Light puzzle

A light puzzle is, straightforwardly enough, any puzzle that involves the use of light. The most common use of light is to deal with darkness, but there are no shortage of other puzzles closely involving light.

Uses of Light

• Coloured light can be used to change the appearance of things.
  • This can conceal things that would otherwise be easily seen because of their distinctive colours.
  • It may enable you to 'cheat' a colour puzzle.
• Light can be reflected using a mirror, or refracted using a lens (to burn through something or start a fire) or prism (to separate it into its component colors).
• Many puzzles, taking a cue from the film Raiders of the Lost Ark, involve the correct positioning or focusing of a beam of light in order to locate a secret passage, hidden compartment or similar.
• Light can be used as a signal.
• Light can keep dangerous creatures away (such as a Grue), but it can also draw their attention.
• Light can be used to blind NPCs, security cameras, and so on.
• Light damages camera film.
• Daylight (and sometimes, depending who you ask, very bright light or light with a strong UV spectrum) damages vampires.

Possible light sources

• The ever-reliable brass lantern.
• Flaming torch. This might just be grabbed from a fire, but anyone who's tried this in real life knows how reliable that'd be. More usually the head of the torch will be coated in pitch or some other long-burning substance; you may have to make such a torch from scratch.
• Flashlight. Almost as popular as the brass lantern. In all likelihood, you'll need to find batteries for it.
• Phosphorescence. Particularly popular in caves. Keep an eye out for glowing fungi, glow-worms, fireflies and so forth. Catching the latter is likely to be a puzzle.
• Matches. These will usually only last a few turns, and be intended to light something else with. You may have an unlimited match supply, or you may have to conserve them.
• Candles. Very likely to go out. Usually require matches or some other fire source to light them.
• Flares. Less likely to go out accidentally, but also likely to burn out - and cannot be refuelled.
• Rocks may also inexplicably glow.
• Magic items. Glowing implies magic, magic implies glowing. Everyone knows that. Also useful: magic spells.
• Find the lightswitch, or restore the mains power (you will in all likelihood require a fuse).
• A system of mirrors can be made to reflect sunlight into an indoor or underground area.