Runeborn: Preview of a Mix Between Slot Machine and Magic

After appreciating it in the demo, I gladly dove into this roguelike deckbuilder, featuring a strategic combat system based on the use of runes (and look at that, hence the name) that are activated through a kind of magical slot machine, where luck plays the main role. Here's our Runeborn preview!

Runeborn is a strategic roguelike based on runes

The player takes on the role of a runeborn, an enchanter who has lost their Runebook and must reconstruct it by facing possessed enemies and corrupted creatures in a decaying fantasy world. Each combat is turn-based and revolves around three columns of runes that spin like reels: the result of the spin determines the activated spells, with effects varying based on the combination obtained. Runes can be offensive, defensive, or special, and the player can customize their Runebook by choosing which of the initial selections they want to lock, to try and achieve the highest possible combination results with each restart, creating unique synergies and strategies.

Runeborn, the combat system and meditations

To mitigate the random component of the spin, the game introduces meditations, actions that allow, once some runes are locked, to re-spin only the others before activating the final blow. These meditations consume spiritual energy and become fundamental for facing more complex enemies, especially bosses, who often feature advanced mechanics and multiple phases. Making the system even deeper are trinkets and amulets, magical items that alter rune behavior, add passive effects, or modify combat rules. Some trinkets empower specific runes, others influence the battlefield or interact with meditations, creating an ecosystem of power-ups that evolves run after run, adding higher values or multiplications in element combinations.

Power-ups, trinkets, and magic shops in Runeborn

During the game, the player accumulates coins and arcane resources to spend in five specialized shops, each dedicated to an aspect of power-up: new runes can be purchased, trinkets acquired, meditations improved, rare runes unlocked, or corrupted items with dark powers obtained. Each run contributes to unlocking new content, such as additional runes, trinkets, skins, challenges, and ascension modes, increasing variety and replayability. 

Atmosphere and artistic direction

The atmosphere is dark and stylized, with settings that evoke a ruined world dominated by the corrupted magic of Malakar. The soundtrack is minimal and unsettling, perfect for accompanying the game's dark tone. Runeborn manages to innovate in the roguelike genre without betraying its foundations, offering a varied, original, and strategically rich experience. The fusion of randomness and control, between runes and meditations, between items and synergies, makes each run different and every choice significant.

A promising experience, but still evolving

In this randomness, and especially in the meager upgrade which is nothing more than being able to have additional random items without touching other elements, the balance of a gameplay that is indeed extremely fun, but which runs out in a handful of hours, shifts. As fun as it is, it's still a long way from its final release and many phases still need to be implemented, so it should be taken for what it is now... which is a title that costs little and is very enjoyable.