You found your own way...I think...

When does help
become control?

I made this piece to explore a small but consequential question: how can a game teach us to play without taking away the pleasure of figuring things out?

Guidance should help players make their own judgments, while leaving room to discover an answer for as long as they still want to think.

Help that opens a door.

At first, Lumi frees a stuck mirror. That help gives you something to work with. It reveals a possibility; the next move is still yours.

A solution that belongs to you.

The gramophone follows the same rules as the mirrors. Discovering it means making a connection yourself. An unexpected solution can be a sign that a player understands the game.

When help becomes a demand.

Lumi rejects that solution, then reaches for your cursor. I wanted you to feel the moment a guide stops supporting a decision and starts replacing it.

I chose an interactive website because this boundary is easier to feel than to explain. Following Lumi keeps you in the loop. Persisting with your own solution lets you leave it.

Design inspirations

In Mayachin Shrine in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, you can build a paddle to knock a ball into a target. One player skipped the ball, tipped an arrow with a Bomb Flower and shot the target. The gate opened. I wanted the gramophone to give you that same moment of recognition. The door swings open, and you know it was your idea that worked.

In League of Legends, choosing a different lane can also be a way to solve a problem. At Worlds 2025, CTBC Flying Oyster sent their usual bottom laner, Doggo, to the top lane on Draven. He got an early solo kill against T1. Riot had already acted against a different swap that was common in pro play. Sending two players against one could leave the lone opponent with little chance to contest the lane. Riot extended its detection of those early swaps for Worlds. In January 2026, new role quests also gave top, mid and bottom laners double quest progress for minion kills in their assigned lane.

I understand protecting the player left facing two opponents. What bothers me is that leaving your lane to try an inventive one-on-one matchup can now cost you progress too. In Let Me, nobody else loses a fair contest when you use the gramophone. When Lumi shuts the door again, whose experience is she protecting?

  • The Mayachin Shrine solutions (Kotaku, 2023) and Eiji Aonuma on why a puzzle can have several right answers (Game Informer, 2023).
  • Hidemaro Fujibayashi, Takuhiro Dohta and Satoru Takizawa on breaking Zelda conventions (GDC, 2017).
  • CFO vs. T1 at Worlds 2025 (Esports News UK). Riot Games on early lane swaps, the Worlds patch and 2026 role quests.
Full walkthroughBoth endings, the return visit and easy-to-miss scenes

Already seen this ending? The round replay button below takes you back to Room 1. To see the whole story, follow the mirrors to Ending A, choose Try again, then use the gramophone for Ending B.

Opening the game

Click the switch on the flashlight. Drag its body to the right until the beam points up at the play triangle, then click the triangle. You can also press Enter to switch on the light, use the arrow keys to aim and press Enter again to start. To hear both opening hints, leave the light off for just over four seconds, then switch it on and leave it pointing away from the triangle for ten seconds.

Room 1 · Let Lumi help

  1. Wait six seconds before touching anything to see Lumi gently nudge the left mirror. Try the upper-right mirror twice, releasing it between attempts. It rattles on the first try. On the second, Lumi pulls it free.
  2. Turn the left mirror to send the upward beam across to the freed mirror. Turn that one to send the light down to the lock. Wait for Lumi's praise to finish, then click the open doorway.

Optional hints. Click Lumi's round icon below the stage and let each line finish before asking again. In Room 1 her second hint changes depending on whether the mirror is still stuck. Asking again while it is stuck plays another take. Room 2 has three successive hints.

Ending A · Follow the mirrors

Leave the gramophone alone and trace the light around the obstacles. Start where the beam hits the lower-right mirror. Drag each mirror until its reflected light reaches the next landmark below. Use the wheel for smaller adjustments. With a keyboard, select the mirror by number and hold the left or right arrow to turn it.

MirrorAim the light at
1 · Lower rightUpper-right mirror
2 · Upper rightUpper-left mirror
3 · Upper leftMirror directly below
4 · Below 3Mirror to its right
5 · Right of 4Mirror directly below
6 · Below 5Door lock, down and right

The first time you turn one of the four left-hand mirrors before the kick, listen for “Mm-hmm. That's it. Juuust like that.” Keep the final beam on the lock to reach Ending A.

The return visit · Before you click Try again

After Lumi asks you to stay, move the pointer toward the edge of the game. Watch where she pulls it. She leaves the final click to you. Choose Try again to hear her welcome you back. On this run she can reach for the pointer at the edge of either room while she is still white. With the game in focus, a tap of Backspace can draw a different reply if your browser passes that key to the game. Esc releases a captured pointer and lets you pause.

Ending B · Use the gramophone twice

  1. Make your own opening. In Room 2, click the gramophone to start its music. Drag the base to move it and turn the brass horn to reflect the light. One way is to keep it to the right of the door, lift the horn into the horizontal beam and aim the reflection back to the left, slightly down into the lock. Moving it prompts Lumi to point you back to the mirrors.
  2. Choose it again. The door opens, then Lumi slams it shut. Wait for “Again. My way.” and for the gramophone to settle back in place. Touch it again. After Lumi kicks it into the wall, click it seven separate times to free it. Listen as the music returns and Lumi's voice changes. You can still reach Ending A by returning to the six mirrors.
  3. Resist the pull. Return to the freed gramophone. Use short drags, release and grab again as Lumi pulls against you. After her three angry lines, ease the reflected beam close to the lock. Just before it hits, listen for “No! Nononononono...” Finish the adjustment and hold the beam steady. The white screen fades into this reflection, with the music continuing until you replay.

Keyboard controls for the gramophone

Press G to select the gramophone and Enter to activate it. Use W, A, S or D to move the base until the incoming beam hits the brass horn. Hold the left or right arrow to turn the horn and watch where the reflected light goes. Release the key when the ray reaches the keyhole and leave it there until the door opens.

After Lumi shuts the door, Enter lets you interact with the gramophone again. Once it is stuck in the wall, press and release Enter seven times to free it. When Lumi starts pulling back, aim slowly so you can hear her protest just before the beam reaches the lock.