temple run

PLATFORM: iPhone

RELEASE DATE: 12/2011

PUBLISHER: Imangi Studios

RATING: 9+

Highest Score: 242,144 (as of posting)

I’m not going to break any news with this post. Sadly, I discovered this game after seeing dozens of fellow straphangers playing it on their phones. It was a 10(ish) year-old kid that I just had to ask. “What game is that?” Temple Run he said. Soon as I came up from the subway I downloaded it and started playing. Quickly, I discovered the secret to this game app’s addictive popularity: It’s free.

Somewhere, in a game app designer’s computer, Nathan Drake and Sonic the Hedgehog had a baby. If that description doesn’t work for you try to picture an Indiana Jones-esque world. Add in the speed and simple game controls from one of the 3rd person Sonic titles (I was pretty fond of Sonic Adventure 2 Battle personally). The result is the world of the highly addictive Temple Run.

Your character is called Guy Dangerous and he is being chased by Demon Monkeys. Racing down narrow, Aztec-like stone paths and collecting various coins along the way. That is pretty much the whole story, unless you die, then you get a witty little sign off line like “Temple slippery when wet” or “Watch your step”. Watching your step is the name of the game as the speed of the game gradually increases.

This game takes fast-passed to new levels on the iPhone. There are barely any load times at all. The opening cut scene (if you can call it that) is less than a second. Temple Run takes advantage of the vertical orientation of the phone allowing you to see the path ahead. Controlling the game relies on your ability to swipe up to jump or down to slide. Lean to either side of the path by tilting the phone left or right. The path twists and turns in sharp 90 degree angles that you must almost anticipate before seeing in order to direct your runner.

High scores are based on your distance and coins collected. Collected coins can be used to purchase power ups such as Invisibility or a Coin Magnet. Some power ups such as the Mega Coin can greatly influence your high score. Once you have a large cache of coins you can buy some big purchase items such as advanced power ups or character skins.

I almost hope that kid from the train reads this post. I got you beat kid, one-handed! My high score has been climbing by the day let me know what yours is below.

A

This is what I want in a game app