Bloody Hell, Subtractive Runemixer Just Blew My Mind (and Our RPG Element Systems!) With Colour Theory!
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
Subtractive Runemixer, a quirky indie RPG, is making waves by explicitly linking its elemental combat system to colour theory, completely re-framing how we might think about traditional RPG elements and their interactions, and potentially inspiring a whole new palette for game design.
Alright, mates, gather 'round because I've been tinkering with a new little indie gem that’s made me look at every single RPG element system – you know, fire beats water, water beats air, the usual song and dance – in a completely different light. It's like I accidentally cast a revelation spell that worked a bit too well, and now I can't unsee the pixels.
The game in question is **Subtractive Runemixer**, a work-in-progress RPG by Starbage that's currently doing its thing for free on Itch.io. And fair dinkum, it’s a bit of a mind-bender. I first caught wind of it thanks to artist and writer Oma Keeling sharing it on Bluesky, and boy, am I glad I took the dive. I only dipped my toe in during lunch, but already, my brain's buzzing like a faulty circuit board.
Now, at first glance, *Subtractive Runemixer* is a glorious mess of weirdness. You’re playing as Caster, a rather gloomy automaton – already, I’m in – traversing a labyrinth that feels like a fever dream where ancient religious icons got tangled up with server farms. Seriously, one minute you’re in a church floating against a sky of pulsing pink and purple rock (like you’re hallucinating a cavern ceiling, brilliant!), the next you’re in a dungeon that looks suspiciously like a retro *Sonic the Hedgehog* Special Stage had a baby with an electronics graveyard. And your enemies? They're pieces of 'sorrowful e-waste' like 'Emotional Outlet' and 'Live Wire'. I mean, come on, that’s just poetic digital melancholy right there.
But here's where it gets really interesting, beyond the wonderfully glitchy art style that looks like TV static got a degree in philosophy. The core combat mechanic, the 'runemixing', is where the magic (or rather, the colour theory) happens. It’s a turn-based affair where you first prepare different coloured runes, then unleash them. Or, you can get clever, conjure a series of runes, mix them on your HUD like you're stirring paints on a palette, and boom – a more potent attack. The catch? It costs you a turn, letting the enemy get a few hits in. Even your enemies are getting in on the colour-mixing action, which keeps you on your toes. There are even esoteric puzzles requiring you to observe and replicate enemy rune attacks. It’s a genuine showcase of how a combat system can be more than just a numbers game; it can be an expressive instrument, a puzzle, a strategic dance.
But the true stroke of genius, and what stuck in my cranium like a particularly catchy synthwave tune, is how *Subtractive Runemixer* explicitly leans into **colour theory**. When we talk about elemental systems in RPGs, we usually just accept the rock-paper-scissors of it all. Fire beats water, water beats lightning, whatever – it's just 'how it is.' But what if those 'elements' aren't just arbitrary philosophical concepts? What if they're, quite literally, colours? Red and blue. Complementary. Clashing.
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell, the brilliant mind behind the original piece on Rock Paper Shotgun, pointed this out, and now I can't unsee it. Does fire beat water because red and blue sit at certain points on the classic colour wheel? Suddenly, the whole thing snaps into focus. It makes you wonder, doesn't it? How many developers, consciously or unconsciously, have been dabbling in this without us even realising? It turns the often-tedious, predictable parts of RPG combat into something ripe for experimentation.
Imagine abilities having varying degrees of efficacy not just because they're 'fire' but because they're a primary colour clashing with a secondary, or reinforcing each other through monochromatic variations. Could a dark, moody 'purple' ability gain strength by combining with a 'blue' one, creating a richer, deeper hue of destructive power? Or perhaps a vibrant 'yellow' (think lightning!) could be dulled by a 'violet' (a sort of anti-elemental absorption)? It opens up a whole new canvas for game designers.
This isn't just about a neat gimmick in one indie game; it's about pushing the boundaries of what we consider fundamental to RPG mechanics. We're so used to abstract concepts – strength, dexterity, magic points – that when a game comes along and grounds something as esoteric as elemental affinity in a tangible, visual concept like colour, it feels like a genuine breakthrough. It's a healthy dose of skepticism applied to established tropes, but through the lens of pure, unadulterated creativity rather than cynical deconstruction.
I mean, the only other big RPG I can immediately think of that overtly played with this kind of visual, relational elemental system was *Chrono Cross* with its glorious triadic field effect mechanic. You know, where elemental attacks would change the field colour, making subsequent attacks of the same colour stronger and opposing ones weaker? It was brilliant, dynamic, and made combat feel so much more tactical than simply mashing the 'attack' button. *Subtractive Runemixer* seems to be diving even deeper into the philosophical and artistic implications of this idea.
And that, my friends, is why I'm genuinely buzzing about *Subtractive Runemixer*. It's a fantastic example of indie games doing something genuinely innovative, taking a foundational concept of RPGs and flipping it on its head in a way that feels both obvious in hindsight and utterly fresh. It’s the kind of creative spark that could genuinely inspire new directions for the genre, challenging us to think beyond the usual elemental triangles. What if our next big RPG adventure is less about finding the right 'spell' and more about mixing the perfect 'shade' of chaos? Now that’s a thought worth tinkering with.
**Originally reported by Edwin Evans-Thirlwell for Rock Paper Shotgun.**
Tags: Indie Games, RPG, Game Design, Combat Systems, Innovation
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun