Midnight Harvest: climb the pumpkin field before the ravens find you

The Lantern Keeper leans on a crooked staff, a lit lantern swinging from it, grinning under a battered purple hat: a carved pumpkin for a head, patched dungarees, straw poking out at the cuffs. This scarecrow is the host of Midnight Harvest, a pick-and-climb game with no reels, set in a field of pumpkins under the full moon. You can play Midnight Harvest free on this page, with virtual credits, no download and no sign-up.

Choosing your night

Before each round you set your stake and choose the night. On a Calm night, each row of four pumpkins hides one raven. In Mist there are two per row, and on a Moonless night, three. More ravens means fewer safe pumpkins, and the multipliers rise to match. A Calm night is a gentle, steady climb; a Moonless one asks you to find the single good pumpkin in each row, which is a very different game.

The climb, row by row

Press Play, then tap a pumpkin in the lit row at the bottom of the field. The field has eight rows, and you work your way upwards one at a time. A golden pumpkin takes you past the row, and your harvest is now worth your stake times the multiplier on that row’s tag. A raven ends the climb and the harvest in progress is lost. After every row you clear, you choose: cash out what you have, or try the next row for a higher multiplier. There is also a Random button if you would rather not pick.

Some rows hide a lantern pumpkin. If you uncover a raven in one of those rows, the Keeper chases it off and you climb on regardless. The lantern itself counts as a golden pumpkin. Each row is independent, so a lantern earlier in the climb does not protect you later.

The Harvest Moon

Clear the eighth row and you get to pick the Harvest Moon, which pays the night’s top multiplier. On a Moonless night that is 2,500× the bet, the maximum the game pays. Getting there means finding the one safe pumpkin eight times in a row, so it is very much the exception.

Everything is set at the bet

The position of every raven and lantern is drawn when you place the bet. You are uncovering a field that already exists, and at the end of the round every pumpkin is turned over so you can see it. The ladder is built so that, on average, cashing out at one row is no better than any other: the choice is about how much risk you enjoy.

A plan for free play

Start on a Calm night at around 20p and cash out after three rows for a dozen rounds, then try running to six. Switch to Mist and repeat. Finally give Moonless a few rounds to feel how quickly it ends. Autoplay can cash out automatically after a chosen row and stop on a big win, which is handy for longer runs.

Midnight Harvest is a Nocturn Play game and suits a phone perfectly, one tap per row. Demo credits have no value. The same game runs for real money at the casinos below.