Game Info
Year
2019
Collection
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Description
Rune Stones is a deck-building, hand management game by acclaimed designer Rüdiger Dorn. In Rune Stones, every card has a unique number on it. Two cards are always played together, and the higher numbered card is removed from the player's deck. You have to be careful which cards you buy and how you play them to not lose your best cards. Players will use their cards to gather gems, forge them into Artifacts, then combine those into Rune Stones, which grants a special ability for the rest of the game. The more artifacts used in making a Rune Stone, the more points it scores, so players must decide whether it is best to gain abilities early or save to score more points.
On your turn, you may choose from one of three options:
1. Summon Creatures: Take new creature cards from the display by playing the appropriate amount of spell power from cards in your hand.
2. Play Cards: Play two cards from your hand, which will give you resources, new cards, or points. However, every card has a unique number, and the higher numbered card of the two is removed from the game (the other is placed in the player's discard pile).
3. Forge Artifacts: Players spend gems at the 6 different Dwarf forges to make an artifacts. Once they have at least two artifacts of different colors, these may be made into a Rune Stone, which grants a special ability and a significant number of points.
The first player to 65 points triggers the end of the game, and then the player with the most points at the end of the round is the winner.
—description from the publisher
The time has come to find the most powerful druid, that they may claim the throne!
Players will take on the role of druids who must prove their skills handling the powerful rune stones. Summon creatures by magic and benefit from their abilities, all in a search to gain precious gems. These gems must go to the talented dwarfs, who know how to use them to make a rune stone.
As their collection of artifacts grows, the druid's rune stones become more powerful. Each stone gives the druid a permanent ability (as well as power points). The abilities will aid in acquiring gems and artifacts, and the power points increase the player's chance to claim the coveted throne.
The druid with the most power points at the end of the game ascends the throne and is the winner of the game.
—description from the back of the box
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Images
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 6
This page: 6
Sentiment:
pos 5 ·
mix 1 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–6 of 6
Video j24Hnbh2sQo
Rolling Dice & Taking Names Interview at 1:06:19 sentiment: positive
video_pk 93509 · mention_pk 253125
Click to watch at 1:06:19 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Unique component use (dominoes instead of cardboard)
- Asymmetric factions
- Potentially massive scope
Cons
- Likely to be expensive
- Requires Kickstarter to publish
Thematic elements
- War game
- Fantasy
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Asymmetric Player Powers — Each faction has unique units and abilities.
- Dominoes as components — Uses domino-like pieces that represent units and can be used for movement and combat.
- Hand Management — Players manage a hand of domino pieces that represent their available units.
- Modular Board — The map is made of cloth and comes in a zipper bag.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I always kind of think it shouldn't be the rules that are complicated it should be the situation that's complicated
- The key thing was dealing with opportunity fire
- The card system is for me a way of modeling that in that you have to know when to hold back and make sure you've got options at hand
- The figures are just gorgeous really good detail
- it's a game where there is no cardboard in the game at all
- people assume I'm you know some wealthy game designer in a mansion and Brisbane but no it's um yeah definitely needed to royalties
- the world we live in is the result of technological developments nothing to do with politicians nothing to do with generals it's just we a lot of relatively unknown scientists designing stuff you know creating stuff that allows us to shape the wall you know that has a creator the world we live in
- we probably just ruined the chance of him ever coming on the show again but at least now we know what lawn mower he has
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video VYx-d4PjCl4
Getting Games Discussion at 45:39 sentiment: positive
video_pk 91457 · mention_pk 245436
Click to watch at 45:39 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- deck-building with unique numbered cards
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
No quotes stored for this video.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video MZxm3h_jYAE
Watch It Played Discussion at 4:59 sentiment: positive
video_pk 88588 · mention_pk 233920
Click to watch at 4:59 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Clever deck building mechanism.
- Fondness for the designer's previous work.
Cons
- Risk of losing valuable cards if played at the wrong time.
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Deck Building — A deck building game in which every card has a unique number on it.
- Hand Management — Players use their cards to gather gems, forge them into artifacts, then combine those into runestones.
