Burrow Runes: why defeated creatures still count

A path number in Burrow Runes counts the creatures that started beside it, including any you’ve already defeated. It is not the strength left to fight. Keep subtracting the labels on opened rooms when you work out a hidden one.

That distinction matters in Burrow Runes, our deduction game with health and level-ups. The rounded rooms hold creatures; the flat path squares between them hold clues. Each clue adds the original creature strengths in its eight neighboring squares, including diagonals. Only rooms contribute strength.

Read the 2 between the rooms

The screenshot above comes from a fresh board after opening the safe entrance and defeating one Root Mite. Your board can place creatures differently, so follow the numbers rather than copying the room locations.

Look across the middle row. From left to right, it begins with an opened mite labelled 1, a path labelled 2, and a hidden central room. Those two rooms are the only creature spaces touching that path square.

The mite accounts for one point of the total. That leaves one for the central room, so it must contain another Root Mite. The first mite still counts even though the fight is over. Treating the 2 as remaining strength would give you the wrong answer.

Click or tap the central room to reveal it. On this board, that opens the second strength-1 mite:

The same subtraction works with larger clues. Use a path touching just one room whose strength you haven’t worked out yet. Subtract the known strengths around that path, not the number of creatures you’ve fought. Bestiary explains the rule and lists the creatures if you need a reminder.

A known room is not always a safe fight

Solving a room tells you what it costs to open. It doesn’t make the attack free. Each creature takes its strength from your health, and reaching zero ends the expedition before a level-up can heal you.

You start with three health. In the pictured sequence, the first strength-1 mite leaves two health. The second leaves one, then the second victory raises you to level 2 and fills your new five-health maximum. That’s why these two fights work together.

Every two victories raises your level and fully heals you. This sequence reached the Warden in our completed run:

Creatures fought next	Health after both victories
Two strength-1 Root Mites	5, at level 2
Two strength-2 Pebble Beetles	7, at level 3
Two strength-3 Thorn Toads	9, at level 4

From nine health, the strength-6 Root Warden leaves three and ends the run in victory. The strength-5 Bramble Boar can remain unopened: defeating every creature is not required.

This is an order of creature strengths, not a fixed route across the grid. Deduce where they are on your own board before opening them. There is no undo, so check both the sum and your current health before committing.

Keep the old strength in your notes

When a clue stops glowing after its neighboring rooms are opened, don’t read it as cleared damage or a new total. The two-mite example still means 1 + 1 = 2. An opened room gives you a known value to reuse in other nearby sums.

Start with the glowing top-left entrance, find a clue with one unknown room, and carry each deduction into the next clue. Once you know the creatures, choose fights your health can survive through to the next heal.

Checked against Burrow Runes v3 on 6 October 2026. The screenshots show one real board; separate mouse and emulated-touch runs both defeated the Warden using visible clues. This is not physical-phone compatibility testing.