Ruggnar Demo

Sometimes the simplest ideas can turn out to be incredibly popular, especially when it comes to video games. You only need to think about games like Angry Birds or Bejeweled in order to see how much traction a simple concept can get if the mechanics are just right. Originality helps a lot in such cases, but it’s not easy to innovate nowadays.

Ruggnar is a fairly straightforward platformer in which the goal is to jump over obstacles, navigate dark levels and even tackle a few puzzles along the way. While there are not many new ideas at work in terms of gameplay or mechanics, the overall game is actually pretty fun and challenging, depending on your past experience with the genre. In fact, the darkness is your number one enemy throughout the game.

To begin with, you play with a dwarf who is searching for treasure deep under the ground, which is where all sorts of traps and annoyances also happen to wait for him. To make things worse, the only thing he has to grant him light throughout the journey is a candle, which is not very helpful in bigger rooms. Thus, it takes a bit of patience to navigate the levels when you never really see the next platform.

Besides the coins that are spread all over the stages, you also have to search for keys that allow you to open locked doors and advance to the next levels. It can be a bit of a bother to explore the environment when you can’t see too much of it, especially since you then have to retrace your steps, but that’s obviously part of the fun. The traps are not too over the top either, so the experience is fairly balanced.

As far as the graphics are concerned, don’t expect too much in this regard, given the retro style and the mostly dark environments. However, the artwork is not bad at all, and the sprites can be quite expressive sometimes, even if they come in pretty low numbers. The soundtrack works great in the background to create a moody atmosphere.

In the end, Ruggnar lacks the complexity and the originality needed to become a classic, but it features enough levels to keep you busy for a while. The dark and challenging levels might just be difficult enough to make you forget about everything else in your life for a while.