Runic is a match three style puzzle game which you must match three of the same runes to remove them from the game.
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Runic has a twist to match three games where you usually rotate tiles or place them from the bottom to match, in this game you can slide the runes from each of the four sides of the board. This opens up a new strategy to other games of this genre as you approach the game from all angles. Walls are often found in the levels to make things trickier resulting in some runes only being accessible from one or two sides.
The Quest mode contains 35 levels which increase in complexity. The aim of the game is to remove the God Runes from the board by matching three symbols adjoining them, they are usually not instantly reachable and are blocked by other runes which you must first remove in order to get to them. You must remove the God Runes within a time limit which I often found to be very tight, sometimes not even nearly removing them within the limit. I would have liked to have seen a difficulty option to give more allotted time or a ranking system based on how long it took for you to complete the level.
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The Timed mode presents a challenge to remove as many tiles from the board within 100 seconds to gain as much score as possible. This is a fun mode but strangely there seems to be only one board design to play on. I would have liked to have seen a variety of designs and possibly a choice of time limits to play on to give this mode much more lifespan.
Two modes are available for multiplayer, the first is a co-op game which allows both players to play together to complete the level you are currently on in the Quest mode which is very useful. The second mode is called Rune Match and sees both players playing against each other for the first to remove their God Rune tile. This was quite a fun mode as you can use your tiles to hinder your opponent as well as match tiles to remove them. Again, only one board design seems to be available for this mode and a variety of boards would have really improved the game.
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Presentation and graphics are done fairly well, everything is clearly laid out and the graphics are drawn well and easy to identify. The music is a repeating track which does get a little repetitive after a while. The sounds are minimal as you would expect in a game of this genre. The controls work fine for the game and I had no problems changing angle and moving the bar.
It almost feels like this an unfinished game or did not go through enough playtesting for feedback as I have mentioned a few areas where it feels lacking. You are unable to replay previously completed levels unless you restart the Quest mode and only one board design in the Co-op mode was a real let down. There is nothing wrong with the game, it does exactly what it is supposed to do but a few simple additions would have really improved the game both in playability and the lifespan.
Runic costs 240 :MSPoints: which I feel currently just about qualifies for this price, if it had some of the above suggestions I would be happy to recommend it. Try the trial and if you like it then buy it, as I said there is nothing wrong with the game as it is but it feels a bit lacking.
You can find more information on Runic as well as the trial and full version of the game on the Marketplace.
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