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Watch trailer on Steam ↗The Missing Rune
Mr.Boloney · Published by Mr.Boloney
3 user reviews — 100% positive (3 reviews) · 3 achievements
Last updated 28 Sept 2026
A psychological horror sim where you play a low-level researcher, who has to banish demonic entities back to where they came from. While having to keep the entitles in your peripheral vision, you must use the Rune Operation Manual to input the right runes, and send them back.
£7.15
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Price history
Indie, Simulation, Strategy · 2026 · More £5 - £15 games
About this game
The Missing Rune is a first-person psychological horror puzzle game. You play a low-level researcher at the O.B.J. Foundation, stationed at a control panel outside a containment cell. Your job is to banish demonic entities using rune incantations — without ever looking directly at one.
THE RULE
Look directly at an entity and it tunnels in through your eyes. Look away and it slips in behind you. Hold it at the very edge of your vision, and keep it there.
THE SHIFT
Six shifts, six cycles each. Every cycle runs in two phases.
MANIFESTATION. The shield opens and the entity appears. Hold your peripheral gaze for thirty seconds while it tries to anchor itself into reality. As it does, things happen in the cell, the lights change color, sounds come through the microphone, your vision corrupts, and eventually the entity starts speaking to you. Memorize all of it. The glass absorbs one mistake, after it breaks, the next one is fatal.
QUANTUM. The entity vanishes and it's safe to look down. Open the Rune Operation Manual, work out which entity you're holding, and apply a modifier for everything you witnessed, in the order the manual gives them. Then enter your three-rune answer on the console. You have two minutes.
Whatever you enter becomes the starting sequence for the next cycle, so a mistake follows you. Some rune combinations are fatal on input, and the manual buries that warning on the back page.
ESCALATION
Shift one is guided. After that the Foundation stops holding your hand. Entities strong enough to talk will tell you things about your handler. Perforations open in your vision that can only be closed by staring straight into them which means taking your eyes off the entity. The facility loses power. And on the final shift, someone replaces your manual with one you've never seen.
FEATURES
Six-shift story campaign, fully voiced over the intercom
A real in-universe manual you open and read answers are never on screen
Three entity types, four categories of anomaly, and a final encounter that rewrites the rules
No weapons, no combat. Observation, memory, and deduction only.
Steam achievements
Photosensitivity warning: contains flashing lights, strobing effects, and sudden loud noises.
INCIDENT REPORT | 001
C. 1971, the O.B.J. Foundation unearthed an ancient churchyard called "The Church of the Missing Rune" and built a facility around the consecrated grounds. Among the ruins were fragments of a book: "The Grimoire of Runes." Pieced together, it gave instructions on how to begin the second coming.
The Foundation has always renounced religion. But this book gave them pause. Inside were writings from Foundation members who had never seen it, and from members who don't exist, highlights and annotations already on the pages before the pages were found, done exactly the way the O.B.J. instructs its researchers to annotate them. There must be some reason.
The researchers followed the instructions. A rift opened, and from the white glow came the sound of trumpets, until the trumpets became screaming and the rift turned to blood. Things came through. Researcher ████ ██████ was engulfed by the crimson vortex.
Every entity known to have escaped has since been contained. Sending them back is up to you, and to the several predecessors who failed before.
FIELD NOTES: Researcher names may be redacted to prevent cognito-transmission. It is unknown whether cognito-transmission is possible, or whether possession is contagious. The board recognizes it as a serious threat and it will be treated as such.
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- Processor: Intel Core i3-6100 / AMD Ryzen 3 1200
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4400
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 2 GB available space
- Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
Recommended
- OS: Windows 11 64-bit
- Processor: Intel Core i5-12400F / AMD Ryzen 5 5600 or higher
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA RTX 1080 or higher
- DirectX: Version 12
- Storage: 4 GB available space
- Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
Supported Languages
*languages with full audio support
Latest news
AnnouncementsOfficial
Devblog #2
Attention, Researchers.After a long period of development, I'm excited to officially announce that The Missing Rune is releasing on schedule! Not only that but it will be 20% off for the first week after release!Release Date: August 4thDevelopment is now complete, and the game is entering its final preparation phase before launch.Every core system is now finished, the game is fully playable from beginning to end, and the remaining time before release will be dedicated to final polishing, testing, and preparing for launch.It has been an incredible journey bringing this project to life, and I can't wait for everyone to experience it.The HallContainment just became a little more dangerous.During your containment procedures, you will encounter an unexpected facility-wide power outage. Who or what caused it remains unknown.When the lights go out, your work doesn't stop.You'll need to leave the safety of your workstation, navigate the darkened facility, and manually reset the breaker before containment can continue.A New Entity ArrivesShift Six introduces an entirely new entity.You may recognize the behavior of previous anomalies, but this one follows its own rules.It doesn't behave like the others.That's all we'll say... for now.Will this game still get updates?Release isn't the end of development.I'll continue listening closely to community feedback and releasing bug fixes, quality-of-life improvements, and gameplay adjustments after launch.Some ideas already planned for future updates include:Endless ModeAdditional Steam AchievementsContinued gameplay improvementsA possible VR version (Included for free)As a solo developer, these features will take time to develop. While I'd love to have everything available on launch, some features may take longer to implement.A Personal Thank YouCreating The Missing Rune has been an incredible learning experience. Every challenge taught me something new, and every milestone pushed me to become a better developer.Whether you've been f...Read full article on Community Announcements (Mr.Boloney)AnnouncementsOfficial
Devblog #1
Hello low-level researchers! It's been a busy few weeks of development on The Missing Rune, and I wanted to share some progress on the game as we get closer to release. Demo Release Date The Missing Rune Demo launches July 10th! The demo will give players their first opportunity to experience the world of The Missing Rune and provide feedback before launch. Recently Fixed & Improved Over the past development cycle I've been focused on bug fixing, audio improvements, visual polish, accessibility, and overall game feel. Audio Improvements Rebalanced manual audio volumeAdjusted audio start/end timingsLowered scream volumeImproved audio source positioningAdded intercom beep effectsAdded background noise to intercom transmissionsIntercom activation sound now plays correctlyAdded ambient musicAdded sounds for round indicator lightsIncreased heartbeat volumeAdded successful/failed incantation feedback soundsAdded scare audio to the mixer systemFixed several audio playback issues Visual Improvements Fixed lighting passing through glassCorrected multiple rune visual inconsistenciesSlightly reduced manual zoomAdded additional emission effectsLowered glitch effect intensityImproved alarm light visualsAlarm light emission now flickers properlySmoothed alarm light movement and control panel behavior-Increased overall scare presentationGameplay Improvements Fixed multiple rune sequence errorsCorrected manual information inaccuraciesReduced excessive eye movementAdjusted peripheral vision mechanicsImproved player camera movement feelIncreased scare timingAdded more dramatic music to later portions of the experienceFixed achievement-related issuesUI & Accessibility Added epilepsy warningImproved pause menu functionalityAdded pause menu shortcutsAdded studio splash screenAdded custom mouse cursorImproved operation manual readabilityFixed multiple menu issuesSteam & Release PreparationSteam achievements implementedAchievement artwork addedFixed startup achievement issuesFixed broken ...Read full article on Community Announcements (Mr.Boloney)
