Given the chance to learn rune magic, or be turned over to the castle guards, I can see why Runika opted for the former. Even without her already considerable knowledge in the runic arts. Though sometimes school feels like prison.
On Kickstarter right now, Runika and the Six-Sided Spellbooks is the latest offering from Shannon Kelly. His previous game, Lucidity: Six-sided Nightmares, was hugely successful. Both on Kickstarter and in retail release.
Runika and the Six-Sided Spellbooks casts players as Runika or one of her classmates. Choosing and placing Elemental Dice allows players to claim Basic or Mastery Rune cards, or to attract the attention of Spell Masters. Rune cards award point tokens. While Spell Masters provide access to Merit Cards, which award points, as well as special abilities.
The main action happens on the player boards, which each contain a 4×4 grid. Around this sits a separate ring with four coloured sections, called an Elemental Disk. Each colour on the disk corresponds with one of the Elemental Dice.
As players select Elemental Dice they can be played to the board, added to the grid from the same side that the matching colour of the Elemental Disk is. When dice are added they push neighbouring dice along. Fulfilling criteria on the Basic or Mastery Rune cards, such as having dice of particular colours in certain spots, allows players to claim the cards.
Fundamentally Runika and the Six-Sided Spellbooks seems to be a puzzle game. A competitive puzzle game, but a puzzle game none the less. The player’s chief adversary is themselves, as they add dice to their board, pushing them into new configurations.
Some player interaction exists, primarily in how the Rune Dice come out, and what dice players choose. It seems that observant players could, by keeping any eye on the available pool, at least attempt to hamper other player’s efforts to reach certain goal criteria. This is offset somewhat by player’s ability to reroll dice as part of their actions.
Largely though the main thrust of the game is the mainly solo dice placement puzzle. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As the Elemental Disk aspect looks like it adds a fun and challenging interactive aspect to a fairly standard grid placement concept. It also helps that the artwork is particularly stunning, and getting a hold of the Rune Dice in the final product is probably enough to sell a lot of people on the whole thing.
Those who are in the market for a mildly taxing, entertaining and impeccably presented game experience will undoubtedly want to give the Runika and the Six-Sided Spellbooks campaign a look in. So too those wanting to add a quirky, quick title to their collection could do a lot worse than a proven deliverer like Shannon Kelly.
Runika and the Six-Sided Spellbooks is on Kickstarter right now. If you want to try the game out, you can find it on Tabletopia!
