Runes and Powerups

For the last few week's I've been researching Futhark runes, which has been quite interesting and thought provoking in itself. It's also uncovered more Norse mythology that could play a part in the plot or give ideas for later levels.  There are lots of runes, and many interpretations, but I have selected 7 that we can use in the game:

While there are many meaning for each rune, depending on how you divine it and the context, here are the meanings that make sense for a computer game:

Uraz (U) - Strength and speed (of an ox)

Raidho (R) - Travel to new places.

Sowilo (S) - Lifeforce. The Sun (that's why it's the yellow)

Fehu (F) - Abundance, growth (that's why it's green)

Algiz (Z) - Sheild. An Elk (if we want Erik to have Elk horns on his helmet at one point)

Hagalaz (H) - Nature's wrath. eg, Lightning from Thor.

Tiwaz (T) - The Sky and Air.

Also - if you reverse the runes they can have an opposite meaning. Abundance/power-up becomes Loss. Strength becomes rashness (ie, loosing control while charging or berserking), Lifeforce becomes life drain, Shield becomes repel, travel becomes freeze.  

HOW RUNES MIGHT WORK IN LITTLE BIG HORNS:

The idea is to have a simple at first, but able to be deepened with hidden secrets, powerup system that makes it interesting to collect both crystals (the mass, common collectible) and runes (rare, level objectives).

• The Runes effectively let you cast spells - which can a) unlock Gates to new levels, or b) give you Powerups
• Player collects (lots of ) crystals, which give you mana / magic points.  When you 'cast the runes' for a powerup you use up this mana. (When you open gates you don't use up mana - so you can always progress).
• Player collects Runes (1-2 per level), and eventually builds up the full set
• When you approach a Gate with certain runes on it, if you have those runes, the spell will cast automatically and the Gate open to the next level
• To 'cast the runes' for a Powerup you type in the letters of the runes that make the spell, eg. ""UF" for Uruz-Fehu for the Speed powerup or "TF" for Tiwaz-Fehu for the Extra High Jump powerup.   This will cost you some crystals/mana.
• Longer sequences of Runes could be typed in for bigger powerups as you collect all 7 runes.  You might find a way to reverse the runes too for other spell side-effects.
• The runes are colour-coded to the colours of the rainbow - so you can use all 7 to rebuild the Bifrost- the rainbow bridge between Midgard (the world of men) and Asgard (heaven).

That's the idea for now (hopefully it's not too complicated). From the above meanings of the runes you'll see lots of potential powerup ideas.