Temple Run

Temple Run is an arcade game for the iPhone and Android. Better graphics than what is common for that platform.


 * Alien Geometries: The temple was surely designed by an Eldritch Abomination. Or by M. C. Escher. Or by a terrain randomizer that doesn't keep track of where you have been, so that it may happily let you take seven quick 90 degree turns to the right in a row and come to a new location each time.
 * Or for Fridge Horror, the idol cursed you so that you can never leave, and you will be stuck there forever no matter how careful you are or how fast you run.
 * Captain Ersatz: While you don't get to play as the world's most famous explorer, Indiana Jones, you do get to play as the world's second most famous explorer... Montana Smith. And yes, he wears the same iconic hat.
 * Crowning Music of Awesome: The song that plays during gameplay
 * Death as Comedy: Your deaths are often played for laughs. Whenever you die, you get a laconic text message. For example, when you die from falling into a pit, this message may be "I knew I should have learned how to fly" or "temple slippery when wet". These two messages have a double irony, since you can use "wings of resurrection" and since you can slide without problem over even the roughest surfaces.
 * Death Is Cheap: it only takes one click to get back on your feet after death. You have to start over as far as running distance is concerned, but you get to keep all the coins you collected on your previous runs. You can also buy the ability to resurrect yourself, so you can keep your running distance as well.
 * Difficulty by Acceleration
 * Excuse Plot: You steal the idol. The demon monkeys start chasing you. Now run. (Good luck.)
 * Five-Man Band: You get five different characters to play. Montana Smith is definitely The Hero, while the cop is surely The Big Guy. Guy Dangerous may be The Lancer, and the female escape artist fits being The Smart Guy. The final character, however... while female, her role is to be the fastest runner, not The Chick. Then again, the game does not have any dialogue, thus making that role impossible in-game.
 * Freemium: To unlock all the characters and power-ups, you need coins. These coins can be gathered within the game, but for the impatient they are also available for real money.
 * Maniac Monkeys: The demon monkeys chasing you.
 * The Many Deaths of You: Getting killed in different ways will give different messages on your death. See Death as Comedy for examples.
 * Money Sink: There are two consumables to spend all your cash on once you bought everything else: A head start and an extra life. This save your coins from becoming useless.
 * Something Person: The generic character's name is "Guy Dangerous".
 * Token Minority: The story seems to be taking place in Asia (judging from the architecture and rainforest), but all characters but one is western. The one non-western character is Asian. Her name? "Karma Lee".
 * Oh, and the western characters are either white or afro-american. The white characters are explorers and escape artists and similar stuff that fit the setting, while the black characters have concepts such as football star - making one wonder how he ended up in an ancient Asian temple in the first place.
 * Visible Invisibility: Type 4. Interestingly, the monsters can still see you while you're invisible, but it does protect you against trees and pitfalls. One can only guess that the invisibility makes you intangible, and that the monsters are quite supernatural. (Well, they do have skulls for heads.)