Run For Rum

About

Run For Rum is a single player strategy game. It was developed by Reload Game Studio and was released on July 2, 2014. It received negative reviews from players.

Run For Rum: A Pirate Tale is a strategy game whose core mechanics are based on classic board games like Chess and Checkers. The player takes control of Short Legs Bill, a fisherman with an extraordinary talent for telling lies. The adventure begins when Jake, his best friend who had enough of the lies told by Bill, decides to curse him making his biggest lie reality. This lie is nothing more not…

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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40%

Audience ScoreBased on 10 reviews

humor4 positive mentions

story3 negative mentions

Run For Rum offers a unique blend of pirate storytelling and board-game tactics, providing a quirky and lighthearted experience.
The game is accessible for players who enjoy traditional logic-based strategy, with a charming art style and humorous tone.
It features a simple setup and low minimum specs, making it easy to run on older machines and suitable for casual play.

The gameplay is shallow and repetitive, lacking depth and evolving mechanics, which can lead to predictability and disengagement.
Technical issues such as poor graphics, clunky controls, and a lack of customization options hinder the overall experience.
The game feels more like a mobile app than a PC title, with limited player engagement and no multiplayer options, resulting in a lack of community support.

gameplay
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The gameplay is a turn-based tactical experience on a grid-based map, reminiscent of classic strategy games like chess, but lacks depth and evolution as the campaign progresses, leading to a sense of repetition. While the presence of RPG-like attributes adds some variety, the overall mechanics feel shallow and clunky, with a frustrating user interface that detracts from the experience.
- “The gameplay itself unfolds like a tabletop strategy hybrid, where players move units on a grid-based map, not unlike classic games such as chess or checkers.”
- “Gameplay consists of turn-based tactical unit movement on a small grid, which seems intended for the emerging tablet and smartphone market, yet is available on PC today for some reason.”
- “The presence of RPG-like attributes to the units doesn't make this a deep or rich game; however, the gameplay is fairly shallow as far as turn-based strategy games go.”
- “The mechanics, while unique, don’t evolve much as the campaign progresses.”
- “The humor of the story helps sustain interest early on, but without significant mechanical or narrative escalation, repetition begins to set in.”
- “Gameplay is clunky and unresponsive; you have to fight the UI.”
story
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
17%
50%
The game's story features a whimsical pirate theme with exaggerated character designs and storybook-like maps, creating a lighthearted atmosphere reminiscent of a digital board game. While the humor initially engages players, the lack of narrative depth and mechanical progression leads to repetition over time. Overall, the story is considered minimal and simplistic, appealing primarily to younger audiences or those seeking a casual gaming experience rather than a rich narrative.
- “The pirate theme is expressed through exaggerated character designs, tropical islands, and small storybook-like maps that evoke the feeling of a digital board game.”
- “While feeling like it was made for mobile first, it's a cute game and definitely a fun one to play on the fly - or if a young person who was invested in turn-based combat with a fairly tame and family-friendly story.”
- “The humor of the story helps sustain interest early on, but without significant mechanical or narrative escalation, repetition begins to set in.”
- “Its blend of pirate storytelling and board-game tactics is rare, even if the execution doesn’t always live up to the concept’s potential.”
- “Story seems to be written by a child who enjoys Adventure Time since they try to reference it at least twice in the first 10 minutes.”
graphics
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The graphics of the game have been criticized for their simplistic and lazy "retro" 2D style, lacking resolution options and meaningful tweaks. While some character designs are appreciated, the overall visual quality is deemed inadequate for a 2024 PC game, with static sprites contributing to a lifeless feel. The poor graphical execution raises questions about whether it is a deliberate design choice or a failure in asset quality.
- “The visuals aren't much to look at, but I like the character designs.”
- “The art itself is okay, but there is little movement in the sprites, which makes the whole game feel wooden and lifeless.”
- “There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks.”
- “The game features somewhat lazy, simplistic 'retro' looking 2D graphics, and it's hard to say if this is due to the age of the assets used, if it's a deliberate attempt for the game to look bad/retro on purpose, or if the assets are just, well, terrible looking.”
- “Considering this is being evaluated as a PC game in 2024, such poor quality 2D graphics in the 3D era just aren't good enough. Whether it's a deliberate design fault on behalf of the developer or they just couldn't manage to do any better, this is a compromise gamers shouldn't have to put up with.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's colorful, cartoon-like art direction complements its humorous tone, providing a lighthearted and clever experience. While the initial humor engages players, the lack of narrative and mechanical progression leads to eventual repetition. Overall, it offers a spirited yet flawed attempt at blending humor with strategy in a pirate-themed setting.
- “The art direction leans heavily on colorful, cartoon-like assets that reflect its humorous tone.”
- “For players in search of something lighthearted, unconventional, and quietly clever, 'Run for Rum' stands as a small but spirited experiment in merging humor, strategy, and the timeless allure of pirate legend.”
- “The humor of the story helps sustain interest early on, but without significant mechanical or narrative escalation, repetition begins to set in.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
100%
Character development is highlighted through exaggerated designs that align with the pirate theme, creating a whimsical atmosphere reminiscent of a digital board game. While the visuals may not be impressive overall, the unique character designs stand out positively.
- “The pirate theme is expressed through exaggerated character designs, tropical islands, and small storybook-like maps that evoke the feeling of a digital board game.”
- “I like the character designs.”
- “The character development feels shallow and lacks depth, making it hard to connect with the protagonists.”
- “I found the characters to be one-dimensional, with little to no growth throughout the game.”
- “The dialogue options are limited, which stifles any meaningful character development.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is optimized for mobile play, featuring a tactical style that allows for repetitive combat against pirates; however, it lacks an options menu, user profiles, and the ability to reset data, which may limit customization and user experience.
- “This is a mobile-optimized tactical game where you repeatedly pummel the same pirates, but it lacks an options menu, user profiles, and any way to wipe the data.”
- “The game feels poorly optimized for mobile devices, leading to frustrating performance issues and a lack of customization options.”
- “Despite being marketed as mobile-optimized, the game suffers from significant lag and unresponsive controls, making it difficult to enjoy.”
music
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music features lighthearted melodies that effectively complement the adventurous setting, enhancing the overall experience without being overpowering.
- “The soundtrack complements this style, using lighthearted melodies that match the adventurous setting without ever becoming overwhelming.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game lacks multiplayer options and procedural variations, resulting in limited replayability and diminishing its long-term appeal.
- “There are no multiplayer options or procedural variations to extend replayability, which limits its long-term appeal.”