The object of the game is to transform the entire board into gold by
placing magic RUNES on every square. When you turn a whole board
to gold, you will proceed to the next, where you earn more points but
the game becomes more difficult.
2 GAME ELEMENTS
RUNES are magical symbols that come in different shapes and colors. You
place these on the board to change the square underneath to
gold. Runes must be placed next to an existing Rune, and they must
match all adjacent Runes in either their shape, their color, or both.
STONES are grey blocks that act as "wild cards." Any type of Rune can be placed next to a Stone.
SKULLS are magical "bombs." You can place them on any existing Rune to destroy it.
The FORGE is the round metal object on the left sidebar. It fills with
molten lava whenever you discard a Rune, and cools down when
you place a Rune successfully. When you fill the Forge completely, the
game will end.
3 HOW TO PLACE RUNES
It is highly recommended you play the TUTORIAL included in the game.
This will show you the rules of the game in an easy to understand
manner.
When you start your first game, you will see a grey Stone in the center
of the board. You will place your first Rune next to this
Stone.
After that, you will receive a series of randomly chosen Runes that you must place on the board.
Remember:
Runes must be placed next to another Rune already on the board.
Runes must match the shape or color of all Runes they're placed next to.
Placing a Rune on a square changes that square to gold. The square
remains gold even if the Rune is later destroyed. When the entire
board has been changed to gold, you will proceed to the next level.
4 DISCARDING RUNES
Sometimes you won't be able to place a Rune anywhere on the board. At this point you'll have to discard the Rune.
You can discard by either clicking on the Discard button on the left hand sidebar, or by right-clicking your mouse.
5 THE FORGE
Every time you discard a Rune, the Forge will fill partway with lava. When the forge is completely full, the game is over.
You can cool the Forge down by successfully placing Runes on the board.
Every time you place a Rune, the Forge will cool down by one step.
6 ROWS AND COLUMNS
You will have to clear Runes from the board in order to successfully
change every square to gold. The easiest way to do this is by creating
a complete row or column of Runes.
Whenever you complete a full row across or a column up and down, all
the Runes in that line will disappear from the board. The squares
beneath will remain gold.
7 STONES
Sometimes you will receive a grey Stone instead of a Rune. The Stones
are wild cards. Any type of Rune can be placed next to a Stone.
Be careful with Stones! They can be crucial in solving a difficult board, so use them with caution.
8 SKULLS
Sometimes you will receive a spinning Skull instead of a Rune. The
Skulls are magical "bombs" that you can use to destroy any Rune already
on the board. Just click on the target Rune to destroy it.
Skulls can be useful in clearing areas that have gotten tangled up with too many Runes.
9 SCORING
You'll score different amounts of points depending on the mode of the
game and the difficulty setting. Here's the formula used to figure
your points:
Placing a Rune on a lead square:
5 pts Placing a Rune on a square with 1 adjacent Rune
15 pts Placing a Rune on a square with 2 adjacent Runes
30 pts Placing a Rune on a square with 3 adjacent Runes
50 pts Placing a Rune on a square with 4 adjacent Runes
Placing a Rune on a gold square:
1 pts Placing a Rune on a square with 1 adjacent Rune
2 pts Placing a Rune on a square with 2 adjacent Runes
3 pts Placing a Rune on a square with 3 adjacent Runes
4 pts Placing a Rune on a square with 4 adjacent Runes
Clearing a row or column:
50 pts Clearing a row that hasn't been cleared before
5 pts Clearing a previously cleared row again
250 pts Clearing a row and column simultaneously
Completing a level: 500 pts for the first board, 625 for the second, 750 for the third, and so forth.
Normal Difficulty: x2 points
Hard Difficulty: x4 points
Timetrial Mode: x2 points
Using the Hint button (question mark on sidebar) costs you a number of points: 25 on Easy, 50 on Average, and 100 on
Hard.
