Lost Corridors Guide: Light, Sparks and the Five Worlds
Lost Corridors runs on two numbers. Lumi glides at 5.2 tiles per second, and the light bar loses 1 point every second once a run starts. Sparks, braziers, wraiths and the chase all trade against that clock, so most of the decisions in a maze come down to simple arithmetic done on the move.
The clock starts late
The bar does not drain until the first swipe, or until 2.5 seconds have passed. Those seconds are free. Spend them finding the glowing exit and the sparks closest to the route.
After that the drain never pauses. Standing still at a junction costs exactly as much light as gliding down a corridor. A swipe made during a glide is remembered for 0.8 seconds, about 4 tiles, and Lumi takes that turn at the next junction without stopping. Swipe when the junction is close, not as soon as it comes into view.
What a spark is worth
A spark adds 3 light, which is 3 seconds, which is about 15 tiles of gliding. A detour is a round trip, so any spark more than about 7 tiles off the route costs more light than it gives back. The game deliberately places many sparks in dead ends and side branches, and plenty of them sit just past that line. Grab the close ones, leave the far ones, and come back for them only when the bar is high.
Braziers are worth 4, so they justify a slightly longer trip, about 10 tiles each way. Once lit, a brazier keeps glowing for the rest of the run.
Light also decides how far Lumi can see. The glow reaches 3.8 tiles at about 16 light and shrinks to 1.5 tiles as the bar empties. Below 6 a heartbeat starts. At that point there are about six seconds, roughly 30 tiles, of gliding left.
Stars are meant to be tight
Every maze hides three star gems, often at the end of a dead end. Before release, each level's starting light was set with two test bots. One heads straight for the exit and has to win 9 runs out of 10, with an extra margin added for human players. The other collects every gem and has to get all three stars 7 times out of 10.
So a plain escape is comfortable by design, and a three-star run is supposed to be close. Stars keep the best result, which means a hard maze can be cleared first and replayed for its gems later.
World by world
| World | Adds | Size | Light |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Catacombs | sparks and star gems | 9×13 to 17×23 | 16 to 40 |
| Crystal Caves | keys, gates, braziers | 13×19 to 19×27 | 18 to 37 |
| Sunken Halls | wraiths | 13×19 to 19×29 | 25 to 131 |
| Clockwork Vault | portals | 15×21 to 21×31 | 22 to 87 |
| The Abyss | all of it, 15% faster drain | 17×23 to 23×33 | 49 to 119 |
Size is the maze size in tiles and light is the starting light, leaving out the chase at the end of each world.
The Catacombs
Only sparks and gems, and generous light. The first long maze is 1-8, where the exit is 86 tiles away and the bar starts at 40 to match.
Crystal Caves
Each key opens the gate of its own colour, and from 2-5 on there are two of each. This is the world where sparks stop being optional. Level 2-11 starts with 20 light, while the shortest path to its exit, keys included, is 258 tiles: close to 50 seconds of gliding. No other maze in the game starts with so little light for its length. Plan the route through the sparks rather than around them, and light both braziers on the way.
Sunken Halls
A wraith patrols a short path of 5 to 12 tiles, back and forth, at 1.7 to 2.3 tiles per second. Lumi is more than twice as fast. Wait at the edge of the glow until a wraith turns away, then go. A touch costs 6 light, the same as two sparks.
Level 3-10 starts with 131 light, the most in the game, because it has four wraiths and a 314-tile route to all three gems.
Clockwork Vault
Portals come in pairs and work in both directions. From 4-6 there are two pairs per maze, wraiths come back from 4-4 and gates from 4-7.
The Abyss
The light drains 15% faster here, so a spark is worth about 2.6 seconds instead of 3. Every maze has a portal pair, two braziers and up to four wraiths, with two gates from 5-5 on. Level 5-11 has the longest full route in the game: 452 tiles to collect all three gems and reach the exit.
Chases
The 12th maze of every world is a chase. The whole maze lights up at the start, so the route can be read before moving. The first swipe wakes a shadow, and 1.6 seconds later it sets off along Lumi's exact trail.
In The Catacombs the shadow moves at 60% of Lumi's speed. Each world adds 3%, up to 72% in The Abyss, and it gains a little more speed every second it chases. Over the length of a chase maze it stays slower than a moving Lumi. What it catches is a Lumi that stops at a junction or turns back.
That makes dead ends the real danger. Backing out of one means gliding straight back toward the shadow. Chase mazes have far more loops than normal ones, so there is nearly always a way around. Queue every turn before reaching the junction, and keep going.
