Solstice Circuit: A tiny puzzle game about spending the longest day wisely

lvupupui — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 07:41:07 +0000

*This is a submission for the June Solstice Game Jam.

What I Built

I built Solstice Circuit, a small browser puzzle game about using daylight as a limited resource and solving a tiny dawn cipher before dusk.

The player controls a seeker on the longest day of the year. The goal is to charge binary-coded obelisks and reach the solstice ring before the lantern runs out.

The core twist is simple:

Moving through sunlight costs daylight.
Stepping into shadow wells restores daylight.
Cipher obelisks require enough daylight to charge.
The solstice ring only opens after all cipher bits are charged.
A second, tighter ring appears after the first one is solved.

The theme is a turning point. The solstice is the longest day, but it is still finite. The player has to decide when to spend light and when to recover in shadow.

Video Demo

I included a short demo GIF/video showing the player lighting the cipher obelisks, recovering daylight in shadow wells, and entering the solstice ring.

Code

Source code:

lvupupui / solstice-circuit

A tiny solstice puzzle game for the DEV June Solstice Game Jam.

Solstice Circuit

Solstice Circuit is a small browser puzzle game for the DEV June Solstice Game Jam.

The player moves a seeker through a sunlit board, charging binary-coded cipher obelisks before entering the solstice ring. Sunlit movement drains daylight, shadow wells recover it, and the gate only opens when every cipher bit is charged.

Run

Open index.html in a browser.

No build step is required.

For recording, open index.html?demo=1&recording=1 to auto-start the first-ring demo in a clean 16:9 view.

Submission package:

cover.png
solstice-circuit-demo.gif
solstice-circuit-demo.mp4
solstice-circuit-submission.zip
dev-submission-draft.md
dev-quick-submit-fields.md
submission-checklist.md

Controls

Arrow keys or WASD to move
On touch devices, use the directional buttons
Reset button to restart
Hint button to get a short next-target suggestion
Demo button to auto-play the first ring for recording

Challenge Fit

The game interprets the solstice as a turning point: the longest day is a limited resource, and the player has to decide when to spend…

View on GitHub

The game is a static HTML/CSS/JavaScript project. It runs in the browser with no build step.

How I Built It

The board is rendered with Canvas. The game state tracks the current level, player position, daylight remaining, turn count, lit obelisks, shadow wells, walls, and gate state.

Every move updates daylight and checks whether the player stepped on a shadow well, an obelisk, or the solstice ring.

The most important design choice was to make sunlight both helpful and dangerous. It gives the game its tension: the thing you need is also the thing you are spending.

I also added a deterministic demo route so viewers can quickly see the mechanic in action.

Prize Category

This submission is for the overall game jam prompt. It also has a light fit for Best Ode to Alan Turing because the board uses binary-labeled obelisks as a small code-breaking motif.

What I Learned

Small games work best when the rules are visible. The solstice idea became stronger when it turned into a resource mechanic: the player does not just read about the longest day ending; they feel it through every move that drains the daylight counter.This is a submission for the June Solstice Game Jam*

DEV Community: lvupupui

Solstice Circuit: A tiny puzzle game about spending the longest day wisely

What I Built

Video Demo

Code

lvupupui / solstice-circuit

A tiny solstice puzzle game for the DEV June Solstice Game Jam.

Solstice Circuit

Run

Controls

Challenge Fit

How I Built It

Prize Category

What I Learned

What I Built

Video Demo

Code

How I Built It

Prize Category