Temple Run: The new Robot Unicorn Attack

Sarah Nealon, staff writer
January 13, 2012

Sophomore Jessica Smith has a high score of 13,729,005 in Temple Run, the latest craze at Edina High School. Temple Run, an app exclusive to Apple devices, is a game in which you play a character running away from a temple. You must turn, jump and slide to avoid obstacles. To add the chaos, demon-monkeys are following you, so don’t trip, or they can catch up and kill you. As you run, you try to collect coins, which boosts your score and gives you money to purchase upgrades.

Running:

Running is the biggest part of the game, and it can be difficult. The paths you run on are elevated, so one wrong move sends you off the edge. Coins are off the the side, but going for them can make you die. Do you go for the most coins, or do you ignore coins in order to stay on and get farther?

Sophomore Alex Davis has a high score of 10,548,322. “I always go for the coins, because those can get you more points, and a higher score.”

Focus is an important part to avoiding death and staying on the path. “You need to be in the zone, no distractions,” said Davis. Smith agreed, “You need to stay focused.”

 

Running helps you get coins, which allow you to purchase upgrades, which aid you in the game.

Upgrades:

 

With the coins you get from running, you can purchase upgrades in the store. Deciding what to spend your hard-earned (or, in some cases, purchased in-game) coins on can be tricky. Some upgrades get you more coins, others get you farther along in the game.

There are five different upgrades: the Mega Coin, which gives you a large number of coins; the Coin Magnet, which attracts coins to you, and can even triple their value; Invisibility, which allows you to run through obstacles; Boost, which gives you a long run on autopilot, all you have to do is tilt for coins; finally, Coin Values, which increases the value of the coins. Red coins are worth two and blue coins are worth three.

“The best upgrade is the Coin Magnet. When you have bought all the levels, it lasts for 7500 meters, and it triples the coins you get,” explained Davis. The more coins you get, the better things you can buy, which all help you increase your score.

Smith disagreed, “Get the Coin Values as soon as you can. Then you can get triple value coins.”
The resurrection wings are also great for getting a high score. They give you one more shot at continuing after you die.
It is easy to get lured into playing for hours. This game is a time suck, so you should always be mindful of the hour, your pile of homework, and upcoming tests.