One endless runner game that I reviewed recently that held my attention is called "Spoiler Alert." Yeah that's the name of it. You play the whole game backwards.
BaD #3: A Day with Worm Run
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 On 02/04/2015 at 05:49 AM by daftman See More From This User » |
There are a lot of endless runners on the App Store. I mean, there's a frickin' ton of them and Worm Run falls into that group, technically. But a few things set it apart from similar games. First of all, your character doesn't run automatically. Swiping left or right sends your little guy in that direction and swiping up (including diagonals) makes him jump. You also have a little boost you can do several times in the air that recharches when you touch the ground or a wall.
The other big thing is the WORM. That crazy beast munches through everything—dirt, rocks, bricks, steel—and will gobble you up if he catches up with you. It adds a nice bit of tension to the platforming, though you really don't have time for a traditional experience. Once you get the hang of it, you can really fly through the tunnels. But I had some trouble with the controls at first, to be honest. I was using one thumb for everything and was just kind of careening around. Wall jumps were a disaster. But then I read a tip online to use both thumbs. By swiping with both at the same time to run, my little guy moves way faster. Using my right thumb to jump right and the left one to jump left, I can now navigate the environment with relative ease. My first run this way went twice as far as my previous best. The game went from being alright to being a blast to play.
There are other typical runner things in here, like missions to complete and coins to collect. You can spend the coins on power ups and costumes as well as revives when you get eaten. Each run is procedurally generated, keeping things fresh each time. Get far enough and the environment changes in theme and type of hazards, though, first to a purple cave and then a green something (not sure what it is). That's as far as I've gotten.
Worm Run feels distinct from the hordes of other runners and I have certainly enjoyed my time with it. The controls seem kind of polarizing from what I've heard from others, and I would be kind of down on the game if I hadn't tried using both thumbs. I'd defintely recommend giving it a try.
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