Lume Up the Tower: the Steel Flames hatchling's stage-by-stage climb

About Lume Up the Tower

The Executive's antenna is still humming at the top of the radio tower, and nobody heavy enough to matter can make it up the loose girders. Lume can. In this portrait game built for one hand, he jumps on his own every time he lands on a girder — you only steer him sideways with the arrows, the stick or your thumb. Slip off one edge of the screen and you come out the other. The tower is 1,640 ft tall: landing on the antenna platform clears the stage, pays a bonus (500 points times the stage number) and starts the tower over from the ground under a new sky — dusk, night, small hours, dawn, high noon, storm, sunset, aurora — and meaner: wider gaps, narrower girders, more rusty and rail girders, enemies sooner. Steel girders hold; rusty ones crack when you land and drop right after; rail girders slide back and forth; and wherever there's a spring barrel — tire, barrel and coil stacked up — landing on the plate launches Lume twice as high. Hunters pace back and forth along the wide girders: land on top of one to take him out (100 points) — clip him from the side or below and you're the one who gets hurt. Higher up, The Tamer waits on the wide girders and throws nets downward; stomping him is worth 300. Lume's flame is his energy: falling off the screen or getting netted burns 70% of it, and two hits in a row cost a life. Sparks between the girders relight 10% apiece and feed the counter on the HUD: every 20 earn a life, on top of one every 5,000 points, up to 10. Climbing the full tower is worth 500 points on its own. Difficulty ramps up through stage 5 and stays maxed from there on: what counts is how far you get and the site's Top 5.

One of Selminha's ideas

“After watching Lume fight back in the sky, I wanted something simpler and twitchier: a tower, some girders, and the question every climbing game asks — how far can you hold on?”

How to play Lume Up the Tower

1. Steer Lume sideways with the arrows or A/D, the gamepad stick or d-pad, or the touch pad on the left of the screen. He jumps on his own when he lands on a girder; slip off one edge of the screen and you come out the other.
2. Steel girders hold; rusty ones crack when you land and drop right after; rail girders slide; spring barrels double the jump when you land on the spring plate.
3. Land on top of a hunter to take him out (100 points) or on The Tamer (300). Touching them from the side or below hurts you.
4. Your flame is your energy: falling off the screen or getting netted burns 70% of it; two hits in a row cost a life, and Lume comes back on the nearest girder. Sparks relight 10% each.
5. Climbing pays as you go — the full tower is worth 500 points — and every spark is worth 10. Landing on the top platform (1,640 ft) clears the stage with a bonus of 500 × the stage number, and the tower starts over harder. You earn an extra life every 5,000 points and every 20 sparks you collect, up to 10 lives.
6. P or Esc pauses; M toggles sound; F toggles full screen on a computer. The full instructions live in the pause menu. When the run ends, put your name on the game's Top 5, saved on the server.

The tower girders

Steel girder

Solid. Lume jumps on his own when he lands on it.

Rusty girder

Cracks when you land and drops right after — you get the jump, but it won't hold a second time.

Rail girder

Slides side to side, faster with every stage.

Spring barrel

Tire, barrel and coil stacked up: land on the plate and the jump goes twice as high. Handy for escaping a bad stretch.

Each stage widens the gaps and narrows the girders; rusty and rail girders show up from 150 m and 350 m in stage 1 and, from then on, right from the ground.

Controls on phone and computer

Computer

Arrows or A/D move sideways · jumping is automatic when you land on a girder · P or Esc pause · M toggles sound · F full screen · gamepad supported: stick or d-pad moves, Start pauses, Back toggles sound

Touch

Phone upright and in full screen. The touch pad on the left steers Lume sideways; jumping is automatic. Pause and sound sit in the top-right corner.

Flame, lives and enemies

Flame

Lume's energy. Falling off the screen or getting netted burns 70%; every spark relights 10%.

Lives

3 to start; 10 max. When the flame goes out, Lume loses a life and comes back on the nearest girder with a few seconds of protection.

Hunter

Paces back and forth along the wide girders (from 250 m in stage 1; from the start after that). Stomping him is worth 100 points; touching him from the side hurts.

The Tamer

From stage 2, standing on the wide girders and throwing nets downward. Stomping him is worth 300.

Extra life

Every 5,000 points and every 20 sparks — the counter sits in the top bar.

Top of the tower

The antenna platform at 500 m. Landing on it clears the stage (bonus of 500 × the stage number) and the tower starts over from the ground under a new sky, harder; points, lives and sparks carry over.

Eight skies take turns, one per stage: dusk, night, small hours, dawn, high noon, storm, sunset and aurora. Difficulty ramps up through stage 5 and stays maxed from there on.