Parents' Guide to

Runes of Magic

By Carolyn Koh, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Open chat and deep fantasy gameplay in free-to-play MMO.

Game Windows 2009
Runes of Magic Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

Community Reviews

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age 10+

Based on 3 parent reviews

Finnella Flanagan
Finnella Flanagan Parent of 11 and 14-year-old
April 15, 2010
age 11+

Can be fun for pre-teens

My husband and I play this game with our 11 year old and a couple of other friends. We play on a PvE server, avoiding PvP activity. There is a lot of combat, but it's not gruesome. Teamwork is very necessary. There is a language filter, though the F word gets through sometimes in world chat. Players can't take their underwear off, so no one's ever completely naked. Some very helpful items, like permanent riding mounts, cost real money. Overall we've found it an acceptable world to explore as a family.
mikameow
mikameow Adult
April 13, 2010
age 8+

This title has:

Too much consumerism
Great messages
Great role models
See all 3 parent reviews

What’s It About?

When entering the massively multiplayer online game of RUNES OF MAGIC, players select one of six classes, Warrior, Rogue, Scout (your bow-user), Mage, Priest, or Knight and then set off on an adventure in the world of Taborea. This world has a deep backstory, which unravels as you accept quests in villages and cities to learn various crafting skills such as Tailoring, Gathering, Woodworking, and Armorcrafting, or simply to help out or protect the denizens of the cities.

Combat is an integral part of the game and is the way you gain experience and level up your character to make him or her more powerful. Although your crafting ranking is separate from your adventure ranking, in order to harvest raw materials for crafting, the player is obliged to venture into more and more dangerous lands so making yourself a more powerful adventurer becomes important.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3):
Kids say (2):

Runes of Magic has deep game systems with enough features to warrant a comparison to any of the most popular MMOG currently out in the market. With its dual class system (the crafting ranking and the adventurer ranking), player housing, harvesting, crafting auction houses, and guild systems, there is a lot to explore within this game. The developers name Ultima Online, EverQuest and World of Warcraft as their inspiration and it shows in the familiarity of those game systems within this game.

The land area is vast, quests are plentiful, and the graphics are detailed and beautiful. In terms of grandeur, depth and sophistication, it comes close to the multi-million dollar backed paid subscription games, lacking only some of the ambiance and immersion as the sound and music is not as polished. Currently, only humans are playable, but like any MMOGs, content is released frequently and Elves are the next promised player race.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about online safety and etiquette with their teenagers, especially if they like to participate in the Player versus Player (PvP) games such as dueling and arena battles. Why should you not give out personal information over the Internet? How do you know that the person behind the game avatar is who they say they are? What effect can online anonymity have on a person's behavior? Should you behave differently when you beat someone online than when you win a game in the playground?

Game Details

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