Running with Friends for iPhone

Outrun your friends in a race through the streets of San Fermín

Running with Friends is a multiplayer endless running game in which you have to run further than your friends at the famous running of the bulls in San Fermin, Spain.

Is Running with Friends different from other endless runners?

The basic format of Running with Friends is the same as the seemingly endless list of endless running games. On first play it will remind you instantly of games such as Temple Run or Subway Surfers. You need to run as far as you can by dodging, jumping, or sliding under the obstacles in your way.

The setting for Running with Friends is San Fermin, Spain, home of the famous "running of the bulls" festival. So, instead of trying to outrun a hoard of monkeys (as in Temple Run) or an angry stationmaster (Subway Surfers), this time you're being pursued by angry bulls.

Other gameplay twists include the ability to grab hold of bulls and ride them to earn bonuses, plus you can perform some pretty spectacular leaps over buildings.

But the biggest difference between the gameplay of Running with Friends and most other endless runners is that this game is that it lets you compete against other players around the world, be it your Facebook friends, or random strangers. The idea is that you take part in head-to-head battles with your buddies to see who can run the furthest - and this proves very enjoyable and addictive, especially since your friends are represented by runners in the game itself so you know that when you've gone past them you've beaten their score.

There are weekly leaderboards where you can see how you've fared out of all your Facebook friends and players you've ran against during the week.

Running with Friends is free to play, though in-app purchasing is available. Game currency allows you to continue runs from where you fell in order to improve your distance. You can also buy new avatars for your runner.

Is it easy to play?

Part of Running with Friends' addictive charm comes from its simplicity. The gesture controls are much the same as Temple Run and Subway Surfers: swiping left and right allows you to dodge obstacles and turn corners, swiping up performs a jump and swiping down performs a slide to go under an obstacle or break an object. There's a handy interactive tutorial at the start which guides you through everything.

Navigating the menus in Running with Friends is very easy and once you've signed in with your Facebook creditials or registered for an online account, challenging and playing friends is a straightforward business.

How does it look?

Running with Friends is very well presented. The design of the cartoony game world has a distinctly Spanish flavor, from the police cars down to the street signs. This, coupled with the flamenco-style soundtrack gives it real charm and almost makes you feel like you're on the streets of San Fermín.

The verdict

Running with Friends is yet another endless running game and in that respect it is very unorignal. However, the social twist on the genre, coupled with the exceptional treatment of the bull running theme, combines make this a really enjoyable game that's hard to put down.