you created your account: choose "Recover your account" on the sign-in page, enter your handle, the recovery code and a new password. You'll get a new recovery code afterwards. If you've lost both, contact us and we'll help.

Both are on your Profile page and work instantly: you can download everything we hold about your account, or delete your account for good. Parents and guardians can also contact us about a child's account.