Subway Surfers

Subway Surfers is an endless runner video game. The game starts by tapping the touchscreen, while Jake (the game's starter character) or any other character sprays graffiti on a train, and then gets caught in the act by the inspector and his dog, who starts chasing the character. While running, the player can swipe up, down, left, or right to avoid crashing into oncoming obstacles especially moving trains, poles, tunnel walls and barriers. By swiping rapidly as speed increases, more points can be acquired. A crash results in a game over, but the player can continue running by using keys. The player can collect various items such as coins, keys, score multipliers, super sneakers, jetpacks, magnets, mystery boxes and power jumpers. A power jumper provides combustion by launching up the character, while a jetpack has an ability to fly, a coin magnet that attracts all coins on the track, super sneakers that gives the ability to jump higher and a score multiplier that multiplies the score. Items, such as a hoverboard, allows the character to avoid collisions lasting about 30 seconds.

Daily Challenges and Weekly Hunts give rewards for unique movements throughout gameplay. Missions have various tasks measured by player accuracy. Up to 18 characters are unlocked using via coins, keys, in-game purchases, collecting specific items, or connecting to a Facebook account. Most characters have up to 2 different outfits. Meanwhile, up to 17 hoverboards can be unlocked with the same methods; each have different abilities that can assist the player. When the game updates to a new location, a new character and hoverboard will be available temporarily until the next update.

Reception
Aggregate score Aggregator Score Metacritic 71/100[9] Review scores Publication Score Gamezebo [10] Pocket Gamer 5/10[11] TouchArcade [12] 148Apps [13]

Subway Surfers received decent reviews. Critics praised the game's visual style and entertaining gameplay, but criticized it for its monotonous world and unresponsive controls. Review aggregator website Metacritic gave the game 71 out of 100 based on 8 reviews.[9]

Dan Griliopoulos of Pocket Gamer gave the game a score of 5 out of 10, praising the game's fun gameplay and free access, but criticizing the game's controls and parsimonious game design.[11]

Gamezebo's Dant Rambo scored the game 3.5 out of 5, writing "It makes little attempt to stand out from other endless runners, but it's hard not to appreciate the polish of Subway Surfers. The controls are responsive, the gameplay is addictive, and it doesn't try and force you into spending cash on in-game items."[10]

Other reviewers were not as critical. 148Apps and TouchArcade gave the game 4/5.[13][12]

The game was nominated for "Action Game" and "Family & Kids Game" at the 2019 Webby Awards.[14]

On 1 June 2018, a series of animated shorts debuted on SYBO Games' YouTube channel. The 10 x 4 minute episodic series is scripted by Brent Friedman and Francesca Marie Smith and produced by Sander Schwartz. Chris Bartleman is supervising director and Michael Hegner is director. Denmark's WilFilm provides post-production services. The series currently has 11 episodes.