How to Play Spell Run

A run is a series of chambers. Each has a target and a timer. Every 5 power you earn defeats a zombie; defeat the whole horde before the timer runs out to clear the chamber, earn gold and move on. Targets grow the deeper you go, so a run is a test of how far you can get.

Chambers come in three kinds, and you choose which kind to face next. Each kind gets harder every time you take it, so mixing them up keeps the puzzles gentler.

Spell rooms are an anagram word game. You get 8 letters (9 from chamber 5, 10 from chamber 10). Make as many words of three or more letters as you can by tapping the letters or typing. Long words are worth far more than short ones:

Combos: words hidden inside the word you cast score too. Cast SCARED and SCARE, CARED, SCAR, CARE and RED all count, with a combo multiplier on top: 2 words ×1.5, 3 words ×2, 4 words ×2.5.

Streaks: keep casting without a mistake to multiply every word: 3 in a row ×1.1, 5 in a row ×1.25, 7 in a row ×1.5. Every word also adds time to the clock, and rare letters such as Q, Z, J and X add bonus power.

Clues and hints: a clue always shows the meaning of a common long word hiding in your letters, with its length and first letter. Stuck? A hint reveals the clued word, which then scores half power. Shuffle rearranges the letters for free, and New Letters swaps them for gold.

Getting harder: your first two spell rooms in a run play as normal. The third deals one fewer vowel, the fourth only counts words of four or more letters, and from the fifth both apply. After each spell room you see the long words you missed, so you can learn the common endings (-ED, -ER, -ING, -S) that turn short words into long ones.

Rune rooms are mental arithmetic puzzles. Each rune stands for a number; one is broken. Work out its value so the equation is true, for example ᚱ + 4 = 9 means ᚱ is 5. Repairing about 8 runes clears a chamber. Each repair adds 2 seconds and a wrong answer costs 3.

Your first rune room uses addition and subtraction, the second multiplication and division, the third and fourth two-step sums, and later rooms chain two runes together. A rune hint reveals the broken rune's value for half the power.

Golem rooms are programming-style logic puzzles. Carve a short program from command runes (Forward, Turn left, Turn right, Jump), then press Animate and watch the stone golem carry it out. Get it onto the glowing sigil to open it; open about 4 sigils to clear a chamber.

Walls stop the golem and pits swallow it; jumps clear one square, and ice makes it slide until something stops it. Stomp zombies on the way for bonus power, and use the fewest runes for a Perfect bonus. The timer waits while the golem walks. Each sigil adds 5 seconds, and a crumbled golem costs 5. Early golem rooms only have walls, then pits and jumps arrive, then ice.

After each chamber you pick the next path. Each path card shows the kind of room it leads to, how dangerous it is (a higher target or less time) and how much gold it pays. It also shows how tough that kind of room's puzzles have become in this run, and marks a kind you haven't tried yet as Fresh.

Between chambers, spend gold in the armoury. Some items help in every chamber; others only in one kind of room. Prices double each time you buy the same item.

Every chamber

• 👢 Swift Boots+15 seconds per chamber
• 🧄 Garlic BarrierProtects streak against 3 failed attempts
• 📜 Sacred ScrollStart each chamber with 10 points

Recovery

• ❤️‍🩹 Healing PotionRestores one lost heart
• 💖 Full RestoreCompletely restores all hearts
• 💝 Heart ContainerPermanently +1 max health

You start with three hearts. Miss a chamber's target and you lose one, then try again. Lose your last heart and the run ends, though once per run a Second Chance brings you back with one heart for 50 gold. You can also end a run yourself at any time and keep your score.

When a run ends, 50% of your leftover gold becomes prestige gold. Spend it on permanent upgrades that make every future run stronger:

• Merchant's Blessing+50 starting gold per run
• Fortified Soul+1 starting max heart
• Temporal Gift+10s base time all rounds
• Oracle's Favor+1 starting hint per run
• Ancient Power1.1x permanent score multiplier
• Arcane Expansion+1 letter in the circle each round

When a run ends, carve your name into the Hall of Fame, the online leaderboard. Runs are ranked by chambers cleared, then score, on an all-time board and a weekly one.

New to the game? The How to Play tutorial on the title screen walks you through each kind of room with examples. Free Play lets you practise spells, runes or golems without a timer, at easy, medium or hard.

• Aim for long words: one 7-letter word is worth ten 3-letter ones, and its combo can be worth far more.
• Use Shuffle before reaching for a hint: a new arrangement often shows you a word.
• In rune rooms, check your sum before answering: a wrong answer costs time and your streak.
• In golem rooms, trace the route in your head first; the Foreman's Lantern shows it for you.
• Mix your rooms: each kind gets harder every time you take it.

Your Spellbook on the title screen tracks your stats and suggests what to work on, based on the rooms you lose.