Kindling the sacred flame…
No ads on the mountain — one eye, one flame, one hand
Play Prometheus: The Stolen Flame — a free Greek-myth tension game
Play Prometheus: The Stolen Flame free. A Greek-myth hold-and-release tension game: scoop sacred embers from the Olympian flame while the hundred-eyed Argus watches. 30 chapters, four acts, endless night.
Prometheus: The Stolen Flame is a free browser hold-and-release tension game built on the Greek myth of the Titan who stole fire for mankind. Zeus has withheld flame from the world, and every night Prometheus climbs Olympus to scoop embers from the gods' sacred fire into his fennel stalk — while Argus Panoptes, the hundred-eyed watchman of Hera, sits beside it. The whole game is a single decision made under rising pressure: when to hold, and when to let go.
Hold to reach into the flame and bank embers toward the chapter goal before dawn. Release, and your hand slips back into the dark. The Gaze meter climbs while you scoop and drains while you rest; the eye cycles from closed, to a drowsy stir, to a full open watch — and a hand caught in the open gaze costs a life. Fill the Gaze and Argus wakes in a long blazing stare that locks the flame entirely. Thirty chapters, four acts of the myth, and an endless Long Night at the end of it.
How to play
- Press and hold anywhere on the canvas (or hold Space) to reach into the flame. Embers flow into the fennel stalk.
- Read the eye. Closed is safe. A drowsy stir still pays, but feeds the Gaze fast. A full open watch takes your hand — and a life — after a short grace.
- Watch the Gaze meter. It rises while you hold and falls while you don't. Fill it and Argus wakes: a long stare with the flame locked.
- Catch the surges. Forge surges multiply the fill rate 1.6× — the boldest scooping windows in the game.
- Bank the goal before dawn. The dawn bar is the timer. Hit the ember goal first and the theft succeeds.
The rules, exactly
| Thing | What it does | What it pays or costs |
|---|---|---|
| Holding (eye closed) | Scooping embers | +1.7 embers/sec, Gaze climbs slowly |
| Holding (drowsy stir) | Risky scooping | +0.9 embers/sec, Gaze climbs fast |
| Holding (open watch) | Caught after the grace window | −1 life, hand stunned |
| Released | Hand hidden | Gaze drains, no embers |
| Gaze meter full | Argus wakes | Long stare, flame locked, streak reset |
| Forge surge | Act II and on | Fill ×1.6 while it lasts |
| Hera's tail | Act III and on | A second watcher, telegraphed by a golden glow |
| Aether wind | Act IV | Fill ×0.55 while it blows |
| Three stars | Win, unseen, never woke him | The mark of a perfect thief |
The four acts of the myth
| Act | Chapters | Where you are | What changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| I · The Mortal Dark | 1–8 | The first hearths of the gods | Learn the eye's rhythm; the Gaze meter |
| II · The Forge of Hephaestus | 9–16 | The Smith's own fire | Forge surges ×1.6, quick false glances |
| III · The Garden of Hera | 17–24 | The peacock-tailed wall | A second watcher blinks open |
| IV · The Dawn Ascent | 25–30 | The crest, under Hyperion's light | Aether winds thin the flame; the last ember |
Why every chapter can be finished
Every chapter is built from a fixed seed: the eye's rhythm, the surges, the gusts and the tail's blinks are always the same, and there are no random numbers while you play. During development a clairvoyant solver that reads those exact timelines played all thirty chapters under the rules you get — and cleared every one without a single catch or wake. The same solver verified the endless night's first waves. Nothing in the game hurts you without a visible warning first.
Strategy that actually works
- Scoop closed, rest stirred. The closed eye pays full rate for almost no Gaze; the stir pays half rate for double Gaze. Treat the stir as your breathing room unless the dawn bar forces otherwise.
- Drop early, not late. Releasing a beat before the eye opens costs almost nothing. Releasing a beat after costs a life.
- Never enter a stir with a hot Gaze. Above roughly two-thirds, take the rest — a wake lockout is always more expensive than the embers you forgo.
