Runestake

General Ratings

Runestake Casino Review

Runestake is an interesting blockchain-based gaming platform that meshes original RPG elements and PVP-oriented collection features with social casino elements. It’s an offshore site that looks, feels, and plays differently from a traditional US sweepstakes casino.

The site was founded by Yellowbrick Holdings Limited in 2022. My first encounter with Runescape was when it was still a crypto “arena”, solely focused on player-versus-player combat and chest battles.

I ran past this site for months before I learned it received a decent overhaul. It brought hundreds of slots from Hacksaw, Bullshark, and Backseat Gaming into the mix. Real cash prizes can be won by staking Sweeps Cash on slots, or its in-house instant win games.

There’s a unique Rewards System with rakeback as daily, weekly, and monthly bonuses, and cases and caskets as level-up rewards, although it doesn’t offer any regular bonuses.

Legal States

According to Runestake’s terms and conditions, players who are at least 18 years old and not living or physically located in the state of Washington are eligible to create a free account and play.

I should emphasize that Runestake is an offshore social casino (Belize City, Belize), which allows it to bypass certain location-based restrictions that local sweepstakes casinos are bound by.

How Runestake Casino Works

The core of Runestake is similar to most US sweepstakes casinos. This site utilizes Fun Cash as its Gold Coin-equivalent, which is a currency that can be used to play its games for free, and Sweeps Cash which can be staked to win real money prizes.

The site also features unique “in-game gold” currency, which can be obtained through chest and casket rewards or purchased for Sweeps Cash at the Gold Exchange. Items dropped from chests/caskets can also be bought and sold at the exchange.

Runestake Casino Bonuses

Runestake doesn’t offer traditional sweepstakes casino-style no deposit or first purchase bonuses. Registered users can only top up their balance by entering free promo codes, participating in Discord giveaways, or inviting friends via the referral program.

Instead of traditional bonuses and promotions, players receive cases and caskets by leveling up, and unlock perks like access to Cash Rain events by earning experience points in the Rewards System.

Bonuses Review

As a new player, you can start playing Runestake games for free only if you have an active promo code, bring your friends via the referral program, or participate in the casino’s daily giveaways on its social media channels.

As soon as you get your hands on free currency, you’ll be able to stake your coins on games and earn experience points. These “XP” points are needed to level up in the Rewards program and gain keys for chests and caskets.

Additionally, active players can grab daily, weekly, and monthly rakeback on all wagered Sweeps Cash. Let me briefly cover how each of these bonuses works:

• Refer-a-Friend: Tap the Refer-a-Friend button to reveal your unique referral link. Send it to your friends, and grab a portion of all SCs they wager.
• Live Cash Rain: Hourly SC drops accessible via the Chatroom. You’ll need to accumulate at least 50 experience points to participate.
• Giveaways: Join Runestake’s Discord channel and follow them on X to participate in daily SC giveaway events.
• Rakeback: Claim up to 20% of all wagered Sweeps Cash daily, weekly, and monthly.
• Promo Codes: Players can get free promo codes and vouchers from Runestake streamers and social media channels.
• Cases: Grab low to medium rarity items from cases at Level 2, Level 10, and on every 10th level onwards up to 99.
• Caskets: Premium items are available in free caskets as level-up rewards for every 10 levels, up to 99.

Promotions & Bonus Assessment

Runestake Casino-Style Games

Runestake boasts over 100+ slots and close to a dozen original games. The vast majority of games (99+) come from Hacksaw Gaming while Bullshark Games and Backseat Gaming provide a little over 15+ slots.

The site’s “House Games” lobby features 7 Runestake Originals, and over 10+ Hacksaw Gaming Instant Win games like Plinko, Baccarat, Hi-Lo, Mines, Lines, and Limbo.

All games are unlocked instantly, but the lobby doesn’t provide much information other than listing game manufacturers.

Games and Software Review

Unfortunately, players don’t receive any Fun Cash upon registration and you can’t demo games on a dry balance. On the upside, all featured games from Hacksaw Gaming, Backseat Gaming, and Bullshark Games are solid and can be tested online on their respective websites.

Games Assessment

Runestake Banking

What separates Runestake from traditional sweepstakes casinos is that you can buy Fun Cash (Gold Coins) and “in-game gold”. Sweeps Cash is treated as bonus funds and can be redeemed after being played through once.

