Description: Twin Runners is exactly how it sounds, an endless runner game. Not just any endless runner game mind you, but a well crafted endless runner with heaps of challenge and difficulty and steeped in atmospheric tone and a background soundtrack to match. You control the twin runners, one white block and one black, and your goal is to see if you can get to the end of the level, or see how long you can last, or simply complete the challenge tasks. You have two buttons with which to control the runners, and upon beginning each level you’re off to the races.
How It Works: First things first, head to the Play Store and grab this new runner game so you can begin to enjoy fun. Don’t mistake fun for an easy go however. When I said Twin Runners was challenging I meant it, and you’ll find that out after a couple of levels as it happens fast.
When you first open up the game you’ll notice that it was developed using Unity engine, which should be an immediate indicator that while still being very non-complex visually, it looks gorgeous and very polished. Starting the game for the first time will have you beginning “Story Mode,” to get the hang of things.
There are three game modes in total, with Story Mode, Challenge Mode, and Endless Mode. Once you finish Story, you can up the ante with Challenge and see if you can last all the way to the end in this intensely long level of hurdles and difficulty. Last but not least is endless, where you can just attempt to see how long you can last, this is the one that gives this game some great replay value.
The on screen controls are easy enough to get used to, as there is only two buttons on screen that you need to use, which includes touching the left, and right quadrants of the screen when required. That’s it. Pressing down on the left hand side of the screen will make the runners jump, and pressing the right hand side of the screen will make the runners slide.
The levels start out simple enough, but after the first couple things begin to get a little more rocky and you find yourself trying to doge more blocks. Certain parts of some levels even throw reverse controls at you after you pass through a “gravity reverse” section, switching the jump and slide buttons to make it even more challenging. This trips you up.
The twin runners always perform their actions in tandem, so if one jumps so does the other one. If one slides… you get the idea. This seems easy enough but the obstacles in front of each runner are not always the same, requiring to think fast and think on your feet. Sometimes you have to perform both actions at once. There are also areas that make you speed up, slow down, and pass through multitudes of windows, all which add crafty little elements of difficulty. Twin Runners supports Google Play Games services, and it comes complete with leaderboards and achievements to make things more fun. Sometimes there’s nothing like some friendly competition, and seeing how well you can climb the leaderboard can make for a great play session.
Opinion: At first glance Twin Runners looked like a simple game to me and I wasn’t sure how much fun I would have playing it, but after watching the video I got intrigued and tried it out for myself. 30 minutes later I had wondered where the time went and I realized that I really enjoyed playing. It was addictive. As stated above, the graphics aren’t complex but they’re artfully crafted and still look great and polished. I was also very fond of the atmospheric like background soundtrack while playing.
Ratings
- Speed (5/5) – No issues with speed whatsoever while playing, loading, or exiting the game. The actual gameplay is very fluid and enjoyable.
- Features (4.5/5) – Twin Runners almost hits on every cylinder here. Offering up three modes of play to keep gamers interested is great, adding leaderboards and achievements through Google Play Games on top of it is brilliant.
- Theme (5/5) – While the overall visual style isn’t something that screams tons of shaders and advanced lighting effects, the graphics and the levels are polished and extremely well done. Nothing looks out of place.
- Overall (4.5/5) – There really isn’t anything to not like about this game. It’s a fresh look at the endless runner genre, and it offers immensely enjoyable gameplay in such a simple skin.
Pros
- Amazingly fun
- Challenging, difficult at times, and extremely addictive.
- Fresh gameplay in a really crowded genre
- Sharpens reflexes
Cons
- Some might find the lack of high resolution lush graphics unappealing
Conclusion: Twin Runners has been one of the best games I have played in a while. If you want a more unique style endless runner, grab Twin Runners, throw on some headphones(if you can)and zone out while you attempt to work your way through levels. The game is free, which is absolutely wonderful, AND… no in-app-purchases. There are ads, but even the ads are handled with care as they pop up what felt like very seldomly for a free title. A great endless runner for anyone who is a fan of the genre, and an excellent example for anyone who is new to the game type.