Rune Mage Beta

Control on the iphone will be much easier, since in the current version the pieces sometimes slide further than desired. Since the goal is to create a path, I think the artwork needs to make the critical path more obvious. Several times I was unclear whether I was looking at an "elbow" piece or straight piece. I learned to look for the semi-circular ends, but it was still sometimes difficult. I think this could be remedied by thickening the pathway art, making the colors contrast more, or both. You've got a good game here, perfectly well-suited to the iPhone.

.djflippy

OK so I played through all the levels (so far).
I have rarely played this genre of game but I truly like this one.
It is actually really easy so far but I am curious about upcoming levels. I think that the holes for connecting on the 2 hole pieces need to be made more apparent they are some times hard to see.
I like the art work as well as the level selection method as that adds to the feel of the game. I believe this game will actually be more natural feeling on the iDevices than the computer.

So here are my initial thoughts/feedback:

1) I liked it. I found it fun and a different take on a networking or pipes genre game.

2) The first 5 puzzles (Apprentice Rope to Dividing Forces) were nice and easy. I thought they gave a good introduction to the basics of the game.

3) The second set of puzzles (Hard Centre to Ants Marching) were a noticable step up in difficulty.

4) Ants Marching was by far the most difficult puzzle. And I found it the most enjoyable of all of the puzzles. But younger players may need access to a hints system. There is a danger that they would find it too difficult and give up on the game as they can see that there are many more puzzles to come and they might be worried that they will be too difficult.

5) Unlike other testers I did not have any problems telling different pieces (elbow pieces, straight pieces, etc apart). I quite liked the design of the pieces.

6) I agree with the feedback from other testers that the connection points at the edge of the board need to be made clearer.

Thanks for the feedback the data is coming in nicely. Also re the rune designs, we hear you and will be taking action to improve this. So the visibility of the paths should improve in the final version. Keep the comments coming.

You should see the next 10 levels available early next week. feel free to play the beta as many times as you like, the more data the better. We are looking for the fastest times and the least moves you can do them in.

I Played through each level available at the moment. Have found it to be pretty fun, especially once you "get" the game mechanics it becomes pretty addicting. Is deceivingly simple and has an overall good challenge to it.

Things that I liked:

-This game is well suited for the iphone.

-I like the challenge of having to strategize block placement and trying to set up moves for the runes. Appeals to obsessive compulsiveness.

-The pieces are easy to tell apart.

-The graphic effects of the front screen/the fireflies, the character in the top corner are nice. The graphics overall have an entertaining feel to them. The designs of the runes are interesting to look at.

-So far the game is pretty fun without being too frustrating(there is a slight jump in difficulty in the second area-which there should be).

-Decent replay value. I tend to forget the solutions to some of the puzzles once I complete them, so I enjoyed going back to previous puzzles and trying them again(and trying to do better than I did before).

Some issues:

-The sliding of the blocks feels a little loose(sometimes end up with a block sliding a little more than I wanted it too). This could most likely because we're using a mouse right now. --Tried the game with a tablet/stylus, feels much better(more like what playing this on an iphone would be like).

-It would be nice if some music played during the actual game(maybe allow for playing music from the iphone). Maybe add another track to what is currently there.

-A hint button could be helpful (would add some kind of score/exp/time penalty every time used)-Unfortunately not quite sure how this could be implemented.

-In the first set "Carpet Snake" in particular was hard, I ended up completing it by accident on my second try

-Concerned that the buttons for "yes" and "no" when deciding to overwrite a saved game are a little too small(especially when reduced to the iphone).

Kudos for the art direction too. I am a freelance illustrator/concept artist, so I always appreciate seeing cool art in a game. It ends up being something that can make the difference between me buying an app or passing it up because they just don't look that interesting.

I played through the current levels and like what I've seen so far.

At first I was a bit confused as to what I was supposed to do but it became clear very quickly with the first few levels. (I like to start a game without reading any intros. Makes it more interesting sometimes). The fact that I could grasp what was needed without any help was good. It makes for a good jump right in experience.

I agree that some of the pieces are a tiny bit hard to see what way they flow. I especially had this problem with the locked pieces.

