Each player develops his own strategies, but the wise player shifts tactics from game to game to avoid being too predictable. Another nifty little game from Eon is Runes, their stab at a word game. Players try to guess each others words piece by piece, using logic to determine into which letters the pieces assemble. All players receive a mat with five spaces for letters and a diagram of the alphabet broken down into component parts. Everyone secretly selects a word which the other players will try to guess.
Players then take turns placing runesticks in opponent's mat spaces.
If the runestick belongs in that space's letter, the guesser earns a point and may take another turn. An incorrect guess sends the runestick to a spot beneath the mat space to remind everyone that no more of those runesticks are in the corresponding letter. A player may switch between different players' mats on the same turn, as long as he continues guessing runesticks which belong. Instead of placing a runestick, a player may elect to guess at the entire word. If correct, he earns a point for every runestick in the completed word.