About this picture
Morning sunlight streams across the straw floor of a traditional Japanese room. An open leather suitcase rests on the woven mats, filled with a camera, patterned cloths, and small equipment cases. Beside it lie a neat pile of folded wool cardigans and a stack of paper envelopes. Strung between the wooden pillars, strips of developed negative film hang to dry. Beyond the large circular window, raked gravel and mossy stones sit quietly in a peaceful rock garden.
The story so far
This photo is part of The Mender of Lantern Street, a story told one torn photograph at a time. Yesterday, a warning from the tea master revealed that the man in the grey coat had asked for Ada's address. The quiet rhythm of her Kyoto journey was broken by a persistent follower.
How to play
Drag a piece onto another square to swap them, or tap a piece and then tap where it should go. Hold Preview for a faded glimpse of the photo: enough to see where the sky and the street go, not the details. Pieces that belong together join up and move as one, and turn green once they are in the right place. You have 1:30 for these 9 pieces, and the clock keeps running if you leave the page. Each photo has three stars: one for restoring it, one for finishing with0:36 still on the clock without taking extra time, and one for doing it in 11 moves or fewer. Each episode starts with 2 hints and earns more along the way; unused hints carry over to later photos. Playing needs a free account, which keeps your stars and stamps on every device. Restoring photos earns stamps (more for more stars, and extra for whole episodes), which buy more time or more hints. Once the photo is restored, turn it over and look for the clue hidden in it. Photos open one after another and episodes in order; each new chapter opens once you have enough stars from the chapters before it.