I did have the problem with pieces sliding too far at times. This usually happened when I was pulling a piece out of the playing field. (letting it wrap around).

Overall, very nice. I am looking forward to some more challenging levels.

From playing a few rounds, I love the game. I can see how this would work well on the iPhone/iPod Touch. The gameplay is simple yet challenging and the music, hopefully this is the music you’re using, works well.

I haven’t gone through the all the levels, but here is my feedback thus far:

1) Use some texturing and shadowing to better illustrate the designs. While I don’t have any issues seeing them now, that may be different on a smaller screen.
2) Consider using a different backgrounds to add some variety. Like I said, I haven’t gone through the levels, and this may already be the case so please disregard if applicable.
3) Add a timer, # of moves, level, and name of puzzle to the top of the screen
4) I’m not sure what game modes you have in mind, but I can envision a timed mode that counts down so you can see how fast you can complete puzzle…more time left on the clock means more points.
5) Something worth investigating is a power-up system where you can earn special wild card stones. (e.g. one wild card for every level you complete) which you can use whenever you find yourself in a jam.
6) Various people mentioned a hint button, one way to do this may be to make the relevant stone and place both glow at the same time, and this wouldn’t make it too intrusive on gameplay.

I love the game, but I'm a little scared to see the farther levels haha. The art is great and I think touch controls would be perfect. Just one thing, I think there should be an ability to add a help function, that will either show you the path or move for you when your reeeeeeeally stuck, a limited number of times.

there definately should be a hint button somewhere because some people just won't be able to solve the problems. Maybe add 2 move to the counter everytime someone uses the hint feature?

This difficulty is easy but get hard in the later missions/puzzles. (which is good) I do believe that you should incorporate some kind of hint button but it let you get 3 tries and if you aren't that good on puzzles then you should let them have some unlimited but it starts to become lower with newer and harder level. On another note: the graphics need a little bit more detail and also its hard to play on the computer due trackpad but it will work perfectly for the iPhone/iPod Touch platform. Also sorry for being this late. I was on a business trip and yea I forgot to check my personal emails. Sorry devs for being this late.

Everything that I wanted to mention seems to have been covered above by the other testers. I'm gonna repeat something I said regarding Sheepish awhile back: I hate timers. I like playing puzzle games at my own pace, and hate when a time limit is forced upon me. With Sheepish, it wasn't too bad since the timer only affected the bonus. Could something like that be implemented for this game? Instead of punishing the player for taking longer than 5 minutes....reward the player for finishing in under 5 minutes. What do you guys think?

Was thinking, placing the level "Whirlpool" before "Blocked Path" might make more sense for the difficulty level. Also, maybe some way to keep your best time on a level. I find myself going back trying to beat my times but find that the times saved are just of your last play through, not necessarily your best one.

I played this for a couple of minutes and I'm really liking it. its coming off great. i really like how it shows what your best time is for the level.

I think you should add a high score of the time you beat the level.
I think you should add a minimum of moves you can do.
I also agree with the pieces sliding too far when they are pulled from the playing area.
I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this because i only read one comment and it was about the pieces sliding but i think you should give hints on how to do the level

this is all i have for now i will come back with more

I like this game.....when will be launched mobile version?

I finished RUNE MAGE on mobile phone(5LVLS)....here are several condes:
-GREY-GREY-BROWN-BROWN-level 2
-GREY-WHITE-WHITE-WHITE-level 3
-WHITE-BLACK-BLACK-BROWN-level 4
-WHITE-GREY-BLACK-BROWN-level 5
 
white line-grey rune -you can't move this rune
blue line-white  -this type of rune freeze when conected
red line-black rune -if you connnect red chain with other powered chain,you loose the game
tip: try to connect chains trough stone rune.
 
ranks:
1-NEOPHYTE
2-APPRENTICE
3-ACOLYTE
4-ELEMENTARY MAGE
5-RUNE MAGE
 
I see that this version of RUNE MAGE has more levels than first flash mobile version-15 so when it will be completed it would have 75 stages!!!!-a lot of gameplay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!