Lighthouse: The Dark Being

Last updated: January 9, 2026

Overview

Lighthouse: The Dark Being is a first-person adventure game developed and published by Sierra On-Line in 1996¹. The game was conceived when Sierra’s Ken Williams challenged designer Jon Bock to create something similar to Myst, famously pulling out a copy of the game and asking “Can you do this?“². Set in a “supernatural mechanical world,” the game follows a struggling writer who becomes embroiled in a parallel dimension crisis involving a mysterious lighthouse and its eccentric inhabitants³.

Often dismissed as a “Myst clone” due to its first-person perspective and pre-rendered environments, Lighthouse manages to leave its own mark on the genre by carrying Sierra’s traditionally challenging puzzle design into the new style of graphic adventure games⁴. The game features pre-rendered 3D graphics created using Autodesk 3D Studio and Alias, with Jon Bock describing it as a “Science Fiction Folk Tale” inspired by the machine age, Leonardo Da Vinci drawings, and H.G. Wells stories².

Game Info

Developer: Sierra On-Line¹ Designer: Jon Bock² Publisher: Sierra On-Line¹ Platforms: DOS, Windows, Macintosh⁵ Release Year: 1996 Series: Lighthouse Sierra Lineage: Core Sierra

Story Summary

The player takes control of a struggling writer who has recently moved into a cottage on the Oregon coast⁶. Near the cottage stands a lighthouse inhabited by the eccentric Dr. Jeremiah Krick and his daughter Amanda⁷. When Dr. Krick’s experiments with parallel dimensions go awry, a malevolent entity known as the “Dark Being” kidnaps baby Amanda and takes her to a bizarre parallel world⁸.

The protagonist must venture into this alternate dimension to rescue Amanda, traveling through six distinctly different regions while encountering a cast of intriguing characters⁹. The parallel world is described as featuring “exquisitely rendered landscapes” filled with exotic architecture and inventions¹⁰. Central to the rescue mission is the construction of an “Ionizing Cannon,” whose seven pieces are scattered throughout the various locations in the parallel world⁸. Krick’s notes reference the real physical concept of Godel’s universe, grounding the fantastical premise in actual scientific theory¹¹.

Gameplay

Interface and Controls

Lighthouse employs a first-person perspective with locations represented as pre-rendered still screens⁷. Interaction with the environment is performed through a simple single-cursor, point-and-click interface, similar to Myst’s navigation system¹². The game’s version 2.0 patch added a “Highlight Cursor” option, with Sierra recommending players enable this feature “unless the player wants the added challenge of the inactive cursor”¹³.

Structure and Progression

The game offers multiple paths and alternate puzzle solutions, providing various ways to experience the story and reach different endings¹⁴. Players explore six different regions in the parallel world, each with distinct visual themes and challenges⁹. Unlike traditional Sierra adventures, Lighthouse does not feature a point system¹⁵. The game’s non-linear structure allows for different approaches to puzzle-solving and story progression.

Puzzles and Mechanics

As with Myst, puzzles are notable for their difficulty and rely more on logic than inventory management, consisting of careful observation, clue gathering, and environmental manipulation¹². The game includes a significant maze section that occupies approximately one-quarter of the total gameplay¹⁶. Sierra’s traditional “player-hostile house style” is evident in the challenging nature of the puzzles, which can leave players genuinely lost or stranded in the bizarre world⁴. The version 2.0 patch modified some of the more difficult puzzles and added indicator lights in various locations to improve playability¹³.

Reception

Contemporary Reviews

Publication	Score	Notes
PC Gamer (US)	82%	Called it “a fantasy-horror adventure that’s a cut above most post-Myst games”17
GameSpot	6.4/10	Reviewed by Rebecca Anderson, noted graphics as “moving picture book”18
Entertainment Weekly	C-	Dismissed as “a talentless rip-off of a Stephen King novel”2
Quandary	4/5	Positive review from November 199619
Computer Games Magazine	3/5	Review from January 199919
Game Revolution	C-	Review from October 199619

Modern Assessment

Modern retrospective reviews have been more appreciative of the game’s ambitious design. Adventure Classic Gaming awarded it 4/5 stars in 2009, while Just Adventure gave it a B+ rating in 2003¹⁹. Adventure Gamers rated it 3.5/5 stars, noting it as an “entertaining and beguiling game, however, if you hate mazes steer clear”¹⁶. GOG.com users have rated it 4.1/5 stars based on 35 reviews²⁰, with MyAbandonware users giving it 4.11/5²¹. MobyGames shows an aggregate score of 69%⁶.

