Escape The Nerd Apocalypse In RunSanity
RunSanity ($4.99) by Heliceum uses an endless runner game to tell the story of a nerd gone mad. Dux is what you might call a “super nerd:” meek, unpopular, and a Windows user.
Even worse, he has an evil dog to do his bidding; namely turning all the cool people into nerds as well.
Our hero, Stan, manages to escape the evil dog’s nerd-creating-urine (I’m not making that up), and rallies his friends together to save the world.
Together, they run away from Dux’s evil dog, and toward a solution to save everyone.
As you might expect of an endless runner, the controls are either tapping the screen to jump, or touching the boost button to go turbo. “Nudging” obstacles will build up your boost bonus until it gets charged up enough that you can use it when you want.
The more you nudge, the faster you move. Failing to nudge correctly is a “combo breaker,” which will take the wind out of your sail.
Nudging seems to be a fine art because it involves not completely clearing an obstacle (say, a car) and yet not jumping too late that you actually smack into it. It’s similar to Jetpack Joyride, how an exclamation mark would show if you came too close to a missile.
Three modes are available: story, arcade, and challenge. Story modes features 20 levels, with cutscenes in between. In this mode you follow Stan and his friends as they race to undo Dux’s evil plan.
Arcade mode is a race against the clock to see how many meters you can cover. Finally, challenge mode is just like arcade mode, with the exception that you are racing against a friend.
Your friend will show as a “ghost,” which you will run with through the level, seeing in real time how well he or she did. You can link your game up with Facebook to challenge your friends.
The game’s style is reminiscent of another popular endless runner, Subway Surfers. There’s even a dog chasing the player in that game as well.
For a whopping $4.99, you’d expect to get a complete package. Yet, the “freemium” model rears its ugly head in the game’s shop. All of the items available for purchase are sold for coins, which are easy to accumulate as you play each level.
However, if you’d like to turn to the dark side and advance quicker, you can exchange real money for coins.
This is a fun game that will appeal to endless runner fans. The fact that you can challenge your friends would seem to make it even more appealing. However, the app’s price tag may set some people running away from it.