Purchasing or redeeming in-game gold is a complex system based on chest and casket drops. It’s tied to the Gold Exchange, which allows you to sell your items or purchase them from other players.

Payment Options Review

Purchases are a little tricky since Fun Cash bundles must be purchased from external exchanges like Swapped, Pulse, Kinguin, and G2A. On the upside, this site supports a variety of payment options, including Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Skrill, PaySafeCard, and Bank Transfers, as well as several cryptos like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and more.

The site doesn’t impose a definitive minimum redemption threshold. Instead, the T&Cs simply state that all Sweeps Cash must be staked at least once.

Redemptions for cash prizes are exclusively available via cryptocurrencies. Even though Runestake is a blockchain-based platform capable of facilitating instant payments, the terms state that each redemption may take up to several hours while their team performs all the necessary checks.

Payments Assessment

Is Runestake Casino Legit?

Runestake was founded by Yellowbrick Holdings Limited, which I couldn’t find almost any information about. More specifically, all data I gathered indicates that this company dissolved.

I learned that the site received a major overhaul when it integrated casino-style features. It is possible that they had to relocate to Belize as local iGaming laws are quite lenient, but there are no publicly accessible documents to confirm this.

On the other hand, Runestake has hundreds of active players around the clock, and their partnership with Hacksaw Gaming instills a dose of trust. Apart from several angry Redditors, there are no overwhelmingly negative testimonials or red flags that I’d rely on to dub Runestake a scam/fraud site.

Company and Safety Review

Safety Assessment & Trust Score

Runestake Customer Support

Runestake has several customer support channels, including email support, social media support, a Helpdesk, live chat, FAQs,  and its public Chatroom.

However, you can’t access half of these features as an “inexperienced” player. Live chat can be accessed as soon as you’ve accumulated at least 1 XP while the Chatroom becomes available when you have at least 50 XP.

In other words, you’ll have to stake your Sweeps Cash to unlock features that most sweepstakes casinos leave open even to non-registered players.

Contacts Review

Support Assessment

Runestake Casino UX

The user design of Runescape’s website is great. The layout of the lobby is intuitive and easy to figure out, but the features themselves are poorly explained, so you might feel overwhelmed when you log in for the first time.

The left sidebar is where all the shortcuts are located. You can join ongoing events, exchange in-game gold, find games, go to the referral program, and access rewards from here.

The casino’s highlighted features occupy the central part, including active events, tournaments, promotions, games, and leaderboards. Keep a close eye on the right side of the screen, as that’s where the Chatroom is placed. You’ll see a special animation whenever the “Cash Rain” event is triggered every hour.

Accessibility Review

UX Assessment

Runestake Sister Sites

Since the owner of Runestake, Yellowbrick Holding Ltd, was impossible to find, we couldn’t connect this sweepstakes casino to any other iGaming website. It would be difficult to even speculate whether this company owns or operates any other sites due to the lack of verifiable reviews and testimonials.

Comparison

While Runestake is a unique, innovative platform, it’s an offshore site that’s significantly different and in many ways inferior to classic US sweepstakes casinos. Consult the table below for a concise rundown of how Runestake compares to some of the most popular sweepstakes casinos in the States.

How It Stacks Up

Runestake is difficult to compare to more traditional sweepstakes casinos because it’s primarily an RPG-style blockchain gaming platform with casino-like elements.

In terms of slot count and gaming variety, prominent US sweepstakes casinos are miles ahead of Runestake. Since this site doesn’t have a no deposit bonus, all of our recommended casinos have a huge advantage over it.

Runestake has an impressive VIP system, but it’s considerably more complex than the one Vegas Gems uses, even though they’re both based on opening chests with random rewards.

Our Experts Verdict

We’ve tested the ins and outs of Runestake and ascertained that it has the potential to become a solid sweepstakes casino, but at its current stage, we believe there are better options.

The lack of bonuses, RSG tools, gaming variety, and streamlined payments are some of the things you won’t experience at our top-rated sweepstakes casinos. Runestake has a long way to go before it catches up to prominent sweepstakes sites, so if you’re looking for immersive, hassle-free gaming adventures, use our secure links to join the best sweepstakes casinos.

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