great your post,thanks

I finished the game and see no reason to call out guards or censors. I feel the writers need to check their translations, that the "ice" rune tiles (last set, i think) may be hard for some people to see clearly (need a little more color perhaps?) and Otherwise the game is a pretty little diversion.

This is probably good for very young children, but I found that there was absolutely no excitement. I would not buy this game, but it would be okay as a freebie (although, now that I think of it, it WAS a freebie and I only played it for about 45 minutes before I decided to uninstall it because I would never play it).

very lame. and VERY VERY slow. got very bogged down.

You can download the indeo codec here:

Indeo video codec:

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Indeo_Codec.htm

I think it was JanW who first posted this link, though BuBBy may have also done so independently.

My usual early morning review is missing today because I didn’t get a heads up. The Admin’s did say that this will happen frequently because they themselves don’t always know what the game giveaway is going to be until an hour before the giveaway.

I may post a short review in a few hours but will see if anyone else writes a review in the mean time. :lol:

I agree, it IS a great matching game for kids. Plus teaches them the order in which they uncover the matches does count. Thanks, GGAOTD.

Beautiful graphics, strange Engrish and too simple of a game.

After sweating through the first 3 ultra-challenging levels, it gives the distinct impression of being a whack-a-mole game with fancier graphics and 38000 levels of increasing boredom.
Wonder if I can learn the name of the translation software used for the cartoon intro. It's way funnier than the one I now use to communciate with a very nice French Canadian GAOTD couple. Hi Mangoette!

I got up to level 2-15 with no difficulty at all. Took 3 tries to get 2-6. Then I was so bored I stopped. This would be a great game for ages 3 to 7, but otherwise forget it. Thanks anyway GAOTD.

It is not a Mahjongg clone, rather a solitaire version with runes instead of cards (like Hotel Solitaire and such: new layouts plus a story). In Mahjongg you can try to make some tiles accessible with the right moves, but here you cannot. Because you do not know what comes next. There is no clue which pair of runes to remove if you have three of a kind available. So skill is not needed, just persistence.

But overall it is kind of fun for a break, but do not expect long time satisfaction... For free it is nice, but not for money...

Thanks for the freebie, but I'm uninstalling this game. Very good for toddlers, but incredibly boring for anyone over age 4 level. Colors are nice as well as music and magical sparkling pointer, but that's about it. Thanks anyway!!!

Pretty simplistic pair matching game, very pretty artisticly. The opening "cartoon" is almost incomprehensible. The translation needs to be worked on.
Another hint for the game designers: It would be nice to know where the tile spreads come from and their significance.

Elefun games tend to be geared more for the younger crowd (under 12} and I think this game is no exception. I am finishing this game since, like commenter #7, the Futhark Runes have spiritual value for me, and I want to see the undoing of the game's curse at a Temple to Odin. I just hope I don't need to activate a Pagans United alert on how (pardon the pun) this plays out.

I'd like to add to my previous comments (14)...

Even though I usually preferred windowed over full screen, it is very refreshing to play a full screen game that doesn't resize all my other programs. In other words, the 1024×768 resolution setting works perfectly!

Thanks for today's offer. The download and setup took under 5 minutes on my Windows XP. The music is nice and great to see a game that uses Runes. I hope the levels get harder as you go - I would never spend $20.00 to buy this game. Thank you !

Taipei for dummies. Got about 10 levels in and uninstalled it.

Although it is not listed here in the description, it appears to need Windows 2k or newer.

I think the kids will like this as an intro to adult Majong.

I'm giving a thumbs up, here! Sure, so far at least, it's not the most difficult game in the world, but it's a pleasant diversion, nonetheless. I've never played mahjong, so having read the comments here, I set about 'routinely' clicking on matching pairs. I was surprised to find myself failing so often (even in the earliest levels). The mini 'game' that Stephen refers to, I would prefer to describe as a simple 1 in 5 chance to by-pass what might be come (especially in the later levels) troublesome 'sticking points' in the game?. On reflection, I've been enjoying re-dealing failed levels, AND I do agree that being automatically taken to the next level, with no option for retrying where you failed, detracts from the pleasure of the challenge. Then again, my lucks bound to change!

This seems a little too easy and kind of boring, not like regular Mahjong.

I'm still trying to get through DNA since I can only get so far and have to start over. That one seems to be kind of addictive.

RuneScape *actually* uses runes for something instead of this... crud.

Thanks nr. 20. I like this game with it's beautiful graphics.The game gets more difficult with more
runes to match on each level. People always assume these games are for children but I am a 60 year old granny and love to play games but please no war,fighting or racing games. So without complaining I wait for my turn to download a game. I also apologise, English is not my home language but I do feel that if you want to write and sell a game in English you need a professional translator to correct the script.
Thanks Stephen for your informative reveiws.

There is such a thing as too simplistic.

I meant no offence to any non-english speaking people, I just found it amusing as I quite enjoy perusing www.engrish.com and this game reminded me of it.

I think the publisher should improve their English as this game is mainly played by children.

Nice looking, but boring.

Good thing for comments/reviews! This game gives you no feedback whatsoever as how to actually play. There is no "help" available, nor in game instructions. I agree that the game has potential, but still resembles a "beta" release. Wonder if, like Fairy Place, it goes from being ridiculously easy to virtually impossible. Good "playing while watching TV" type of game.

I found the windowed version very appropriately sized. It's the same size as other Ele-Fun games.

Yes the early stages are easy but there is the slight complication that the symbols can be angled and even upside down. That is not the usual way to display symbols you have to match.

What's wrong with a simple game from time to time.

I don't want to be unfriendly and I don't want to be negative, but apart from games that don't work,this is the worst game I have ever seen in my entire life.This isn't a game. You have to just click on two pictures that are same, and keep doing it till you drop. This'game'is too easy for someone who is mentally challenged.Again, I don't want to be negative, I'm giving my sincere opinion. I really don't understand why some people gave this'game' a favorable opinion.

What cracks me up, is that the people who laugh at the English use such terrible spelling and grammar themselves :)

I agree w/comment 15!

I think the game is ok. I works your mind and you have to get the fright shapes in the right order to go on. the thing is the game is free what more do you want for free. i works perfect on vista

please, don't laugh at the way it was written. Not all people have English as their first language.
I'll pass on this today, but thanks all for the reviews and the freebie! :)

Ok, the so-called 'windowed' mode in this one really isn't much of an option. It changes into a window that fills the whole screen and cannot be resized. If you want to see the Vista taskbar and sidebar, then you can maximize, but otherwise it's useless.

On the other hand, my boyfriend will love this one! He really enjoys mahjong, anyway, and a Rune version will be a very welcome addition!

Thanks, again, GGOTD!

thanks stephen for your review, it was well detailed as usual. i will pass on todays download as i love mahjong but i also need a challenge to go with it lol. thanks again ggotd for the games.

~shorty~

Who the hell wrote that game description?!? It doesn't tell me anything what type of game this is!

A very interesting story to begin with. "People say that the runes know everything........"However, the gameplay is totally a different thing. It is too easy, and somehow boring. Each and every stage looks similar. I was like "How could I played this game for such along time? It's so boring?!". I wasted an hour playing this game just to hope that i can find something more challenging or new elements at the later stages. Then, I found out that it is still just matching the runes but with higher difficulty only. Plus, it is impossible to lose in this game. You will just mostly get stuck in a level for some bit of time and finally solve it. The graphics and musics are not bad, but it is wasted for a game like this. Overall, i give this game 3/10.

Looks Scary...well I'll try this one too anyway...

Pretty much like a version of MahJong solitaire.

I found it exceedingly boring. It plays well enough, but could do with some extra elements to make it stand out, perhaps a story to tie it together, or power-ups, or time limits, or other goals to make it more than just click and remove the tiles. It also didn't elicit any feeling like I was solving much of a puzzle, there is a tiny bit of strategy to solving a level, but not enough to really be engaging. There doesn't seem to be any incentive to continue playing the game.

They also could have make a better description or at least include instructions to make it obvious what it's supposed to be about.

Rune of Fate

I will start off by saying DON'T PLAY THIS GAME UNLESS YOU WANT TO LAUGH AT SOMETHING FOR BEING TRULY HORRIBLE.

This is why:

It isn't a game. A game is meant to have potential failure and requires skill. The onlyway you can fail this game is if you don't know how to use a mouse.

You simply click matching symbols and they uncover other symbols. which you then match. It's like Mah-Jong for dummies.

The translation is horrible. which makes it funny. I reccomend downloading the game just to laugh at the translation. it was the only thing that kept me playing, was to laugh at the engrish used.

Music is ok. typical casual gaming atmos music, and it works ok.

Horrible game. I don't think i can reiterte that enough

Well, I seen a Rune based game on here and my heart skipped a beat. The Futhark Runes are the basis of my religion, Asatru. Anyway, not a bad game, kinda boring, but an ok time waster.

It's a majong time match game with the Futhark Rune (Odin Runes)

I give it 3/5 stars

Rather a vague description of the game. The screenshot doesn't help me decide if I wanna try it out either. Yes, I know the games here are free but one's registry can still get cluttered from installing and then uninstalling all these things.

The description of the game does not give any indication of the type of game. It is a mahjong type game where you match the runes. It has a storyline in a comic book format but English is most definitely not the writer's main language. Cute little game with decent graphics and music. Installed and played just fine on my Vista laptop.

Just a Mahjongg clone, with very nice graphics.
Gets boring after a while.

this game is way to easy. it might be ok for my 1 year old, but for anyone older, it just doesnt cut it. thanks anyway, GGOTD!

too easy to play => So boring!!!

