Choice of RulesMost of the rules of KGoldrunner are covered in the section How to Play, however there are two major rule settings that affect the style of play: known as “Traditional” and “KGoldrunner”. It is important to know which settings are in force when you are playing a game. KGoldrunner automatically chooses the correct settings for a game when you play one of its levels and the rules for each game are shown in the Select Game dialog.
The main difference between “Traditional” and “KGoldrunner” settings is the method by which the enemies choose a path to the hero.
In the “Traditional” search method, enemies look for vertical paths (ladders and falls) and they try to stay higher than the hero or at the same height. They go below him only as a last resort. The enemies make no attempt to chase the hero in the horizontal direction until they are at the same height and can find a horizontal path. This leads to situations where you can “control” enemies who are far away from you and make them work for you or at least keep out of your hair.
The “KGoldrunner” method searches alternately for horizontal and vertical paths, which tends to keep the enemies over your side of the playing area and at about the same height (i.e. they are more aggressive and not so easy to manipulate). That leads to a more action-packed game, but with less opportunity for strategy and puzzle-solving. However the “State of Terror” game, added in 2007, uses “KGoldrunner” rules and has plenty of puzzles to solve while you are on the run. That is why it is such a difficult game.
The other differences are listed below:
In “KGoldrunner” play, the hero and enemies move at fixed speeds in every level and bricks always take the same time to close. In “Traditional” play, the game speed depends on the number of enemies in a level. The more enemies, the slower they run. The hero also becomes slower, but not so noticeably.
In “Traditional” play, enemies always collect gold nuggets when they run into them. In “KGoldrunner” play, it is a random choice. The enemies drop nuggets after a random time in both types of play.
Enemies can run horizontally through holes in “Traditional” play but not in “KGoldrunner” play. The trick in several “Traditional” levels depends on releasing an enemy from behind a brick wall. When you dig away the bricks, he runs out through the hole. In some “KGoldrunner” levels, on the other hand, you must hide inside or behind a dug brick to escape an enemy.
When enemies die in “KGoldrunner” play, they go back to where they started the level. In “Traditional” play, they reappear at a random place near the top of the playing area. This makes a big difference, especially in levels where you have to get enemies to fetch nuggets down for you, but also because the enemies keep falling down onto you as fast as you can kill them.