The runes
The runes light up in order and you repeat them. Every time you get it right, the sequence plays again with one more. It goes on until you get one wrong.
Play The runes
The rules
How you play
Watch which runes light up and in what order, then tap them in that same order. Get the whole round right and the sequence starts again from the beginning with one more rune on the end. There is nothing to win and nothing to lose: what is measured is how far you got.
The clock
You get five seconds per tap, not per round. With one deadline for the whole sequence, reaching the eighth would mean eight times less time per tap than on the first, and you would lose to the clock rather than to your memory. Running out counts as getting one wrong.
The difficulty
It changes two things at once: how many runes are on the table and how long each one stays lit. On hard there are nine stones and the flash is shorter than it takes to name them — which is why past a certain point you remember the shape of the path rather than the list.
Every rune has its own mark
It is not played by colour alone: each stone carries its own carving. Anyone who cannot tell two colours apart can still play by the shapes, which is why they are carved and not painted.
Played alone
This table has one chair. There is no entry fee, no chips are dealt and no points are scored: it is for the fun of it, and for the table.