Mon 09 Jan 2012
Running Game Apps
Why are running game Apps so popular?
Unlike most other games?
Most other game involve some sort of goal, whether it be rescueing a princess out of a castle or destroying all the blocks by throwing birds at them, there is ultimately a goal to achieve that would signify the “ending” of the level. With endless running games, there is no ending to be worried about – the only thing to be concerned about is getting the highest possible score that you can.
What are these games about?
These games are a subgenre of action platform. Generally, the only thing that a player has to do is keep their character moving from left to right, avoiding all sorts of objects along their way.
Sometimes the objects are standing still (meaning the character has to go over them or underneath them) and sometimes the objects actually move and try to hit the player’s character, making it much more difficult to avoid any possible collision.
Want some examples?
When it comes to endless running games, similar games like the excellent Mirror’s Edge and Mad Chad do not make the list – the reason for it that while they are great games, they do in fact end after several levels. The games mention here however, never end, and simply keep on going until the player makes a mistake and dies.
Canabalt: Perhaps the first and most popular endless running game to make it onto the iPhone. With simple graphics that would make an 8-bit Nintendo blush and very addictive gameplay, the game keeps on coming until the player (an man on the run) makes a mistake and finally falls to his doom or gets taken down by one of the other characters). One nice thing about the game is that it is always different, this means that even a well-rounded player has to be careful even in the first few moments of the game.
Run Like Hell: Most people are going to run just a little faster when something or someone is chasing them – the name of the game truly indicates what is going to happen. Cannibals are chasing the main character – and the last thing you want to do is end up in their mouth. The fact that the character is being chased the entire time adds a new dimension to this great game.
Monster Dash: With Monster Dash, you do not simply have to jump out of the way of things that go bump into the night – because you are given a fire button to destroy enemies in front of you.
Casual gamers have truly grown to love this game which is one of the reasons it was ranked so high in the App Store for a long time.
Most other game involve some sort of goal, whether it be rescueing a princess out of a castle or destroying all the blocks by throwing birds at them, there is ultimately a goal to achieve that would signify the “ending” of the level. With endless running games, there is no ending to be worried about – the only thing to be concerned about is getting the highest possible score that you can.
What are these games about?
These games are a subgenre of action platform. Generally, the only thing that a player has to do is keep their character moving from left to right, avoiding all sorts of objects along their way.
Sometimes the objects are standing still (meaning the character has to go over them or underneath them) and sometimes the objects actually move and try to hit the player’s character, making it much more difficult to avoid any possible collision.
Want some examples?
When it comes to endless running games, similar games like the excellent Mirror’s Edge and Mad Chad do not make the list – the reason for it that while they are great games, they do in fact end after several levels. The games mention here however, never end, and simply keep on going until the player makes a mistake and dies.
Canabalt: Perhaps the first and most popular endless running game to make it onto the iPhone. With simple graphics that would make an 8-bit Nintendo blush and very addictive gameplay, the game keeps on coming until the player (an man on the run) makes a mistake and finally falls to his doom or gets taken down by one of the other characters). One nice thing about the game is that it is always different, this means that even a well-rounded player has to be careful even in the first few moments of the game.
Run Like Hell: Most people are going to run just a little faster when something or someone is chasing them – the name of the game truly indicates what is going to happen. Cannibals are chasing the main character – and the last thing you want to do is end up in their mouth. The fact that the character is being chased the entire time adds a new dimension to this great game.
Monster Dash: With Monster Dash, you do not simply have to jump out of the way of things that go bump into the night – because you are given a fire button to destroy enemies in front of you.
Casual gamers have truly grown to love this game which is one of the reasons it was ranked so high in the App Store for a long time.
