Become a marathon runner in Temple Run 2

Everyone these days is playing Temple Run and addicts are all over the place! You’ll find people playing this most popular running game in buses, trains, restaurants, coffee shops, outside cinema halls, at railway stations… I’ve even spotted groups of people having friendly tournaments—the winner is the one who runs the longest distance. Temple Run 2 packs even more action and eyecandy. If you’re struggling to run long distances and dread trolley rides and narrow ledges, here’s how you can overcome your fears and become a Temple Run 2 ninja!

Learn to run like a pro

Firstly, play the way that’s most comfortable for you. Some of my friends prefer playing single-handed, using their thumb to swipe. I prefer holding the phone with my left hand and using the right index finger to swipe—using two hands to play isn’t wrong so long as you find it comfortable.

Complete the challenges and objectives and get big rewards

You need to have reflexes of a Ninja to run like a pro, but it’s not impossible; it’s like an infant learning to walk. Tilt your device to collect coins or avoid obstacles. Swipe left or right just when you want to turn or you’ll have the big nasty beast chasing you. Time your jumps well so that you don’t land on spiked rollers, get charred by flames or ram into walls. If there are multiple obstacles or turns in a short stretch, don’t hesitate to swipe correctly in quick succession, it will work.

Keep practising and honing your running skills and you’ll soon become a pro. Being able to run 1,000 metres in one stretch initially isn’t bad. Anything above 5,000 metres is very good. Give yourself a pat on the back if you’ve run 10,000 metres or more non-stop!

Use your gems carefully. They don’t spawn too often

Trolley rides are easier than running and not the other way round

My first trolley ride lasted for under five seconds—I crashed into an obstacle. The next time the trolley fell while it was rolling on a single rail. This time I forgot to tilt the device in the direction of the rail to stay on track. You have to keep the device tilted till you get back on two tracks. Don’t get lured by coins, instead focus on the ride. Watch out for dead ends and tilt to change tracks when you come across diversions. If trolley rides still haunt you, then you can use boost to get past around half way without any effort. At the end of the ride, you will find a reward waiting for you in the form of a power up. Jump forward as soon as you get off the trolley to grab it, but only if there’s no obstacle ahead.

Narrow ledges

Ledges are most feared by many after trolley rides. Not tilting your device when you’re on the ledge will make you fall off. Here’s a trick: If you think you’ll fall off, jump and quickly tilt your device towards the ledge and you’ll be safe, or simply use boost!

Grab those powerups!

Shield protects you when you run into an obstacle. It will protect you just once if you run into the spiked roller, stone walls, water streams and fire. But it will not save you from falling from narrow ledges or if you don’t turn and dash into walls. Coin Magnet attracts coins and Boost will make your character run for a few metres without dying. I find Boost most useful—it adds to the distance you’ve run without having to make any effort. Also, don’t miss the green gems that come in the way. They are a saviour when you tap on “Save Me” to continue running after you’ve lost a life.

Running long distances requires focus, patience and practice

Use your gems sparingly

Gems get you second life, third life, fourth life and so on, but you need to use them sparingly because they don’t appear frequently. I use gems only if I’ve run more than 10,000 metres in the first attempt and if I lose a life after running a few thousand meters in the subsequent runs. Else, I forgo the game and start a new one. Note that the number of gems needed to continue after using “Save Me” once, increase in big steps. So be careful when you tap “Save Me”.

Unlock Scarlett Fox

It was the first thing I did because then you’re able to unlock the Boost powerup. Go to Menu, tap on Upgrades and then on Powerups—activate the Boost powerup from here. As you go on collecting coins, you’ll see the golden power meter increasing. When it fills up completely, you double-tap anywhere on the screen to engage the selected powerup. With Boost active, you get free boosts each time the power meter gets full. So, work towards filling up the meter by grabbing coins and use boost to increase your score.

Unlock Scarlett Fox to activate boos

Upgrade your abilities smartly

Don’t upgrade abilities that you can purchase immediately with the amount of coins you have at hand. Focus on increasing the following abilities:

• Boost distance: Increases the boost duration
• Power meter: It fills at a faster rate and needs fewer coins to fill up completely, after which you can engage boost and other powerups.
• Save me: Each time you upgrade this ability, you need fewer gems each time you use “Save Me”. So, after upgrading it twice, it will cost you one gem for the first three times you use “Save Me” in a single game.
• Pickup spawn: This makes powerups spawn more frequently.

Work towards maxing out these abilities. It requires a lot of game play, time, patience and coins, but it will help you in defeating your friends and beating high scores. Note that the second-last and final upgrade cost 25,000 and 50,000 coins respectively, but they’re completely worth it.

Boost, Coin magnet, Power meter and Save me! are the key to winning

Complete objectives to earn big rewards

The objectives might seem stupid and impossible to achieve, but work towards completing them. You graduate to the next level after completing a few objectives each time, and the rewards are big, such as a big bag of coins or lots of gems—how cool is that? Also, complete weekly and daily challenges to earn free coins and gems.

Are you a rookie? Cheat!

Use an app such as Kernel Tuner to underclock your Android device by a few hundred megahertz. The frame rate will drop and the game will become slow and laggy, which will make running long distances a cakewalk. Do remember to set the processor’s speed to the default value after playing.

Here’s the quick step program explained in a photo gallery:

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Follow these tips and you’ll be a marathon runner in no time, and that too with all abilities maxed out and powerups unlocked.

Happy running!