New Easter Egg in RuneCryption
by apodidae on May.08, 2013, under Games, Information
Usually, I like to keep Easter Eggs hidden in games. This latest one is a little special, so I thought I would write a little about it.
Someone contacted me a little while ago with an interesting query. His wife has a neurological disorder which affects her short-term memory. He bought RuneCryption hoping it would help her with remembering things. The problem was, that she could not memorize the initial pattern on the easiest level (a 2×2 grid) in the five seconds that it displays before scattering the stones.
For most people, you can click on the Solution button, which puts all the stones back on the game board and the countdown timer starts over again. With her memory issues, that could be a distraction to the memorization process, so I wanted to find a way to help her out.
What I ended up doing was add in a Easter Egg to the settings screen. Invoking the Easter Egg multiplies the timer by 10, giving the level 1 countdown timer 50 seconds before it scatters the stones. Each time the Easter Egg is invoked, it reduces the multiplier x9, x8, x7, and so on, until it gets back to no multiplier. My hopes are that by adding in the multiplier, those who have a hard time memorizing the pattern will be able to increase the countdown timer to the level that is easier to memorize. As memorization gets easier, the multiplier can be reduced to match the new memory level.
As the levels get more complicated, the countdown timer increases. It would be almost impossible to memorize the 48-stone pattern on level 18 in just five seconds, so the game adds more time to the timer as the levels increase. This Easter Egg is an extra bonus that works on all levels.
Even though I’ve outed the Easter Egg itself, I’m going to keep the location a little bit of a mystery. Hopefully you can find it on the Settings screen on your own. If it is something you need to help play the game, hit me up and I’ll be glad to let you know where to find it.
The Easter Egg is available in RuneCryption version 1.3. It is already available in BlackBerry World for the BlackBerry Z10, Q10, and PlayBook. An updated version 1.2.2 was previously posted to Amazon’s Appstore to help out this person’s wife. I’m working on the 1.3 update for Android and will have that available on Amazon and Google Play soon.
RuneCryption for BlackBerry v1.3
by apodidae on May.08, 2013, under Announcements, Games, News
RuneCryption for BlackBerry Z10, Q10 and PlayBook has been updated to version 1.3 and is now available in BlackBerry World.
One of the things I noticed when someone sent me an image of completing level 18, there wasn’t anything in the scoring window to let me know which level was completed. The only way I knew was based on the runestone score, and that was a little cryptic, even for a pattern matching game named RuneCryption. With this update, the scoring screen now shows the level completed.
Changes include:
- Level completed indicator.
- Updates to the Speed Play timers.
- New hidden Easter egg.
Version 1.3 is available now in BlackBerry World, and the Flash-based web version has also been updated. The Android versions in Google Play and Amazon’s Appstore will be updated very soon.
RuneCryption Level 18 Completed!
by apodidae on May.07, 2013, under Announcements, Games, News
I was sent this image via BBM. Someone actually completed level 18!
Level 18 is the highest level in RuneCryption. It includes 48 rune stones in an 8×6 grid. Since there are 24 rune stones, this means there are two of each stone in the playing area. The game doesn’t care that you get the exact stone on the square where it came from, just as long as the stone matches the starting pattern.
Personally, I usually bog down around level 7 or 8, and I’m the person that wrote the game! To see someone not only determined to complete the highest level, but to actually do so with only a 12 misplaced stones (15 point deduction for each) is quite a feat!
What is the highest level you can complete?
RuneCryption Featured in BlackBerry World
by apodidae on May.07, 2013, under Announcements, Games, News
RuneCryption for BlackBerry is one of the featured “Brainteasers” apps for the Z10 and Q10 in BlackBerry World this week!
I’m just thrilled and honored that BlackBerry added RuneCryption to this week’s featured category! It is in some good company, with other nice brain games.
The reviews have been quite good as well! It’s great to see RuneCryption rated so high in BlackBerry World. Even in Google Play and Amazon’s Appstore, RuneCryption has been getting very good reviews.
If you’ve tried out RuneCryption, I’d love to know what you think about the game. It was made with a simple concept that gets more challenging with each level. I keep wondering if anyone would be able to complete all the levels, especially level 18 (memorizing 48 stones in an 8×6 grid).
How many levels can you complete?
RuneCryption for BlackBerry v1.2
by apodidae on Mar.12, 2013, under Announcements, Games, News
The 1.2 update of RuneCryption for BlackBerry is approved and now available in BlackBerry World!
The update brings a lot of enhancements including sound effects, larger text on information screens, and a Settings button on the main menu where sounds can be toggled and high scores can be reset to zero.
In preparation for the upcoming BlackBerry Q10, a square formatted game screen was added. This places the timer and game buttons across the top, keeping the game area rectangular.
RuneCryption is available on the BlackBerry PlayBook, the new BlackBerry Z10, and the (coming soon) BackBerry Q10. How many stones can you remember?
RuneCryption Sales after Five Months
by apodidae on Mar.12, 2013, under Information
RuneCryption went on Sale in BlackBerry World back in October (2012). In November, I ported the Android version over to the Google Play Store, which was followed a couple of weeks later in the Amazon Appstore. With primarily being a BlackBerry and Windows developer, I was interested to see how well the game would do on Android. After all, Android devices seem to be everywhere. Here are the results so far.
RuneCryption 1.2 Update on Amazon
by apodidae on Feb.17, 2013, under Announcements, Games, News
Just like that, Amazon approved and posted the update to RuneCryption!
If you have a Kindle Fire, Fire HD, Fire 8.9, or other Android device that uses the Amazon Appstore for games and applications, the update is now live and ready to download!
The same change log from our previous post applies to the Amazon Appstore version (same game – different store). The web game has also been updated with the latest version!
RuneCryption version 1.2 for Android
by apodidae on Feb.17, 2013, under Announcements, Games, News
RuneCryption for Android has been updated to version 1.2.1 in the Google Play Store.
On widescreen devices, the timer and game buttons appear on the right. For devices that have a 3:4 ratio screen or narrower, the timer has been moved to the top, keeping the game play area rectangular. This has also been added to the upcoming BlackBerry 10 update to accommodate the square Q10 screen that will be released in the near future.
We also had several requests for sound effects. This version now includes sound, as well as the ability to toggle them off and on. The settings screen also includes an option to reset high scores back to zero. This also resets access to game levels.
RuneCryption v.1.2 Changelog:
- Support for more devices.
- Game layout changes for non-wide-screen devices (timer on top).
- Sound effects added.
- Settings screen added to reset high scores and toggle sound.
- Additional graphics and icon updates.
RuneCryption 1.2 is available now in the Google Play Store. Updates have been sent to BlackBerry World and Amazon for approval. We’ll announce when those have been approved as soon as they are available!
CrackBerry reviews RuneCryption!
by apodidae on Dec.03, 2012, under Announcements, Games, News
CrackBerry has done a review of RunCryption, including the video review above! It’s great to see the game being used in the video, and DJ did a wonderful job reviewing it!
Check out the full review on CrackBerry.com.
Even though this is a review of the PlayBook version, the Android version plays exactly the same on phones and tablets. RuneCryption is available in BlackBerry World for PlayBook (and BB10), the Google Play Store, and Amazon’s Appstore.
RuneCryption now in Amazon Appstore
by apodidae on Nov.06, 2012, under Announcements, Games
RuneCryption just got approved for the Amazon Appstore!
That means it is now available on the Kindle Fire, Fire HD, and Android devices that have the Amazon Appstore installed!
We’re excited to see RuneCryption available for so many devices!
