This is a guest post by Nadav Dakner.
Adrenalin shot given straight to your heart. Yes, that pretty much describes one of the most popular and highly riveting new apps today, Temple Run.
Developed by Imangi Studios, the app is roughly based on old games like Pitfall, Sonic the Hedgehog, and films like Indiana Jones, where you are in control of an explorer-type character that will have to run, jump, slide, and the like in order to get through a labyrinth of hurdles and challenges. The only difference is that unlike the old games and movies it was based on, your primary motivation in controlling the characters isn?t because you need to find treasure (although part of the game does involve collecting coins for certain bonuses and power ups you can use later on in the game), reach the finish line, or save a damsel in distress. Nope, in Temple Run, the primary reason you are running is because a slew of devilish apes are hungrily chasing you like crazy. So, yes, the app is like Indiana Jones meets the Road Runner.
Anyway, this particular app, which was originally developed for iOS-based devices and ported for Android later, features a cool 3D design that won?t really knock your socks off graphics-wise, but definitely great for a Smartphone. Compared to other popular games like Infinity Blade, Temple Run?s graphics holds pretty well. However, the game isn?t really about graphics. It is about the intricate design of challenges that pop up in each level you go through.
Now, you may be baffled how a Game so frustrating as this can be addictive, especially since it is quite impossible for you to win the game as an endless maze of levels keep coming up just when you thought you were nearing the endgame. Well, the truth is that the game is designed so that you can never win. There is no finish line. The point of the game is to find out how long you can survive. And as a reward, you will be given points based on your previous run, points that you can exchange for power ups, extra lives, and new characters, which you can use on your next run with the hopes that you can survive longer. This is probably why most people who have tried (yours truly included) it were hooked from the get-go.
As for the controls, the game is dependent on your swiping. The quickness and direction of your swipes will dictate the character?s momentum and whether you will be able to dodge all those weird skull-faced creatures that will try to pound you to oblivion. While it can get quite tiring the further you go into the game, the controls are relatively easy to manage, especially if you are used to touchscreen gaming.
Overall, the game itself is a big winner. The fact that the app is free to download and play gives it more appeal. Unfortunately, like every other free game, you will constantly be enticed to buy game items in order to get ahead. Since the difficulty of the game can be quite exasperating, you may soon find yourself buying into the temptation.
This is a guest post contributed by Nadav Dakner. Nadav studies Psychology and is into internet marketing. Nadav also invests in the apps/games niche, and has dozens of website.
