Rune Rite Rules
Last updated April 2026
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Overview
- Designed by Jason Katzwinkel
- Developed by Jamie Sabriel
- Edited by David Kessler
- 1-5 players
- 10-15 minutes per player
- Ages 10+
Rune Rite is a flip-and-write game where each player takes on the role of a witch. You play cards that feature a variety of symbols (called Runes) to form patterns (called Glyphs) that you will then draw onto your player sheet to earn points.
Whichever witch has the most points at the end of the game wins!
Components
- 30 Rune cards
- 1 punchboard Runestone
- 50 player sheets
- 1 rulebook
Setup
- Prepare the Rite: Thoroughly shuffle the Rune card deck.
- Summon The Runestone: Place the Runestone into the center of play.
- Perform the Sacrifice: Without looking at them, discard three random Rune cards and return them to the game box; they will not be in play. For a five-player game, discard only two random Rune cards.
- Bind the Runes: Place one card from the shuffled Rune card deck face-up into the Runestone, with one long edge flush to one side of the interior of the Runestone. Place a second Rune card into the Runestone with a long edge flush to the opposite side (see Fig. 2). Do not rotate or adjust the Rune cards when they’re revealed; play them as they land. This forms the Runestone, which should be a square and a three-by-three grid of Runes.
- Conduct The Reading: Place the next two cards from the Rune card deck face-up near the Runestone; this forms The Reading.
- Anoint The Scrolls: Give each player one player sheet and something to write with.
- Commence The Ritual: The last player to have successfully cast a spell goes first. Ties are broken by the person who has most recently flown a broom.
[Editor’s Note: Add a top-down image of the Bind the Runes illustration, as well.]
Wands Not Included
Rune Rite requires writing, so make sure you have enough pens, pencils, crayons, markers or quills for everybody; at least one per person.
Concepts
Runes
The Runes are symbols etched into octagonal stones. All act the same during play except for the Moonstone, which has special rules (See Moonstones, below).
The Runestone
The Runestone is a punchboard well with a stack of cards in it that form a 3×3 grid of Runes, and is used to form Glyphs.
Glyphs
A Glyph is a group of matching Runes that touch edge-to-edge (not diagonally).
Active and Inactive Players
The active player is the player who places a Rune card onto the Runestone. Everybody else is considered an inactive player.
Objectives
The objective of Rune Rite is to gain the most points with the Runestone. A player gains points by arranging Glyphs on their player sheet in particular ways.
How to Play
On Your Turn:
- You must choose one of the available Rune cards from The Reading and place it face-up onto The Runestone.
- You may rotate the Rune card any way you like before placing it, but the Runestone must always be a square of a 3×3 grid of Runes.
- Once the Rune card has been placed onto the Runestone, you must draw one—and only one—Glyph from The Runestone onto your player sheet by tracing the outline of the Glyph and filling it in with the corresponding Runes.
- All other players must draw one—and only one—Glyph onto their player sheets.
- Inactive players may not draw a Glyph using the same Rune type (i.e. Air, Earth, Fire, Spirit or Water) as the active player.
- Reveal a new Rune card from the deck and place it into The Reading.
- The player seated to the left of the active player becomes the active player and starts their turn at #1, above.
When Drawing a Glyph
- You may draw a Glyph by rotating or mirroring it any way you like, but it must maintain its shape.
- It:
- must cover one of the four corners, or
- must share an edge with an existing Glyph.
- must not exceed the boundaries of the nine-by-nine grid.
- must not overlap an existing Glyph.
Moonstones
Moonstones are wild and represent all Runes for all players simultaneously. All Moonstones visible on the Runestone must be included in the formation of Glyphs. They are not optional.
Potions
Brewing Potions
At the top, bottom, left and right center edges of the player sheet grid are three highlighted boxes. When a player fills three contiguous, highlighted boxes with Rune symbols they may circle the corresponding potion at the top of the their player sheet.
Drinking Potions
To drink a potion, cross off one of the potions that you had circled by “brewing” it (see above). When you drink a potion, you may select two Glyphs from the Runestone on that turn, including a Glyph of the same Rune type as the active player.
- You may only drink a potion that you have already brewed.
- You may only drink a potion while you are a non-active player.
- You may only drink one potion during a turn.
The End of the Game
If ever you need to draw a Glyph but do not have space on your player sheet to do so, then your game ends.
The whole game ends either when nobody is able to draw Glyphs or when there are no Rune cards left in the Rune Deck to refill The Reading. There will be one card left in The Reading at the end of the game.
Scoring
Unmatched Runes
Gain 2 points per unique Rune type in each filled 3×3 segment.
Matched Runes
Arrange perfect, filled squares of Runes (equal width and height, no rectangles), to gain points as follows:
| 2×2 = 4 | 3×3 = 10 | 4×4 = 18 |
Players may only score one square per Rune type (Air, Earth, Fire, Spirit and Water).
Potions
After the end of the game, during scoring, any brewed potions that have not been crossed off score five points each.
Solo Mode
To play the game solo, follow all of the rules as outlined above with the following adjustment: Once you place a Rune card on the Runestone, first draw a Glyph from the Runestone onto your player sheet; then draw a second Glyph from the Runestone onto your player sheet.
The second Glyph:
- must be of a different Rune type (i.e. Air, Earth, Fire, Spirit or Water) than the first Glyph you drew, and
- must not touch the first Glyph you drew, not even a shared diagonal corner.
If you are unable to draw any of the available Glyphs, your game ends. If you are able to draw the first Glyph but not the second, you may draw the first Glyph, and then your game ends. If there are no more cards in the Rune deck or The Reading, your game ends. Score as indicated above.
Compare your score to the chart below to see how you rank:
| Your score | Your title |
| 0 – 49 | Apprentice Witchling |
| 50 – 89 | Novice Witch |
| 90 – 119 | Adept Witch |
| 120 – 139 | Coven Leader |
| 140 – 150+ | Matriarch |