Running with Friends

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Game Information
Name: Running with Friends
Genre: Action, Endless runner
Release Date: 8th May 2013
Developers: Zynga, Eat Sleep Play
Publishers: Zynga
Console(s): iPhone, iPad
Price: Free

Synopsis
Outrun and outscore your friends as you stay one step ahead of charging bulls on the streets of Pamplona, Spain.

Plot
This game is based off of the Spanish tradition Running with the Bulls where the player runs through the streets of the busy city Pamplona to escape from the bulls chasing him taking short cuts and avoiding obstacles to try and escape the angry bulls chasing behind him.

Gameplay
The gameplay of Running With Friends is very similar to most other running games on touch devices right now other than the unique feature of racing against friends or random opponents which was a great addition by Zynga. The player chooses a username which he/she can then give to friends to race against one another to try and achieve a better score. To achieve a higher score than his/her opponent, the player must run through the streets whilst dodging and weaving around obstacles to avoid tripping and being trampled by the bulls following. During the run the player must collect stars which add to the players distance to complete his final score. Normal stars can be picked up easily but special bonus stars can only be collected by doing risky maneuvers such as taking shortcuts, jumping over bulls and scaling large buses and building. Each game with another player consists of three rounds which are all very similar except for the larger amount of stars available for the higher rounds. The game has one currency called gems which can be earned by completing runs and by purchasing with real money. Gems can be spent on a variety of different things such as new runners and avatars, a second chance at running and point bonuses during runs. The basic gameplay is pretty basic, however the game has some great unique features from other similar games which really makes it stand out of the crowd.

Graphics
This game has some full of action and bright colours everywhere to try and distract the player. The game has some quite average and animated graphics for a game on iOS devices. There are no issues with the graphics and the game runs smooth and looks very clean. The bright colours keep the gameplay entertaining and the player coming back for more. Overall, there are no issues with the graphics at all even though they are nothing special.



Controls
Running with friends has very simple controls and is a touch-controlled lane-based runner with no tilting controls which makes the controls even easier, although some people may prefer if the tilt-based controls were implemented for a bit more of a challenge, maybe we will see this added in future updates. The games controls are very similar to most other running games on touch devices where moving left, right, up and down can all be done with single swipe of the finger. Overall, the graphics are child friendly with no difficulties and very easy to pick up.

Ratings (Personal)
Plot: 7/10
Game play: 8/10
Graphics: 6/10
Controls: 7/10
Overall: 7/10