Grimrock

It's rather cumbersome to punch in runes and then cast. Is there no way it'll just cast by default the last thing I punched in?

Probably not, but you can prepare the spell and use it later.

In DM you could cast with number keys. It made you feel like you were weaving off the spells. It's a pity this game doesn't have that. Maybe a patch will allow more key assignments that will broaden possibilities.

Train your mouseholder, mage! Because you cannot launch giant fireball, just said "1".
At least you have to say "mega yok taar"

I don't mind the limited spells - though no cleric bites - but the magic system really is a pain in the posterior.

Check out my post on how to hotkey it. You can hotkey any spell you want with about 30 seconds of effort per spell.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=669

Actually, this a is pure immersion and very old-school way of doing it, I like this way so far, but then again, I'm not fighting off hordes of monsters yet.