Design Statement
The theme track felt like a long cold night slowly turning warm. It opens quiet and alone, builds into something full and hopeful, then softly fades. I built Kindle around that arc: no one should be cold alone. You start as a single small ember in a dark, blue world. As you gently befriend shy sparks, your trail grows, the world gains colour, and the music feels less lonely. Key choices: the game is wordless, so the feeling carries the story. There is no combat and no game over. Running out of warmth just carries you back to the last lantern. Rushing scares sparks away, which rewards the slow, patient pace of the track. The three lanterns mirror the track's build, and the finale at the great tree, with friends rising into a constellation at dawn, matches the gentle fade at the end. All visuals are drawn procedurally to keep everything soft and glowing.

Game Instructions (launch steps, controls, and gameplay overview)
Launch: play in the browser on the itch.io page and click to start. On Windows, unzip Kindle-Windows.zip and run Kindle.exe.
Controls: mouse or touch moves the ember toward the cursor. Arrow keys or WASD also move. M mutes, F toggles fullscreen.
Gameplay: hover slowly near dim sparks to befriend them, because shy ones flee if you rush. Friends follow you, share warmth and shelter you from the wind. Light 3 stone lanterns (3, 8 and 14 friends) to restore colour and set checkpoints. Reach the great tree with 18 friends for the ending. If your warmth runs out, you return to the last lantern.

Gameplay walkthrough video
https://youtu.be/7_j9JpaHZng

Trailer / Other Additional Video Material (Optional)
https://youtu.be/7_j9JpaHZng

Did your project use any AI tools or assets? If yes, please specify.
Yes. The game code was written with AI assistance. All visuals are drawn procedurally in code and the chime sound effects are synthesized in code. No AI-generated images, art or music were used. The music is the jam's theme track by Jason Grace, unmodified.