A cozy journal of video game history
Every game has a story.
Pull up a chair.
From a bouncing dot in 1972 to golden trees that fill the sky — Lantern & Lore tells the tales of the games that defined each era, written warm and read by firelight.
From the fireside shelf
Stories we keep coming back to
1980sThe Legend of Zelda · 1986
It's Dangerous to Go Alone: The Lantern Lit in 1986
An old man in a cave hands you a sword, and suddenly the whole wide map of Hyrule is yours to get lost in.
1990sThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time · 1998
The Song That Taught a Generation to Travel Through Time
Hyrule in 3D, a blue ocarina, and the lock-on that every action game since has quietly borrowed.
2000sWorld of Warcraft · 2004
A Campfire in the Snow: The World We Moved Into
Azeroth was not a game so much as a second hometown — twelve million people with mailboxes, guilds, and favorite inns.
2010sMinecraft · 2011
The First Night: Punching Trees by Torchlight
The best-selling game of all time is a lesson in coziness: build a shelter before dark, and the world is yours.
2010sDark Souls · 2011
The Bonfire in the Dark: Where Death Became a Teacher
FromSoftware's punishing masterpiece lit a bonfire in the dark and taught a generation that failure, too, can be a kind of warmth.
2010sThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild · 2017
The Plateau, the Paraglider, and the Freedom to Wander
Nintendo tore up its own map and handed us a Hyrule where every horizon is an invitation.
2010sRed Dead Redemption 2 · 2018
The Last Campfire: A Vanishing West Rendered in Embers
Arthur Morgan's slow, beautiful decline proved games could hold tragedy as gently as any novel.
Fifty years of play
Walk the whole road, year by year
Our timeline winds from the first bouncing dot to the golden Erdtree — one stop per era-defining year, with the games that made it matter. Scroll it like a storybook.
Open the timeline1972 — The First Spark
Pong
1998 — The Third Dimension
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time · Half-Life
2017 — The Wild Horizon
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Fresh ink
Latest from the journal
2020sGrand Theft Auto VI · 2026
Return to the Sun: The Most Awaited City in Gaming History
After thirteen years, Rockstar opens the gates to Leonida — a whole coast of neon, beaches, and trouble we have been waiting a decade to visit.
2020sBaldur's Gate 3 · 2023
Roll for Initiative: The Campfire That Brought the CRPG Back
Larian Studios turned a tabletop session into the most celebrated game of its year — companions, dice, and a campfire that never went cold.
2020sBlack Myth: Wukong · 2024
The Monkey King's Lantern: A Myth Walks Out of the Mountains
Game Science's debut epic carried a thousand-year Chinese novel into the biggest game of 2024 — and the world showed up to read it.
2020sMonster Hunter Wilds · 2025
The Campfire on the Plain: Hunting at the Edge of the Storm
Capcom's wild frontier made the hunt feel like home — a tent, a fire, and a creature always waiting on the horizon.
2000sGrand Theft Auto III · 2001
The City That Never Forgave: Liberty City Opens Its Doors
Rockstar's 3D leap turned the open world into a living, breathing city — and the sandbox would never be the same again.
2000sGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas · 2004
CJ and the Golden State: The Sandbox Grows a Heart
A sprawling state, a borrowed bicycle, and a story about coming home — San Andreas made the open world personal.