Veldrune

Dig a thousand blocks into the dark, carve runes that bend the world, and keep the villages safe through the fog.

Solar System ExclusiveTitle Update 3Survival and CreativeOffline
Not currently for sale$3.99Planned price, plus tax

Block-building survival · 3D

Screenshots

Every image here is a capture from the current build. Pick one to see it large.

Island biomeIsland biome

The game

About Veldrune

Veldrune drops you into a world generated from a seed: oceans and islands, deserts and snowfields, swamps, volcanic badlands, forests and mountains, with a thousand blocks of stone underneath. In Survival you start with eight berries and empty hands. Chop wood, build a crafting table and work up through stone, copper, iron, steel and the gems to uranium.

It looks a little like other block games, and that's where the likeness ends. Veldrune has rune magic built from clusters of carved stones, seasons and weather that change how you play, a fog that rolls in every few days, raw uranium that poisons you while you carry it, villages that are realms with their own rulers and flags, and a grappling hook and glide cloak for getting around.

13
surface biomes
Y −1000
depth of bedrock
6
runes to carve
4
seasons
10
villager jobs
50
weapon levels

In depth

How it works

The systems that make Veldrune what it is.

Runes

Collect Rune Shards from monsters, nests and village chests, turn stone bricks into Blank Runestones, forge a Rune Chisel and carve. Each stone gets one of six powers:

  • Kenaz, Light: glows like a lantern.
  • Algiz, Ward: no monster can appear within 12 blocks.
  • Thurisaz, Thorn: strikes the nearest monster every second and a half.
  • Wunjo, Mending: heals you and repairs the tool in your hand.
  • Raido, Leap: throws you high into the air.
  • Isa, Stillness: freezes water into ice and lava into obsidian.

Place runestones touching and they form a cluster. Every different rune in a cluster makes the others stronger, up to three times their normal power.

Choosing a rune to carve
Choosing a rune to carve

Fog, seasons and weather

Every 3 to 5 days a thick fog rolls in and stays all day. Without a Gas Mask you see about 11 blocks and move at 60% speed, and monsters come out in daylight. With a mask you see five times as far.

The year has four seasons of five days. Spring brings rain, summer brings thunderstorms, autumn turns the leaves red and orange, and winter turns the land white. Snow slows you outdoors, blizzards slow and freeze you, and thunderstorms and blizzards let monsters out by day.

A fog day without a mask
A fog day without a mask

Villages are realms

Every village is a little state of its own, with a name, a kind of government, a ruler who lives in town, a flag over the town hall, a founding date, a level of wealth and opinions about its neighbours. A realm might be a Kingdom, Republic, Council, Chiefdom, Free City or Rune Circle, and each has allies and rivals nearby.

Villagers have names, homes and one of ten jobs: Elder, Blacksmith, Herbalist, Farmer, Scout, Caretaker, Hunter, Traveler, Cook or Miner. They go home and close the door at night. The more you talk to them, the more they open up.

A village street at midday
A village street at midday

A thousand blocks down

Bedrock sits at Y −1000. Choose natural caves, solid stone or both when you create a world. Ores get rarer and better the deeper you dig, past lava rivers and monster nests.

Below about Y −800 lies uranium, the best material in the game and the most dangerous: raw ore poisons you while you carry it. Smelt it fast. Uranium tools are the fastest in the game, the Uranium Sword hits for 16, and full uranium armor blocks 80% of damage.

A monster nest beside a lava river
A monster nest beside a lava river

Places to explore

Worlds are scattered with structures, all generated from the seed: Marauder Camps and walled Marauder Fortresses, ruined towers, Desert Pyramids, Frozen Spires, swamp huts on stilts, and dozens of dungeons hidden underground with monster spawners, loot chests and the occasional arrow trap.

A Marauder Fortress in the mountains
A Marauder Fortress in the mountains

Weapons that grow with you

Every kind of weapon gains experience as you use it, up to level 50. Each level adds 2% damage, and the level stays with that kind of weapon even when one breaks and you craft a new one.

LevelPerk
10Keen: half the wear on the weapon
20Lifesteal: heal 1 health on every kill
30Sweep: hits also strike enemies beside the target
40Executioner: +50% damage to badly hurt enemies
50Mastery: +10% damage and a golden edge

Getting around

The Grappling Hook fires up to 32 blocks and pulls you to whatever it catches. The Glide Cloak lets you sail down from any height and cushions every landing. Hook up a cliff, let go at the top and glide away, or step on a Raido runestone and take off.

Since Title Update 2 you can also dye your own clothes, brew potions, farm and tame pets. Since Title Update 3 Veldrune plays fully with a controller.

Gliding over a village at golden hour
Gliding over a village at golden hour