Development

Origins

The game’s development began when Sierra’s Ken Williams called Jon Bock into his office, showed him a copy of Myst, and asked “Can you do this?” Bock responded affirmatively, and the game went into development as Sierra’s attempt to capitalize on Myst’s success². This marked the first and only game designed by Sierra art director Jon Bock²².

Production

The game’s landscapes were created using Autodesk 3D Studio and Alias software, with animation work performed on SGI machines and motion capture handled by Biovision⁵. The voice cast included Phil Proctor as Dr. Jeremiah Krick, Kerrigan Mahan as the Dark Being, and Romy Cutler-Lengyel as Liryl²³. The musical score was composed by Brian Min and Victor Crews¹.

Technical Achievements

Lighthouse utilized Sierra’s SCI (Sierra Creative Interpreter) engine and featured pre-rendered 3D environments with full-motion video sequences⁵. The game was part of Sierra’s move toward more cinematic adventure games in the mid-1990s²². However, the game suffered from technical compatibility issues, particularly with Windows installations, leading many users to prefer the DOS version²⁴.

Legacy

Despite being commonly dismissed as a Myst clone, Lighthouse has maintained a dedicated following among adventure game enthusiasts²⁵. The game’s challenging puzzle design and atmospheric presentation have been both praised and criticized, with some noting that it “manages the awkward feat of carrying Sierra’s frustrating, player-hostile house style over to this new style of adventure game”⁴. The game received multiple patches to address difficulty issues and add visual clues to puzzles²⁶. It remains available through digital distribution platforms like GOG.com and is supported by ScummVM for modern compatibility⁵.

Downloads

Purchase / Digital Stores

• GOG.com

Download / Preservation

• MyAbandonware
• Internet Archive

Series Continuity

• Previous: None (standalone title)
• Next: None (standalone title)

References

Footnotes

1. MobyGames Database – - Basic game information and credits ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. Wikipedia – - Development origin story with Ken Williams ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

3. Archive.org Game Description – - Game tagline “Outwit Evil in a Supernatural Mechanical World” ↩

4. The Obscuritory Review – - Analysis of game’s position in the genre ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. PC Gaming Wiki – - Platform compatibility information ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

6. MobyGames Review – - Plot description by Katakis ↩ ↩²

7. Archive.org Manual – - Official game manual plot description ↩ ↩²

8. Classic Reload – - Game plot summary ↩ ↩²

9. Sierra Gamers – - Game overview with character count ↩ ↩²

10. Old-Games.com – - Visual description of parallel world ↩

11. VideoGameGeek – - Scientific reference in plot ↩

12. Retrolorean – - Gameplay mechanics description ↩ ↩²

13. Archive.org Patch Notes – - Cursor highlighting feature description ↩ ↩²

14. MobyGames User Review – - Multiple paths and endings description ↩

15. SierraChest Walkthrough – - No point system confirmation ↩

16. Adventure Gamers Review – - Maze section proportion ↩ ↩²

17. Web Archive PC Gamer Review – - PC Gamer score and assessment ↩

18. GameSpot Review – - Rebecca Anderson’s review and graphics description ↩

19. Web Archive GameRankings – - Historical review compilation ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

20. GOG.com – - User review aggregate ↩

21. MyAbandonware – - User rating ↩

22. Collection Chamber Blog – - Jon Bock as first-time game designer ↩ ↩²

23. Behind the Voice Actors – - Voice cast information ↩

24. DOSBox Wiki – - Installation difficulty notes ↩

25. TV Tropes – - Myst clone comparison ↩

26. MobyGames Patches – - Patch information ↩