- Live inside the surges. A surge during a closed eye is the cheapest embers in the game; plan your rest around it.
- Streaks are quiet money. Consecutive embers without a catch or a wake grow the score multiplier to ×2 — greed literally pays, until it doesn't.
Technical notes
Everything is generated: no image is loaded by the game, no audio file is played, no third-party script runs. The eye, the flame, the Titan and the mountain are Canvas 2D drawn from the same chapter data the solver reads, and every crackle, sting and chime is synthesised with the Web Audio API. The rules contain no random numbers — every chapter comes from a fixed seed, so it plays identically on every device. One finger or one key is the entire control scheme. Progress and stars live in your own browser under prometheus.flame.v1. Nothing is uploaded, because there is no server.
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Prometheus: The Stolen Flame — frequently asked questions
What is Prometheus: The Stolen Flame?
It is a free browser hold-and-release tension game built on the Greek myth of Prometheus. Zeus has withheld fire from mankind, and you play the Titan who climbs Olympus each night to scoop sacred embers from the gods' flame into his fennel stalk — while Argus Panoptes, the hundred-eyed watchman, sits beside it. The whole game is one decision repeated under rising pressure: when to hold, and when to let go.
How do you play it?
Press and hold anywhere on the canvas (or hold Space) to reach into the sacred flame and bank embers toward the chapter goal. Release to withdraw your hand. Argus's eye moves through a cycle: closed, a drowsy stir, then a full watch. Holding through a watch — after a short grace — gets you caught and costs a flame of your three lives. The Gaze meter rises while you scoop and drains while your hand is down; let it fill and Argus wakes in a long, blazing stare that locks the flame.
What are forge surges, Hera's tail and aether winds?
They are the act hazards. From Act II the forge of Hephaestus surges on a visible rhythm and embers fill at 1.6 times the rate — the boldest scooping windows in the game. From Act III the peacock eyes of Hera watch from the garden wall: a second watcher blinks open on its own rhythm, always telegraphed by a golden glow. From Act IV winds of the aether gust through and thin the flame while they blow. All three are signalled before they bite; nothing in the game hurts you without a warning first.
How do stars and the Gaze meter work?
Any win earns one star. Winning without being caught earns two; winning without being caught and without ever waking Argus earns three. The Gaze meter is the greed dial: it climbs slowly while you hold through the closed eye, fast during the drowsy stir, and drains while your hand is down. Keep it out of the red and the watchman sleeps; chase embers through a stir with a hot meter and you will eat a wake lockout at the worst moment.
Is every chapter actually winnable?
Yes, and it is proven rather than promised. Every chapter is built from a fixed seed: the eye's rhythm, the surges, the gusts and the tail's blinks are always the same, and there are no random numbers while you play. During development a clairvoyant solver that reads those exact timelines played all thirty chapters under the rules you get, and every one was cleared without a single catch or wake. The same solver verified the endless night's first waves.
What is the story?
The Greek myth, chapter by chapter. Act I, The Mortal Dark: Zeus withholds fire and the winter huts go dark, so Prometheus begins the climb. Act II, The Forge of Hephaestus: deeper in, where flames leap like sparks off an anvil and Argus takes his post. Act III, The Garden of Hera: the slain watchman's hundred eyes live on Hera's peacock tail, and the garden blinks. Act IV, The Dawn Ascent: winds tear at your hand while Hyperion's chariot reddens the east — fill the vessel before dawn and carry the fire down to mankind's first hearth. The ending follows the myth: Zeus rages and chains the Titan, but mortals keep the fire, and generations on Heracles climbs the mountain and breaks the chain.
Does it work on a phone, and does it cost anything?
No download, no install, no account and no payment. The whole game is one HTML5 page: the eye, the flame, the Titan and the mountain are drawn on canvas, and every sound is synthesised in the browser with the Web Audio API. One finger or one key is the entire control scheme, it adapts from a 320-pixel phone to a wide desktop window, and progress and stars are stored in your own browser under the key prometheus.flame.v1. Nothing is uploaded, because there is no server.