Runecraft

Background
Runecraft, Ltd. was founded in 1997 with the offices in UK. It was specializing on brand and license titles. Ultimately, Runecraft went into financial troubles, speculations and poor management, which led to its collapse in 2003.

1st Logo (1997-2002)


Logo: We see the dust-covered shield with the semicircular panel above (with grass landscape). The panel slowly zooms-in and the debris flies away to reveal the "RUNECRAFT" name written in stony runic letters. Three stones emerge on the upper panel.

Technique: Debris uncovering, stones rising up.

Music/Sounds: Deep synth note with the sound of uncovering debris.

Availability: Seen in many games for various platforms such as Caesar's Palace 2000, Y2K, Men in Black: Crashdown, and others.

2nd Logo (1999-2002)


Note: The logo starts at 0:46.

Logo: This is actually the longer version of first logo. The camera flies backwards over the water surface with the rainbow, then over the field with a pathway. Finally we see the "stonehenge" with three familiar stones among others. The image is outlined by the shield with "RUNECRAFT" already uncovered. The background with stones changes to night, the moon appears.

Technique: All the animation.

Music/Sounds: An orchestral note with whooshing sounds, then a THX-style synth note, and another orchestral note. On The Hoobs, the last sound is very different.

Availability: Appears on games such as Barbie: Race & Ride, ''Arthur! Ready to Race and The Hoobs'' for PlayStation. Used in tandem with the previous logo.

3rd Logo (2002-2003)


Logo: Over the water ripple effect, the red sun rising effect is shown. The background clears out from mist and water and becomes white, when the "sun" turns into a blue oval with custom made "r" over it. The name is seen below: "RUNECRAFT", with the text: "games by design" spaced-out.

Variant: On some games, the logo is still.

Technique: Sun and water effects.

Music/Sounds: Resounding synth note.

Availability: Seen in Monopoly Party and Scrabble 2003 Edition for PC. The still version can be found on Super Bubble Pop for GameCube.