Runefall 3 Preview: The Match-3 Game Where Every Match Moves You Forward
Most match-3 games give you a board. Runefall gives you a kingdom. You make a match, and the view slides along a little. You make another, and a path opens through the grass. Clear enough dirt and a key turns up, and the key gets you over the river, and across the river is a cave nobody told you about. By the end of a level you have crossed a whole stretch of countryside, and every step of it was a match.
That is the trick that made the first two Runefall games quiet favorites, and Runefall 3 brings it back on a bigger map.
The Runes Are Back, and They Are Not Happy
When we left the village of Rivermoor, its stolen runes had finally come home. Peace lasts about as long as it takes a royal delegate named Samson to ride into town. Strange things are happening across the kingdom of Silverdale, he says, and they are tied to dark runes that have started to wake. The king wants every one of them found and locked away before their power tears the kingdom apart.
So the old crew packs up again: Hadrick, Winifred and Caius, all fully voiced, all as funny as ever. The story plays out in hand-drawn scenes between levels, and if you would rather just get back to matching, you can skip them. I would not. The banter is half the charm.
How Exploring by Matching Works
Each expedition is one enormous level spread across a whole landscape, and the board follows you as you play. Matching sand, grass and dirt clears ground and turns up what you need: keys, tools, repair materials and the odd hidden chest. You need them, because the land fights back with rivers to cross, cliffs to climb and vines to cut through. Some of the best finds are tucked into hidden corners that you will only discover if you wander off the obvious path.
Along the way you have help. Match four and you make an exploding amphora; match five and you get a bomb. A row of power-up tools sits down the side of the board, a mini-map shows you roughly where the useful things are, and once you have built up enough power you can teleport straight to any spot on the map. That last one is a lifesaver on the biggest levels.
Building Up Rivermoor
Every expedition also earns gold, wood and stone, and between trips you spend them growing Rivermoor and getting its people ready for what is coming. The king takes his tribute out of your gold along the way, a very Silverdale touch. Watching your little village grow is what turns a run of puzzles into a campaign, and it gives you a reason to sweep every level for resources rather than heading straight for the exit.
Worth Knowing
Runefall levels are big. In this series a single expedition can easily fill an evening, so this is a game to settle into rather than one to dip into for five minutes on a coffee break. If you like that feeling of really getting lost in a level, that is exactly the appeal.
Should You Play It?
If you have ever wished a match-3 game felt more like an adventure, yes. Players of the earlier games keep coming back to the same things: the fresh feeling of exploring by matching, the voice acting, the jokes, and the sheer amount of game for the price. Runefall 3 adds a new mystery, a new face in Samson and a bigger world to wander, with an orchestral soundtrack to wander it to.
New to the series? Each game tells its own story, but if you want the whole saga, start with Runefall and Runefall 2, where Rivermoor's runes were stolen in the first place. For more match-3 with a story wrapped around it, try the detective cases of Gaslamp Cases 15, or browse all match-3 games for PC.
Try the free trial and make your first match. Then make another. You will see.
