Rune Rush: Forest Merge Defense

A little forest. A brave little team.

Yaya is waiting at the end of the forest path. Summon a band of woodland heroes, merge matching allies, and hold back the Thorn King in Rune Rush, a single-player merge tower defense game with a storybook heart.

Play free in your browser. No install, ads, or in-game purchases. The game is presented entirely in English.

Small heroes, meaningful choices

• Merge into something mighty. Combine two heroes of the same class and star level. Reach three stars to awaken a Sunblade, Windstrider, Starweaver, or Frostwarden; keep merging up to five stars.
• Shape a team that works together. Balance close-range strikes, fast arrows, magic splash damage, and ice control. Position heroes to cover the path and spend shared Mana on summons or class skills.
• Choose your own upgrades. Discover 16 skills across four classes. Class upgrades stay with the team through merges and apply to later summons during the run. Combat pauses while you choose.
• Restore three corners of the forest. After the guided first adventure, explore Ancient Grove, Gale Trail, and Thorn Hollow. Unlock starting classes, shatter frozen foes with arrows, and respond to the boss's thorn traps.
• Give Yaya a reason to celebrate. Win a standard battle to grow her golden leaf crown. A later victory with two different awakened classes makes it bloom. Visit her forest journal and save an illustrated thank-you card.

How to play

1. Start with the guided adventure. It teaches summoning, merging, awakening, and your first skill choice one step at a time.
2. Summon with Mana. Heroes attack automatically; you choose how to build and position the team.
3. Drag a hero onto a matching hero to merge. You can also tap one hero, then its matching partner. Tap a hero to inspect its range, or drag it onto an open empty tile to move it.
4. Use the forest clearing wisely. Clearing a non-final wave grants a free tile to open. In chapter battles, dragging onto a different occupied hero swaps their positions.
5. Awaken, upgrade, and protect the exit. Use the pause button when you need a breather. The in-game guide explains range, expansion, merging, and skills.

Controls: Mouse click and drag, or touch and drag. Portrait layout; fullscreen is recommended on smaller screens. Music, sound, and reduced-motion settings are available in the pause menu.

Play notes & feedback

Progress is saved in this browser on this device. Clearing site data can erase it; progress from another website or browser does not transfer automatically. Allow the game to finish loading, then click or tap to enable audio.

Found an issue or have a team-building idea? Leave a comment below with your browser, device, chapter, and what happened. Follow the project to find future releases and development notes here.

Credits & creation

Created by Jeffzzf with Cocos Creator. The project uses generative AI in artwork, music and sound effects, text, and code, with game-specific integration and testing. All game assets are bundled; no generative AI runs while you play.