One of the first books I really recall reading and enjoying when I was a child was a book wrote for children, which told in more simple (though not too simple) terms the story of King Arthur and all his adventures. There was just something about those adventures that just called to my childhood heart back then. So imagine my surprise when a new casual puzzle game came my way, which just so happened to incorporate an actual story that tied into this King Arthur lore I hold so dearly.

In casual games, perhaps there is no mechanic more used than the "match three" mentality that prevails over many casual games. Many times the "match three" component comes by either sliding tiles along a specified path or by trading it out with a nearby piece it is touching on one of its four sides. In Runes of Avalon, however, they've taken the "match three" concept and spun it in a way that makes it seem both unique and fresh.

In Runes of Avalon, you'll be given a board (on most stages – more on that later) cut into various shapes; you'll have some perfect squares, stair steps, split boards, etc. Typically on these boards you'll find colored runes already in place, and it is your job to take pieces and attach them to these pre-existing runes to make enough colored rune matches to fill up that color's magic meter, allowing you to move to the next level once all the required runes are powered. The thing that actually makes Runes of Avalon hard is that pieces come in several shapes and sizes, such as single colored blocks; blocks of two in a line; blocks of three in a line; L-shaped pieces; and others. When you have a wide, open board to place any piece you want wherever, of course things won't be too challenging. But sooner rather than later you'll find yourself with a board already practically a portion of the way filled with pre-existing runes, and you'll have to analyze your pieces, position them in proper places, and actually plan ahead to the future to bank on the hope that the exact piece comes along or you are done for good. During the Quest mode of the game, you'll lose the level should you find yourself with a full board and the inability to place any more pieces, or else either the timer will have run down to zero.

However, there are also more gameplay levels than just that one scenario, as you'll have other bonus levels and other goal oriented levels thrown into the mix as well. In some levels you might have to remove all the colored runes on the board. On another level you might have to remove the giant colored rune at the center, which is accomplished by putting two-by-two grids of four on each side. Another level will have you quickly finding rune letters to build a new spell to go in your arsenal. And you've also got puzzle matching levels, where you'll be given a picture and you must place the proper picture square in each place so in the end you see the full picture as it was intended.

Along the way you'll also get spells, which act as powerups in the game. The spells will be attached to different colored pieces, and if you make a match of three or more stones with that color (for example, a red bomb piece with two other reds) then you'll explode that spell and takeout and gain the magic from those runes in that small grid area. Another such spell that works in the same way is a transport spell, that randomly grabs different pieces and transports them from play. More often than not, you'll have to work to reach these spells, because rarely are they in the open for easy use.

The controls are really easy to use, as every casual game/puzzle game should have. In Runes of Avalon, you'll use your mouse to move the pieces around the board, the right mouse button rotates the pieces with each click, and the left click places the piece on the board where you have it positioned.

The Quest mode is the bulk of the game, as it includes an actual story, which was fairly entertaining as you advance through the 105 levels. In it, you find yourself playing a young woman who is the apprentice of the legendary wizard Merlin. After the return of the evil Morgan Le Fay and the disappearance of Merlin, you setoff to gain the magical knowledge and power of the runes to find Merlin and do away with this evil. Though you don't get story constantly throughout the game, every so many levels or so you'll get some computer rendered static cutscene images that uncoil the narrative in spoken word dialogue (or you can read along with the words).

Beyond the Quest mode, you've got the Quick Play option, which gives you Time Attack mode (go for the highest score within a predetermined amount of time) and the Endless Mode (which has you matching blocks over and over for however long you want to go on). If anything this mode proves a bit too lackluster. The Time Attack mode is okay, but I've never been a puzzle fan who likes going against the clock or time like this. Instead, I tend to like going against obstacles, like playing till no more matches are available as the difficulty continually increases and newer challenges arrive. It is perhaps the only shortcoming of the game, but it is a big one nonetheless.

As for the graphics, the runes and boards are nice looking, with special note going to the effect of the bombs going off, holy fire lighting up rows, to the act of them simply being swept away, a fuzzy sparkle of their color trailing behind them like the tail of a comet. The CG rendered backgrounds, cutscenes, and character renders are also nice looking, though not up to snuff with the more powerhouse graphic games out there. Instead, the graphics are quaint, especially given the independent nature of the game. The sound and music also comes off particularly well-done, as the fluttering of flute-esque sounding noises as the runes are swept away, and the Arthurian based Renaissance Far background music gets you in the mood, and leaves you pleased and calmed as you go about your rune matching duties.

Runes of Avalon turned out to be quite the surprise, because only recently have we seen stories being incorporated into puzzle games, and here it is done marginally well (you should be inclined to finish off the levels to see how things go). The multiple board clears of the Quest mode means tedium should be rather limited, as you'll often find yourself having to change up tactics to deal with the new scenarios. Though missing in one key scenario, the rest of Runes of Avalon is good, and certainly one you should give a play for yourself.

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