Runic Cascade
Rune orbs pour down onto an ancient altar, and it is your job to keep the pile from swallowing it. Swipe through three touching orbs of the same colour to clear them, fill the cascade meter, and descend through ten realms across 200 levels. Now available free on Google Play.
What Is Runic Cascade?
Runic Cascade is a chain puzzle game with a falling board. Orbs spawn at the top of the columns and pile up above the altar, and you clear them by swiping through a chain of touching orbs of the same colour. There is no swapping and no grid to shuffle: the board is always in motion, and the pressure comes from the pile climbing towards the danger line.
You lose a level when the pile overflows the altar. Nothing else ends a run: there is no move limit, and the timer on screen only counts up.
How to Play
- Swipe a chain of exactly three. Touch an orb and drag through two more of the same colour. Orbs count as touching in any direction, including diagonally, and your path can bend. Three is the chain: not two, and not four.
- Four only with a Blaze. The one exception is a chain containing a Blaze orb, which may be four long. That is what sets a Blaze off.
- Take your time. While you are dragging, the whole board slows right down. Looking is free; hurrying is what costs you.
- Keep the altar clear. When orbs clear, the ones above drop down to close the gap. They do not form new matches on their own, so every clear on the board is one you made.
- Reach the score target. Each level is won on score, not on moves or time.
The Cascade Meter
Every orb you clear fills the cascade meter at the top of the board. Fill it and Cascade triggers: for twelve seconds the orbs fall at less than half speed and every point is doubled. It is the single biggest scoring window in the game, and worth setting up for.
Only clears fill the meter: your own chains, the extra orbs a Blaze takes out, and the orbs destroyed by a Rune Blast. Orbs settling into gaps do not fill anything, because they do not clear anything. The cascade meter is a campaign feature; Rune Rush and Daily Rite run without it.
Scoring
- Each orb in a chain is worth 100 points.
- A fourth orb, which means a Blaze chain, pays a 50 point bonus on top.
- Each orb a Blaze blast takes out is worth 100 points.
- Points are doubled during a Cascade, and during the Cascade Surge booster.
The Orbs
There are five colours: red, blue, green, yellow and purple. On top of those:
Prism
A wildcard. It counts as any colour, so it can join or start a chain. It does not make the chain any longer than three.
Blaze
A normal coloured orb wearing a flame. Clear it in a chain of four and it detonates, taking out the settled colour orbs in the eight cells around it for 100 points each.
Locked
Cannot be swiped. Clear a chain next to it twice and it breaks open to reveal the colour underneath.
Frost
Hostile. It encases the four orbs beside it in ice, and iced orbs cannot be used. Two clears alongside it shatter it and free them all at once.
Void
Hostile. It eats one neighbouring orb every few seconds. Two clears alongside it destroy it. Deal with it early.
Giant
A big blocker that cannot be chained and hides nothing. It takes three clears alongside it to break.
Game Modes
Campaign
Ten realms of twenty levels, 200 in all, from Stonemark Ruins down to The Rune Eternal. Hit the level's score target to win, and earn up to three stars. The extra stars come from finishing quickly and leaving the altar clear, not from a higher score.
Rune Rush
Endless. Every twenty seconds the orbs fall faster and spawn closer together, until the altar overflows. No cascade meter, and your score goes to the online leaderboard.
Daily Rite
One run a day, the same for everyone, with a modifier that changes how the board behaves: Blaze Surge, Deep Freeze, Prism Bloom, Rune Storm or Scarcity. Passing the target banks your Runes and your streak straight away, and the run keeps going for the leaderboard.
Runes and Boosters
Runes are the currency. You earn them by clearing levels for the first time, finishing a realm, and playing the Daily Rite, and you spend them on boosters or on continuing a failed level. New players start with one each of Time Freeze, Rune Blast and Prism Shield.
- Orb Shuffle. Re-rolls the colour of every orb on the board where it stands.
- Cascade Surge. Doubles the score of your next three chains.
- Time Freeze. Stops the board for five seconds.
- Rune Blast. Tap an orb to destroy six orbs of that colour.
- Prism Shield. Clears the top three rows outright, obstacles included.
Tips and Strategy
- Clear low, not high. The pile is what kills you, so orbs near the altar are worth more than a tidy chain at the top.
- Hold your drag to think. The board slows while you are dragging, so start a chain before you have decided where it ends.
- Kill Void first. It eats a neighbour every few seconds and is the one obstacle that gets worse the longer you ignore it.
- Free the ice. Frost locks four orbs at once, so shattering it often hands you a chain you already wanted.
- Save the big stuff for a full altar. Prism Shield and Rune Blast are worth far more when the pile is high than when the board is calm.
- Chase the meter, then spend it. Keep clearing to fill the cascade meter, and make your biggest plays in those twelve doubled seconds.
Is It Free?
Runic Cascade is free to play. It carries ads, including a full-screen ad every few levels, and offers optional Rune packs and a one-time Remove Ads purchase. You can play the whole descent without spending anything.
Availability
Runic Cascade is available now, free, on Google Play. An Apple App Store release is planned to follow.