One of my favorite games growing up was Subway Surfers. In this game, the objective is to outrun a train inspector while running and dodging through oncoming trains and other obstacles. You control your avatar by swiping: swipe left or right, and up and down to jump/duck. The further and longer you run, the higher your score is.
As time goes by, your avatar’s pace starts getting faster. Obstacles start coming up faster and the harder it becomes to outrun the train inspector. Subway Surfer’s constant increasing of pace is a mechanic that fuels our addiction. The faster you run, the more concentrated and frustrated you get as you play. Before you realize, you are swiping aggressively as obstacles come left and right. Power ups are also an important mechanic to the game. Every so often, your character encounters power-ups on the road and can use them by running through them. This makes the game even more exciting as you then have a temporary superpower which gets you ahead of the game. Coins are another mechanism that your avatar encounters on the road. They are scattered across the train tracks and give you another incentive to catch things as you run.
It is impossible to beat Subway Surfers. Your score only goes higher the longer you are alive and there is no limit. The impossibility of the game makes the game even more addicting as it can never be easy or mastered.
