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Guardians of the Rift (GotR) is probably one of, if not, the best minigames that has been released into Runescape. It perfectly encapsulates all of the best aspects of minigames, while avoiding the major pitfalls that most minigames are victim to:
GotR has a predictable, yet fluid play pattern that is easy to understand and digest.
It is complex enough to offer multi-faceted decision points that makes each game feel different. Some examples would be the option to focus on crafting combination runes for more xp/hr, high level catalytic runes for more gp/hr, or a mix of everything for more points/hr.
It incorporates the game world, taking you to the actual RC altars where other players who are using other training methods (the abyss, fairy rings) are able to see and interact with users playing the game, adding the immersion of the game world.
It avoids competition. This means that there is never a user experience where you feel like interaction between other players inhibits your ability to succeed at the minigame.
The above points have incredible cohesion and coalesce into a user experience that is not only positive, but rewarding. The fact that each game is different enough to create a unique experience allows you to gain large amounts of EXP in Runecraft without even noticing that you are, in fact, training Runecraft.
There is also an incredible sense of progression that the minigame offers that you don't get to experience when traditionally training RC, which is the major kicker and what sets this minigame apart from the rest. Before, when training RC, there was no real difference between unlocking cosmics, or deaths, or laws, or any of the altars other than Blood and Soul. Every rune more or less felt the same, and unlocking a new Rune didn't mean much, because it was almost always worse than just doing fire runes or lava runes.
With GotR, unlocking Deaths at 65 feels like a big deal, because it lets you craft runes at an altar that provides Overcharged cells, which increases your success rate for completing a game by creating overcharged golems and barriers. Unlocking larger pouches feels impactful, because that means that you are able to make more runes per game, which leads to more points per game/more rewards.
Lastly, the rewards are absolutely on point. Most minigames offer parasitic rewards, which are only beneficial if you continue to play the minigame and are useless elsewhere. GotR rewards are all beneficial outside of the minigame, except for the Lamp.
Overall, seeing what the devs have done with GotR has reignited my excitement for future minigames, because it has shown me that they know exactly what it takes to make a great minigame. GotR is arguably even better than it's predecessor, The Great Orb Project, which was immensely fun for similar reasons. It's like they took all the great parts of GOP (open world, immersive, interacting with key pre-established RC elements such as the Altars) and got rid of all the negative parts (team v team, leading to competition, the incentive to boost points by tieing games, etc).
My literal only gripe, would be that the Lantern should have benefits outside of the minigame (the logs that offer more runes per craft and pouches that don't degrade). In conclusion though, well done dev team, and keep up the good work. GotR has set a bench mark for what all future minigames should look like.
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