When I ’m depend on on the New York City subway system , I ’m almost always play a biz on mySteam Deckor Nintendo Switch . I still have n’t acquire over the novel appeal of getting to take a complicated , diagrammatically acute secret plan likeElden Ringon the go . I ’m fuck up , but sometimes I ca n’t help but glimpse at the grass on the other side . Sometimes I ’ll notice a fellow commuter playing a unproblematic wandering game likeSubway Surfers .
In that mo , I ’m tear in two . One part of me experience thrilled that portable gaming is no longer restrained to brainless experiences like that . Another part of me , though , wishes I was playing that plot instead .
While I ’ve long avoided — and perhaps even looked down on — the infinite runner genre , I ’ve finally given into its mystical appeal withTemple Run : Legends . Apple Arcade ’s recent exclusive shakes the mobile classic up with collation - sized platforming levels in addition to its unnumbered play musical mode . It ’s a perfect via media for those who see the appeal of a serial like Temple Run , but need some stiff goals and target . That ’s help me finally understand the comforting entreaty of a popular musical genre , even if it is n’t changing my world .
Temple Run : Legendsneeds petty intromission . Players control an explorer who prevail past obstacles and pick up coin . They can nobble left and right to move them between lanes , swipe down to slue under low obstacles , or pinch up to jump . That ’s all you necessitate to know . Is there a history told throughout its 500 brusque level ? I imagine so . I could not say you what it is and I ’m over 150 levels deep .
That ’s because games like Temple Run are n’t there to light up your nous ; they are time machines . In my first school term with it , I take it on the metro . Legendsfeels almost utterly engineered for that experience . A tier live on almost just one subway stop , like it was timed for that purpose . My trip into Manhattan flies by in an trice , each tier ticking down how many halt I have forget . All of my energy goes to my quarter round as it lazily swipes through bare level . I get a steady stream of dopamine when I run through a row of glittering coin . I finally realise what my fellow commuters have been doing all these years ; it ’s like novacaine .
Legendsdoes append just a bit more brainpower to the common formula . It has several unlockable character , each of which has two special power . One can magnetise coins to them , while another can run over piss . Each ability can be upgraded a few times with the coins I amass , tote up a simple progression hook . Daily reward , challenge level , and a classical space manner round out a comfy software that ’s an obvious download forApple Arcade reader .
Is itgood ? Whoa there sidekick , do n’t put words in my back talk ! unnumberable runners are inherently insistent game , by design , andLegendsonly append to that trouble by splitting itself up into 500 similar levels . There are diverge gimmicks here and there , like annoying underwater levels that have me moving in all guidance , but each one is structurally selfsame . Some fictitious character ability give players the mightiness to route through them in different way , but that scarcely convert the game feel . If you stress to sit down withLegendsand dedicate your full care to it , as you would a normal biz , you ’ll undoubtedly bump it boring .
But that ’s not how it ’s meant to be played . It ’s a fidget toy dog that I flick at while I ’m doing something else , like englut a TV show I ’ve watched countless times . It ’s perhaps why games likeSubway Surfershave become synonymous with TikTok videos that cram gameplay footage in next to another magazine . There ’s an undeniable smooth brain appeal that I can more easily understand in a level - base spin on the writing style that better plays to the draw I broadly speaking latch on to in game .
I presuppose all of this is a long , overly complicated means of saying thatTemple Run : Legendsis a perfectly fine room to keep your twitchy hands occupied . It ’s a black yap that sucks in all thoughts and feelings and spits out carefree atonement . Sometimes that ’s all you really want .
Temple Run : Legendsis now available via Apple Arcade .
