Running From the Past

While most gamers like having a good story in their video games, there are times when simply having good gameplay is more than enough. When video games had their first big boom in the entertainment industry they were designed primarily to eat up both time and cash. Before the age of digital downloads many gamers went to arcade stores and fed their quarters into the arcade cabinets until their money was spent; or until their parents pulled them out of the store kicking and screaming. Few ever completed an arcade game from beginning to end. Even fewer games ever had a true ending. The vast majority kept playing until they were either bored with it or had reached the “kill screen” forcing the player to stop. Back then this was the norm and there had been no need to stray from it. Nowadays video games are often required to have endings due to the auspicious demand of story in games. Some developers separate the single player and multiplayer aspects of their games in other to please both the gamers who want an ending and the gamers who want to keep playing. While this satisfies some players, there are those who pine for the days when a single player game would allow them to keep playing in the hope of reaching the highest score possible. Thanks to the mainstream success of mobile gaming, these “endless” games are not only back, but they’re better than ever.

It’s almost like the real thing!

These games, coined as “endless runner” games, are simple games where the player is able to swipe a constantly running character in multiple directions with their finger in order to avoid traps and pitfalls. Leaping, ducking, and using power ups are essential for survival and they take us back to a more innocent time of gaming. With the use of many phones, tablets, and various mobile devices we use in our day-to-day activities, these games can literally be played anywhere at any time. They are the type of games where the player can stop what they’re doing, play for five to ten minutes, and then go back to their normal routine. Over time this can lead to hours and hours of gameplay time per week. The best part? Most of these games are either free or cost as low as 99 cents. Everybody likes cheap and/or free stuff, and the developers behind these games know that one doesn’t have to put a price on the central product as long as that product can lead players towards making other purchases. Much like the arcade cabinets money can be spent on continuing the game, but now the player can purchase upgrades, lives, levels, costumes, power ups, and more. When enough people make these purchases, the games pay for themselves and then some. It’s a successful marketing strategy that continues to expand as mobile devices get more and more advanced.

“IT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!”

Temple Run, released in August of 2011, is perhaps the most popular of the “endless runner” games. In this game the player is an explorer who has stolen a valuable idol and must keep running away from a deadly temple monster. While running the player collects coins and power ups that improve the player’s chances or lasting a long time. There is no possible way to “beat” Temple Run. The game has no end and the path the explorer runs is randomly generated to keep on changing. Once the explorer is killed (in a variety of humorous ways) a score pops up and the game asks the player if he or she would like to try again. And so the addiction of having “just one more game” begins. When more and more coins are collected, the upgrades get better and better. The desire to unlock everything and complete every challenge keeps the players going even though they know that it’s impossible to “win” the game. Temple Run, and its sequel Temple Run 2, continues to be one of the highest ranking games for iOS and Android products worldwide. Even Disney recognizes the appeal of the “endless runner” game when they made their own versions of Temple Runner based on the movies Brave and Oz the Great and Powerful. With exception to one or two minor gameplay additions, they’re the exact same game as Temple Run.

It’s totally not the same game! The game on the right has monkeys that DON’T fly.

Even Sonic the Hedgehog, one of the most popular mascots in video game history, has gotten his paws on this growing game genre. In Sonic Dash the player controls Sonic as he runs through the stage collecting rings and avoiding traps and pitfalls. Some would consider it a cheap cash in title for Sega, and they wouldn’t be wrong about that. But at the same time, Sonic being in an “endless runner” game makes perfect sense. Sonic fans old and new love the games for Sonic’s speed and his ability to dash to and away from enemies. To have a game where the characters does nothing but run puts these two game elements together like peanut butter and jelly. However, these “endless runner” games don’t always have to follow the same formula. Take Grim Joggers for example. The game, released seven months before Temple Run, has the player controlling not one but an entire gang of joggers through a level with the goal of reaching as far as possible before all the joggers are dead. The side scrolling aspect, as well as the ability to control the actions of every jogger with a single swipe, makes the game both similar and completely different from its “endless runner” brethren. The game does not monetize in the same way Temple Run does (perhaps that won’t be until the inevitable sequel,) but it still manages to make a profit from the addictive gamers who desperately desire to reach the top of the leaderboards.

“Gotta make cash!”

And so we see that “endless runner” game developers, while creating their own style of gaming, have taken the old tricks of the arcade cabinets and tweaked it to meet the demands of a “here and now” world full of instant gratification. Many mourn for the era of arcade games that are starting to become distant memories, but have no fear. Their spirit lives on in these games and more. For while the devices used to hold these games are getting smaller, the number of “digital quarters” required to have a full gaming experience continues to grow; at least until your parents pull you away from the device kicking and screaming.

Endless crying. Not quite as good as endless running.