A small language
for Lantern games.

Wick is the Lantern engine’s scripting language. It pairs a familiar, lightweight syntax with static types and explicit handling of missing values.

Write a main.wick file, run it in Lantern, and save to reload. The compiler checks your code and engine calls before the game starts.

main.wickA moving square

let x = 0

fn update(dt: num) {
  x = (x + 40 * dt) % 400
}

fn draw() {
  lt.clear(0.1, 0.1, 0.2)
  lt.rect(x, 100, 16, 16, 1, 0.8, 0.2, 1)
}

Lantern calls update and draw each frame. Engine API →

Learn & look things up

Build a small game, then work through the language, engine interface, and compiler. Edition 0.3 includes bits, bytes, and buses.

Syntax, types, collections, built-in functions, and the lt.* engine API. For checking a detail while you write.

Mask a value, wrap a register, or display a bus in binary. Includes a processor example and the runnable Bit Lab workbench.

Types are inferred or written explicitly. Engine calls are checked at load time. A misspelled variable is an error, and conditions must be bool.

Values that might be absent have an optional type, such as str?. Handle the missing case before using the value.

Loading a score that may not exist

// load_save returns str?; num returns num?
let saved = lt.load_save("best")
let best = num(saved ?? "") ?? 0

?? supplies a fallback for nil. This handles both a missing save and text that cannot be parsed as a number.

Data: Flat records with named fields, lists, and maps. Records →
Runtime: A bytecode VM without a JIT. Garbage collection runs between frames. Internals →
Repeatability: Deterministic rand() and Lantern’s fixed-timestep mode support repeatable runs. Development loop →
Scope: Wick is a small language under active development. Check the supported features and current constraints. Limits & ledger →