$19.99Regions of Ruin: Runegate
The dwarven civilization is dust, and you are the dwarf who means to fix that. A side-scrolling action RPG about exploring two strange worlds, carving through goblins, and rebuilding a home for the last of your kin. Loot, skill trees, puzzles, and a settlement that grows as you do.
Is Regions of Ruin: Runegate worth it?
Regions of Ruin: Runegate is worth it if…
- you like fast side-scrolling combat with builds you can tinker with
- you want a colony sim wrapped around an action RPG instead of the other way round
- you enjoy exploring handcrafted maps full of puzzles and odd little stories
- you have a soft spot for dwarves, pixel art and dark humor
Screenshots
Fighting your way through a broken world
Combat is a side-scrolling hack-and-slash, and it gives you real choices in how to approach it. Charge in with a spear, throw a heavy weapon across the arena and call it back to your hand, or take up a crossbow or black powder gun and keep your distance. Prefer quiet work? Sneak up behind a goblin and end it before it knows you are there. Enemies adapt to what you do, so staying vigilant matters. You shape your dwarf from appearance to fighting style, with skill trees covering melee, shields, ranged weapons and knife-and-stealth play, plus enchantments that turn a decent build into something distinctly yours.
Exploring lands full of secrets
The former dwarven homeland is vast and varied: lush landscapes, treacherous weather, caverns lit by glowing crystals. Every unlocked stretch of map hides ruins, puzzles and strange encounters, and the world rewards poking at things. You will find a slime farm run by one very committed dwarf, a con artist blackmailing a trader, loot stashed behind puzzles both neat and mildly irritating. The tone walks a line between grim and darkly funny, and the pixel art and music carry a strong retro feel. You never quite know what is around the next corner, which is the best reason to keep walking.
Rebuilding a home for the last dwarves
The heart of the game is the colony you raise from nothing. Dwarven allies you meet on the road can be recruited, and each one matters: assign workers to clear levels and gather resources in real time, unlock new facilities and technologies as you meet skilled adventurers, and watch a ruined keep slowly become a haven again. You are restoring a proper dwarven hold, not scraping together a shanty town, and there is real satisfaction in seeing it fill up. Fair warning from long sessions: the settlement tops out before the story does, so enjoy the building while it lasts.
What should you know before playing?
Can you play it solo?
Yes, it is built as a singleplayer adventure. You play one dwarf, and the colony grows through characters you recruit in the world rather than through other players. There are creator tools for making your own worlds and campaigns, though player-made content is still thin at launch, so plan on the story and its two worlds carrying you.
How long is the main story?
A focused playthrough runs somewhere between five and twenty hours depending on how much side content you chase. The story itself is on the shorter side and ends abruptly, with the main villain unresolved, which is the game's most common complaint. Exploration, puzzles and settlement building stretch the playtime well past the credits.
Is the combat hard?
On the default difficulty, no. Combat starts easy and tends to get easier as your build comes together, and the balance leans in your favor. If you want a real fight, the highest difficulty setting is where the enemies push back. One thing to know before starting: the difficulty cannot be changed mid-game.
Do you need to play the first game?
No. Runegate stands on its own: it follows a new dwarf after a fresh catastrophe, and the story fills in what you need as you go. Returning players will recognize the loop of exploring, looting and rebuilding, but nothing requires prior knowledge.
