Chances are by now, you’ve probably heard of Temple Run. The infinite runner-style game has you run through a virtual world level-free, trying to last as long as you possibly can without dying. Highly popular, the original version of the game is currently the 9th most downloaded iOS app of all time, and has spawned an exceptionally popular sequel, as well as several Disney-themed versions.
Following in Temple Run’s successful footsteps, Zynga is releasing its own endless runner game Thursday. Called Running With Friends, rather than a game you play by yourself, Zynga making the game social.
“There are all these new infinite runner games on the market today that are awesome,” Travis Boatman, Senior Vice President of Mobile for Zynga told Mashable. “We really wanted people to be able to play these kinds of games with each other”
In Running With Friends you’re running down the streets of Spain where you are being chased by bulls. Along the course you have to dodge barrels, bales of hay, police cars, and of course bulls. Moves are done by swiping on the screen — rather than tilting your device – making it easy to play on tablets as well as phones.
The further you get into the game before you die — and the more things you destroy in your path — the higher your final score.
Much like other titles in Zynga’s With Friends series, the game is broken up into three different rounds. Players play the game alone, but then pass the game off to their friend who tries to beat their score.
Unlike many other similar games, Running With Friends ramps up in difficulty the further you go. Boatman says that Zynga wanted to keep different rounds of the game bite-sized, so it starts to make the game more and more difficult in an effort to keep those rounds shorter.
Much like other With Friends titles, you can compete against your friends, or against random opponents within the game. There’s also a friends and world leaderboard where you can challenge players at a comparable skill level to your own, and find players who are online now to compete is a little faster-paced game.
by emily price
