Lights Out is the second game from Jonathan Boakes, creator of Dark Fall, but Lights Out is only loosely connected to the previous Dark Fall.

The story is inspired by a poem, "Ballad of Flannan Isle", by Wilfred Gibson, about three lighthouse attendants who mysteriously disappear one evening and are never seen again. It's the year 1912, and Jonathan Parker is a cartographer who has been sent to chart a treacherous section of coastline off the coast of Cornwall in the United Kingdom. He feels that the assignment is beneath his training and capabilities, but quickly becomes intrigued by the strange behavior of his host, Dr. Demarion. He has seen a faint light from a lighthouse in the distance, but when he questions Dr. Demarion, he is met by a total silence on the subject. He also begins to experience strange dreams.

Then, one night, a thick fog rolls in from the sea. Jonathan is awakened by yet more dreams, and decides to explore the town. He visits Dr. Demarion, and is finally offered some information on the lighthouse, along with an offer to help Dr. Demarion discover the truth behind the odd happenings on Fetch Island, site of the lighthouse. This is the beginning of the game, and players will soon find themselves immersed in an involving mystery.

While there is an introductory animation, it doesn't explain much. Players will find themselves plunged immediately into the action with not much background information to go on, at first. After Dr. Demarion has been encountered and the town fully explored, it's off to Fetch Island with the lighthouse, which will reveal much more information, albeit in piecemeal form in some very unlikely places. While the oddity of some of these locations will have players scratching their heads, most items are in sensible places, even though well-hidden.

This is a first-person adventure with most of the gameplay focused on puzzle solving via exploration, although there is some minimal inventory collecting and a few conversations. Much of what is learned throughout the game comes from intensive searching of each location. The cursor is used for movement, which leads players to different viewpoints of each locality. The cursor is also used to interact with items, and to pick up inventory objects. The cursor is tiny, and the size of interactivity quite small, too, so that much of the difficulty of solving puzzles comes from missing directional "hotspots", in that often it's just a matter of finding a certain spot in a room to examine, rather than solving a puzzle, to advance the game.

An example of this is the difficulty I had in the first part of the game on Fetch Island, when I kept wandering around the same areas with no success. I finally had to ask for a walkthrough, where I learned that it was a directional cursor I never saw that was causing problems. The area of this hotspot was very small and easily missed. There are also many areas that can't be interacted with except from one angle, even if viewable from other angles, which is confusing. I also have to confess to getting "stuck" inside a few rooms throughout the game, much like the old "roach motel" commercials, where roaches checked in, but they didn't check out. However, once players become aware of this, it's just a matter of pixel hunting.

The puzzles are logical and entertaining, and while challenging enough, are not brain-numbing, which is a good thing. Many are numerical or mechanical in nature. There are a few instances of inventory use on puzzles, but not much. There is one glitch in the game involving a floppy disk, which disappears from inventory, but the possession of it isn't necessary to finish the game. This is not to be confused with a second floppy found later in the game, which is necessary for game advancement.

The story is intriguing, and is better than many recent adventure games, in terms of catching and keeping one's attention. The use of different time periods during the game makes things interesting, with the contrast of objects and buildings from the various times. The puzzles and clues fit in well with the story, and for the most part, don't feel forced, except for the hidden locations of some of the objects.

Visually, the game looks good, with muted, sepia tones that match the settings of the story. While they're not comparable with the latest graphics on some games, they are quite adequate and do a nice job of fitting the different periods represented.

The sound is a mixed bag, with some sound effects, but overall not very many, which is odd considering this type of somber, scary game. There are some ghostly mutterings from time to time, and some good orchestral music in places, but the game could use more to really enhance the game experience.

Navigation with the interface is very simple, with a cursor that changes icons for movement, use and examination. The only problem is that the cursor is too small, with a small area of interactivity on the "hotspots", which makes it easy to miss crucial movement possibilities. Otherwise, players can't ask for an easier interface.