Lamplight Lane guide
How to play Lamplight Lane
Lamplight Lane is an idle game about a little street that grows into a town. You light the lamps by hand, then open homes, shops, offices, a theatre and transport that earn for you. Its twist is the day: the sun rises and sets as you play, the windows light up at dusk, and every building has its own busy time.
The basics
- Light a lamp. Tap the big button to earn a coin. Every town starts with someone lighting the lamps.
- Build. Townhouses, bakeries, office blocks, bus routes, restaurants, theatres and tram lines all earn coins on their own, every second. Each one you build appears on the street.
- Buy upgrades. At 10, 25, 50 and 100 of a building, an upgrade doubles it. A few upgrades double the whole town.
- Start a new district. Once the town is thriving, you can start again across the river with landmarks. Each makes everything earn 10% more, for good.
How the day works
One day in Lamplight Lane lasts six minutes of play, and the clock is shown at the top of the game. It only runs while you play, so you always pick up at the time of day you left.
Each building has a busy time, when it earns more, and a quiet time on the other side of the day, when it earns less. The swing is never more than 70% either way, and it evens out exactly over a day, so no time is better than another. While you’re away, the town earns at its daily average.
- Bakeries are busiest at breakfast.
- Office blocks are busiest at midday.
- Bus routes are busiest in the late morning, with a gentle swing.
- Restaurants are busiest in the evening.
- Theatres are busiest at night.
- Townhouses and tram lines stay steady all day.
The list of buildings shows busy now or quiet now beside each one, and the table below gives the details.
Your first few minutes
- Light lamps until you have 15 coins and buy a townhouse.
- After lighting 25 lamps, the Lamplighter’s pole appears. It doubles every tap.
- With five buildings, Cobbled streets doubles the whole town.
- Save for a bakery at 100 coins, then an office block at 1,100.
Tips
Do not chase the clock. Buying what earns most over a whole day pays better than buying whatever is busy right now.
A mix smooths the day. Buildings with different busy times keep your coins per second steadier.
Brighter wicks makes each lamp you light also earn 2% of what the town makes each second, so tapping stays worthwhile as the town grows.
Check in twice a day. The town earns for up to 12 hours while you are away. See idle games that work offline.
When to start a new district
A new district unlocks once you have earned 30 million coins in the current one. Landmarks are worked out as the square root of this district’s coins divided by 7.5 million, rounded down, so your first brings at least 2. 75 million coins brings 3, and 750 million brings 10.
A good rule is to start a new district when it would add at least half again to the landmarks you hold and growth has slowed. For more, see what is prestige?
Keep your town safe
Lamplight Lane saves automatically in your browser every 30 seconds and when you leave. Use the Save page to copy a backup now and then, or to move your town to another device.
The numbers
These tables come straight from the game's own data, so they always match what you see in the game.
Buildings
| Building | First one costs | Coins each second | Busiest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Townhouse | 15 coins | 0.5 | Steady all day |
| Bakery | 100 coins | 3 | in the morning (up to 50% more) |
| Office block | 1,100 coins | 20 | at midday (up to 60% more) |
| Bus route | 12,000 coins | 130 | in the morning (up to 30% more) |
| Restaurant | 60,000 coins | 450 | in the evening (up to 60% more) |
| Theatre | 450,000 coins | 2,800 | at night (up to 70% more) |
| Tram line | 1,600,000 coins | 8,000 | Steady all day |
Each building you buy costs 15% more than the one before.
Building upgrades
Each doubles what one kind of building makes.
| Upgrade | Appears at | Costs |
|---|---|---|
| Window boxes | 10 townhouses | 243 coins |
| Painted doors | 25 townhouses | 1,975 coins |
| Roof gardens | 50 townhouses | 65,019 coins |
| Garden squares | 100 townhouses | 70,458,807 coins |
| Early ovens | 10 bakerys | 1,618 coins |
| Sourdough starter | 25 bakerys | 13,168 coins |
| Pastry counter | 50 bakerys | 433,463 coins |
| Bread by bicycle | 100 bakerys | 469,725,380 coins |
| Desk plants | 10 office blocks | 17,800 coins |
| Lunch hour | 25 office blocks | 144,843 coins |
| Glass lifts | 50 office blocks | 4,768,093 coins |
| Roof terrace | 100 office blocks | 5,166,979,183 coins |
| Bus shelters | 10 bus routes | 194,187 coins |
| Double deckers | 25 bus routes | 1,580,110 coins |
| Night buses | 50 bus routes | 52,015,557 coins |
| Electric fleet | 100 bus routes | 56,367,045,634 coins |
| Candlelight | 10 restaurants | 970,933 coins |
| Pavement tables | 25 restaurants | 7,900,549 coins |
| Tasting menu | 50 restaurants | 260,077,786 coins |
| Rooftop dining | 100 restaurants | 281,835,228,168 coins |
| Matinees | 10 theatres | 7,282,004 coins |
| Velvet seats | 25 theatres | 59,254,115 coins |
| Grand chandelier | 50 theatres | 1,950,583,395 coins |
| Opening night | 100 theatres | 2,113,764,211,261 coins |
| Tram stops | 10 tram lines | 25,891,570 coins |
| Brass bells | 25 tram lines | 210,681,297 coins |
| Loop line | 50 tram lines | 6,935,407,626 coins |
| All-night trams | 100 tram lines | 7,515,606,084,482 coins |
Other upgrades
| Upgrade | What it does | Appears at | Costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lamplighter’s pole | Each lamp you light earns twice as much. | 25 coins brewed by hand | 100 coins |
| Brighter wicks | Each lamp you light also earns 2% of what the town makes each second. | 250 coins brewed by hand | 5,000 coins |
| Cobbled streets | Everything in town earns twice as much. | 5 buildings | 500 coins |
| Market day | Everything in town earns twice as much. | 100,000 coins this season | 150,000 coins |
| Festival of lights | Everything in town earns twice as much. | 15,000,000 coins this season | 25,000,000 coins |
Achievements
- First light: Light your first lamp.
- Moving in: Buy your first townhouse.
- All aboard: Open your first bus route.
- Curtain up: Open a theatre.
- The whole town: Own at least one of every building.
- Pocket money: Earn 1,000 coins in total.
- Town treasury: Earn 1,000,000 coins in total.
- City of lights: Earn 1,000,000,000 coins in total.
- Night owl: Light 1,000 lamps by hand.
- A busy street: Own 50 buildings at once.
- Across the river: Start your first new district.
- Town planner: Reach district 6.