Review: Rune Ark

Developer – WelesGames

Publisher – Indie.io

Platforms –   PC (Reviewed)

Review copy given by Publisher

Rune Ark might be one of the rare games that manages to take something as simple as a match 3 formula and somehow make it feel like a punishment. I went in expecting a relaxing in between experience. Something to poke at during a break from larger triple A adventures. Instead I found myself clenching my jaw harder than I ever did during actual boss fights from games that pride themselves on difficulty.

I tend to be pretty forgiving with games that attempt something new. Even the most average projects usually manage to offer a spark of fun or at least a few hours of mild entertainment. I rarely rate anything below a five or six because I always try to see the good in what the developers attempted. Rune Ark nearly broke that habit within minutes of loading it up.

The game presents itself like a mix of match 3 puzzling and basic dungeon crawling. In theory that combination should either be calming or at the very least mindless fun. This is the genre that normally lets me unwind. Rune Ark managed to do the opposite. It made me angry in a way that only a truly messy experience can.

The moment the game begins it becomes clear that the introduction is barely functional. Calling it a tutorial feels almost generous. It is more like the idea of a tutorial without the actual presence of one. Systems are dumped on you without explanation, guidance is nowhere to be found, and the structure feels as if the developers assumed you are psychic.

The frustration only builds from there. The game is packed with bugs that make everything feel like a very early unfinished build. Inputs fail, screens freeze for seconds at a time, menus misbehave, and even basic prompts sometimes refuse to work. Playing Rune Ark often feels like trying to walk across a floor made of broken glass.

One of the most baffling problems is the complete absence of a quest journal. If you accept a quest or stumble into one, there is no place to check your objective. You either remember it or you wander around in confusion hoping you accidentally trip into the correct path. Match 3 games are supposed to be relaxing. This felt like a chore list written on tissue paper.

The narrative attempts to take itself seriously with a dark fantasy setup about kingdoms on the brink of doom and ancient evil awakening beneath the castle. This might have worked if the writing were even slightly engaging. Instead it is some of the most painfully awkward text I have ever been forced to scroll through.

When a game traps me inside long scenes of unskippable exposition, the least I expect is competent storytelling. Rune Ark answers that expectation by burying you under walls of overwrought fantasy rambling that feels like someone trying to imitate epic storytelling without understanding what makes it compelling.

The constant barrage of dialogue is especially irritating because the writing contains no charm, no pacing, and no awareness of the player’s patience. It goes on and on until it becomes unbearable. The moment I realized I was a captive audience to long winded nonsense, I knew I wanted out.

Match 3 combat should at least salvage a game like this. But the tile matching itself suffers from sluggish responsiveness and unsatisfying feedback. The animations lack punch, the combos feel limp, and the entire system plays like an imitation of far better titles.

Dungeon crawling is no better. Procedural generation sounds exciting, but here it translates into bland hallways, recycled rooms, and encounters that feel random in the worst possible way. The experience contains zero sense of discovery. It just drags you through content that feels copied and pasted without purpose.

The game claims that its choices matter and that multiple endings await. I find that extremely optimistic considering I barely managed to get through the opening hours. If the game cannot get me through its introduction, the promise of later branching paths means nothing.

Even when the game attempts to present strategy through upgrades and crafting, it falls apart. The menus feel clunky, the interface poorly communicates information, and crafting itself feels like an afterthought shoved in because the genre expects it.

As for the world building, the visual novel style dialogue is more hindrance than benefit. It slows the game to a crawl and constantly pulls you away from the already unstable gameplay loop.

Everything about Rune Ark feels unpolished and unready. The more I played, the more I felt like I was participating in a test build rather than an actual release. It never shakes that early access feeling, even though it is supposed to be a complete product.

The few moments where something almost works are quickly crushed by another glitch, another line of forced lore, or another system that refuses to cooperate. It becomes a cycle of hope followed by disappointment.

I reached a point where I genuinely questioned why I was forcing myself to continue. This was not the normal push through mild boredom until something interesting happens. This was a complete lack of trust that anything ahead would be worth the effort.

Most games, even flawed ones, offer at least a minor hook. Rune Ark offered none. It drained my enthusiasm so quickly that I barely made it past its opening parts before deciding it was not worth another second.

As someone who tries very hard to finish what I start, this game surprised me with how fast I wanted to refund it. The combination of bugs, awful writing, missing basic features, and miserable pacing created a rare situation where I saw no reason to keep going.

Rune Ark tries to present itself as a deep experience filled with choices, exploration, and story. What it actually delivers is a broken project wrapped in some of the worst fantasy writing I have ever sat through.

In the end, Rune Ark fails at everything it attempts. It is not fun as a match 3 game. It is not engaging as a dungeon crawler. It is not compelling as an RPG. And it is absolutely not worth your time if you value your patience.

This is easily one of the lowest rated games I have played in years. Not because it lacks ambition, but because it lacks the fundamentals required to make any of its ideas enjoyable.

Rune Ark did not just disappoint me. It actively frustrated me to the point where I could not even fake enjoyment. When the highlight of the experience is the moment you close the game, something has gone very wrong.

If you want a relaxing match 3 title or a simple dungeon crawler to unwind with, look anywhere else. Rune Ark is the exact opposite of calm. It is chaos in the worst possible way.