Rune of Fate::


Introduction and Installation:


Today’s game is one that would have appealed to me a lot 20 years ago as I was really into such things. After playing the demo through to the end the game really didn’t grab me as much as I would have liked it to. :(

Today’s download is around 10Mb in size and the installed game is 17.2Mb in size, though on the Elefun web site it says the game is over 19Mb in size? If you don’t want the Elefun home page link to be installed onto your desktop, watch out when you’re installing the game. During the set up you can uncheck the box that stops the Elefun link being installed, though if you miss it, the shortcut is easily disposed of via the recycle bin. At this point you can choose to have a quick start shortcut installed if you wish, though it is off by default. There is one automatically installed into the start menu which includes a link to the home site as well as an uninstall link.

The following is the introduction to the game taken from Elefuns site:


Quote:

“Rune of Fate is a new game by EleFun Games Company. People say that the runes know everything. They say that the runes know the past, the present and the future. And their predictions always come true. What if these runes are not just ordinary runes? What if you happen to have Odin Runes in your hands? They can kill by sending disasters and suffering to their possessor. However, they can also show the way. The way to the secret hidden high in the mountains. You will have only to throw them to the bottom of the box and then collect the deal fallen. Only in such a way, step by step, you will be able to get closer to your aim.”

Ref: Elefun Games http://www.elefun-games.com/html/products/elefun-games-runes-of-fate-game.html 9th March 2008


The Game:

I started this game with a feeling of anticipation after checking the story out over on the Elefun site. The name and images I saw were interesting enough together with the name to give me a feeling that this could be an original and interesting game to play. On starting the game for the first time I was impressed by the menu, graphic and introductory pages to the game, though the absence of a help menu was noticed immediately. I searched the games folder for a help menu hoping to find one; as more often than not you can usually find a read me here but apart from an uninstall file and a couple of other files and icons there was no help menu which was disappointing. (As it turned out one wasn’t needed)

Anyway on starting the game properly, with no idea what I was doing I managed to finished the first level in around 40 seconds, which made me think this wasn’t going to be as good a game as I’d hoped. I then continued to fly through twelve more levels in around 15 minutes. (With lots of stops while I took screen captures, which always closes the game down) The game is based around the solitaire version of mahjong, but with rune like tiles instead of the usual Chinese imagery and using a lot fewer pairs within the game. I was disappointed but decided to continue as I do like playing solitaire mahjong when the mood takes me, so despite the lack of a challenge I went to the 13th level and within 20 seconds came to a grinding halt because there were finally no matches. All the previous levels had been played on auto pilot with no thinking required. I was taken into what I think is described as a mini game where I had to choose a tile out of a choice of five, with the hope of my level being resolved for me so that I could continue to level fourteen. I lost, so was then asked whether I wanted to replay the same level either with a reshuffle of the tiles or to return to the same tile set I’d previously lost. This happened again on level 2-7, and it took me ten attempts to finally win at the mini game. If you win, the game is resolved for you and you continue onto the next level, if you lose you get the mini game appearing which gives you another chance to pass the level. If you do win you are automatically taken to the next level with no option of retrying the level you got stuck on.

There’s 90 levels to this game with 5 different sets of runes that change at each stage, though ‘I’ personally didn’t notice much difference to be honest. That’s basically the game. When you’ve completed a stage you are taken to the map which shows you very little apart from a series of dots that represents each level you’ve played. You can’t return to previous levels, which would have made this game a little better in my opinion. There also needs to be a couple of different modes. The game isn’t timed, though you do get an end of level message telling you how long it took you and how many tiles there were. I did find that the later levels were a little harder, but there really was no challenge, as even though the patterns became more complex, there were never more than around 15 tiles showing at any one time, which made it rather easy to find matches. The game needs an arcade level that is timed. At least then you’d feel like there was a challenge. I’d also add some more mini games to break up the monotony of the game.


The game is fully mouse controlled apart from inputting your profile name, and you can play this game in windowed mode if you wish. The game has a very limited number of screen resolutions, most of which are hardly used these days that is 640x480 and 800x600; then there’s 1024x768. You’ll also find sliders to control the music and sound effects. The music is pleasant classical music that fits in with the game play. Check out the images by following either of the links below. There’s a range of levels showing the different level layouts as well as the menus and introductory story (that seemed to be missing a page as the way it finished I thought it was going to continue.


Images – All on one page:

http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Runes%20of%20Fate/?start=all

Images - Slideshow:

http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Runes%20of%20Fate/?albumview=slideshow


System Requirements:


CPU……………………………………………… 1Ghz or better
System Memory …………………………………128 RAM
Sound Card
Graphics memory………………………………..32Mb


Conclusion:

Overall I found this a disappointing game, though if you like Mahjong you may like this version of that classic game. I will keep it just to see what the later levels are like as I’m hoping that the challenge does get harder. There is definitely very little challenge to the earlier levels though once into the second stage I did find it a little more difficult to pass, especially on level 2-7, though I was purposely losing after the second attempt (ten in all for this level) so that I could see what would happen if I won the mini game, which took me another ten attempts. All that accomplished was to allow me to pass the level I was stuck on. Because I was only playing the demo I had to stop after level 2-8 so cannot say if there is any change in the game play

I give it 6 out of 10 for game play. If you have children they will probably find this an easy game to complete.