1. Start as a guest
Open the game and choose Start New Journey. Create a character and select a Japanese practice tier from N5 to N1. There are three character slots. If this browser already has a save, choose Continue Journey to return to it.
Guest play needs no account. Guest checkpoints stay in this browser on this device; clearing site data or using another browser does not carry them with you. Use the same address, n1ghtmare.org, when returning to your saved game.
The starting shrine trial asks for five successful answers. Incorrect attempts let you try again without damage. Completing the trial opens Kotohara, the dream city. Skipping dialogue does not skip the trial.
2. Choose how to practice
- The Archive
- Browse questions and filter by tier, kanji, vocabulary, grammar, reading, completion, or mistakes. All five tiers are available. Use it to study one topic deliberately.
- Lantern Runs
- Take an untimed practice encounter. Correct answers trigger basic attacks automatically. Read the feedback when an answer is wrong, then continue when you are ready.
- The Five Seals
- Challenge the boss for a tier after ten unique correct questions at that tier. These encounters connect practice to your character’s adventure.
Character XP and RPG level are separate from Japanese difficulty. Choosing a higher tier does not certify your Japanese level. The written questions are original beta practice with estimated JLPT labels, not official exam material.
Find a starting point in the learning guides, or review kanji, vocabulary, grammar, and reading separately.
3. Wait for a confirmed checkpoint
During an encounter, progress since the last checkpoint is provisional. The game saves after every five completed turns and when you explicitly finish an encounter, including its end result. Wait for the save to complete before closing the tab or changing devices.
Reloading resumes the last confirmed checkpoint. Answers completed after that checkpoint may need to be replayed. A guest checkpoint is a browser save; it becomes a cloud save only after you sign in and complete the account flow.
If the game says Save status unknown. Reconnect to check., restore your connection and use the offered status check. Do not assume a failed network response means the server discarded the save. Resolve the message before starting another cloud encounter.
4. Sign in and choose your character transfer
Open Account and choose Continue with Google. Resolve an unfinished checkpoint first. If you have guest progress and an existing cloud save, the game shows their summaries so you can choose what to keep.
Transferring moves a chosen guest character into a selected cloud slot. Other guest characters stay in this browser. Replacing an occupied slot requires an explicit choice; progress is not silently merged. Keep the original guest save until the transfer is confirmed.
After a confirmed transfer or cloud checkpoint, sign in with the same Google account on another device to continue the cloud character. Guest history does not retroactively earn leaderboard credit.
When finished on a shared device, sign out through Account. For account information and support, read the Privacy Policy or contact the creator.
Comfort and access
Use Settings for audio and reduced-motion preferences. Questions and controls are HTML, so the Japanese text is separate from the 3D scene. Encounters are untimed: reading carefully is more useful than rushing.
For a question that appears incorrect, include its wording or question ID in feedback. For a save problem, include your browser, device, and the visible message. Never send passwords, sign-in codes, or private invitation links.
Invitations and rankings
Opening an invitation does not automatically join anything. Review it and sign in before explicitly accepting a friendship or a Lantern Covenant invitation. Keep personal invitation links private.
The Lantern Roll contains casual beta rankings. Guest practice is available, but ranked participation uses an account. A game rank is not a JLPT result or proof of language proficiency.