- Resource Management — Gathering gems and forging them into artifacts.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- 10 games on the radar is a production of party Lemmings media Holdings Incorporated
- you don't need to know everything just one more thing than your friends do
- it was really satisfying to watch your fake clue totally send someone off in the wrong direction
- this game seems to be pairing beautiful art with Cutthroat gameplay which sounds exactly like something I'd enjoy
- we discovered just how unforgivingly deliciously brutal a word game can be
- the fact that it's two player only makes me think that I might just have to give them a try one more time
- party Lemmings has assured me that everything's gonna be absolutely fine
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 0v69nJ_XwpY
Getting Games Discussion at 20:08 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 63481 · mention_pk 156896
Click to watch at 20:08 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- Unique blend of deck-building, artifacts, and rune powers
- Multiple rune stone powers create varied strategies
- Engaging late-game decision-making and tension
Cons
- Can be lengthy; deck management can become slow
- May require careful pacing to avoid dragging in multi-player games
Thematic elements
- deck-building with gems, artifacts, and rune stones
Comparison games
- The Magnificent
- Marco Polo - Maracaibo
- Oh My Goods
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Artifact acquisition and rune stones — Acquire artifacts, then cash in artifacts to obtain rune stones with ongoing powers; higher wait yields more points.
- Deck Building — Start with a base deck and gradually lose lower-numbered cards as higher-powered cards are acquired.
- Deck-building and card shedding — Start with a base deck and gradually lose lower-numbered cards as higher-powered cards are acquired.
- End Game Bonuses — Game ends when a player reaches 65 victory points; artifacts and powers contribute to scoring.
- end-game trigger and scoring — Game ends when a player reaches 65 victory points; artifacts and powers contribute to scoring.
- Power rows and ongoing powers — Artifacts grant ongoing abilities; examples include wild buying power, larger hand size, or convert actions into more draws.
- Three action options per turn — Buy new cards from a row by discarding cards of the same color/gems, or activate two cards, or take artifacts to cash in for a rune stone.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's the slowest azul' game by far
- I liked New Dale quite a bit
- I think there were some cool streamlining things that happened overall by having the amount of stuff that you have to make stuff be less streaky
- this is a deck-building style game
- I might have a chance to try it again at some point in the future
- I don't think I'm super excited to keep playing
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video mqJ-XtQ6dTI
Game Night Picks - Pair Of Dice Paradise Top 100 List at 7:36 sentiment: positive
video_pk 37715 · mention_pk 113223
Click to watch at 7:36 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- tight engine-building with unique power cards
- thematic druidic throne pursuit provides clear goals
Cons
- scoring can be intricate and unforgiving if mismanaged
Thematic elements
- stone collection and druidic power balancing
- medieval druidic contest to claim a throne
- deck-building with hand management and stone-based scoring
Comparison games
- Las Vegas
- Kariba
- Istanbul
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Deck Building — building a deck of cards to drive actions
- deck-building — building a deck of cards to drive actions
- Hand Management — careful play of cards to maximize returns
- Set Collection — collecting different runestones and artifacts for points
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- "The future of Paris is in your dice filled hands"
- "is based on the Stratego universe"
- "the game supports brief skirmishes, sprawling campaigns and custom scenarios"
- "you are a pioneer who has taken a break from his research into dinosaur genetic manipulation in order to travel out west and strike it rich"
- "the druid with the most power points at the end of the game... claims the throne"
- "the tropical lands that surround the valley of the Ancients are all up for grabs"
- "the raid ability allows players to capture valuable treasure cards from their opponents"
- "they want what's theirs and they're ready to pounce on you at any time from anywhere"
- "oh Fox now let's say just for a moment that you and I are various woodland creatures"
- "Ocean Crisis depicts a real-life environmental disaster"
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video pcBX9Jtrg-w
Chairman of the Board Discussion at 13:56 sentiment: positive
video_pk 1836 · mention_pk 5322
Click to watch at 13:56 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- clever engine-building
- tight race to a target score
Cons
- early-stage deck-building may feel clunky
Thematic elements
- engine-building through combination of cards
- gem collection and deck-building
- engine-building abstraction
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- deck-building — build a deck to generate better engine effects
- resource-gem collection — collect gems and use them to fuel engine improvements
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this is the best area control game out there
- a perfect 10
- I adore El Grande
- really nice game I taught this to a complete non-gamer
- I love Feld games this one is just an absolutely brilliant one
- it's one of the best two-player games ever made
- overproduced to say the least
- one of my favorite dice games and it's actually just broken into my top 100 for the first time
- the sudden death mechanism where if you are the first player to collect three buildings then you'll instantly win
- really cool decisions
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–6 of 6