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The game is played on a “lead” 8 x 9 grid upon which the player is tasked with laying out alchemical runes in varying colors to turn the board to “gold.” A tile is transmuted from lead to gold when a rune is placed upon it. Runes may only be placed on empty tiles next to runes of a matching symbol or color. If a rune cannot be placed, the player is allowed to discard a rune, but is only allowed to do so three times in a row. On occasion a wildcard will be given that may be placed next to any rune, or a destruction piece that will destroy any one rune. The player scores points for each symbol placed, and when a full row or column is constructed, all tiles therein are removed and a bonus is scored. Though the short in-game tutorial does an adequate job of explaining the basics, it in no way presents any strategy or techniques that can be used.
Like many of PopCap’s early games, the focus is squarely on the simple gameplay mechanic itself. The only modes offered are a regular untimed game and a time attack mode. Three difficulty levels are available in both modes, with the higher difficulties simply starting at a later board in the series that will contain more runes and colors. The replayability of the game revolves almost entirely around a high-score system. A lack of minigames, challenges, or even other modes of play is surprising for a PopCap game, so unless the games core concept appeals to you, there is little reason to keep coming back.
