Grim Joggers

Stroll past a group of joggers of an evening and you’d think they were running for their lives. Faces contorted with fatigue, eyes fixed on the ground immediately in front of them - it’s quite a sight.

Perhaps they’re imagining a scenario similar to that of Grim Joggers, where a bunch of athletes must contend with dank mines, perilous gaps, and ravenous predators.

It’s a bit like jogging through Coventry at night, in fact.

As you’ve probably guessed by now, Grim Joggers is a perpetual runner in the vein of Canabalt or Monster Dash. The key difference is that you control a whole posse of runners simultaneously.

It isn't as daunting as it sounds. Tapping the screen causes the first runner to jump (and double-jump), with the rest of the mob following close behind.

As you hit an assortment of hazards, your numbers decrease until you’re left with a sole survivor. At this point the game becomes slightly easier, but of course a single hit means Game Over.

This unique balancing act is just enough to set Grim Joggers apart from many of the me-too efforts spilling out of the perpetual runner genre.

It’s a good job this quirky twist exists, because otherwise Grim Joggers is fairly typical. From the familiar settings - jungle, mine, and ice levels - to the simplistic, randomly spawning obstacles, you’ve seen much of this before.

Even the Game Center integration, while welcome, is fairly typical in a modern high score-fixated smartphone game.

It's worth noting the uneven framerate on second-generation iPod touch, which can be problematic. Fortunately, there’s a low detail setting buried in the options menu that makes it more playable on older devices.

Regardless of its many familiar elements, though, the game’s crowd-control gimmick sees it through to the finishing line.