Kindled

You are a spark crossing a dark field, and everywhere you go catches fire. The trail behind you burns for a few seconds and then goes cold. Cross a tile that is still lit and the run ends.

It is snake, except your length is measured in time instead of segments. Eating tinder makes your fire last longer, which is also what makes each pickup worth more points. So the board gets more dangerous exactly as fast as you get greedy. Water puddles cut your burn back down: safer board, smaller payouts, and a decision you have to keep making.

Later stages put things in the field. Dry grass chains when a flame touches it, so a patch is worth a pile of points and also lights half the map on fire while you are still standing in it. Stone never catches, so a slab is somewhere to run through when everything else is glowing. From stage four on, gusts of wind telegraph for a second and a half and then shove you a tile sideways, which is usually into something you were carefully avoiding.

Runs are short. A decent one lasts under a minute, ends because you got greedy, and restarts on one key. There is no ending, just a best score and the next stage.

The fire is the whole game: it is your score, your obstacle, and the only light on the board.