When A Female Plays Temple Run?

Temple Run is a hugely successful and popular game available for iOS devices and soon to be made available for Android devices. It has 40 million downloads and counting at the app store on iTunes and it has a staggering 3 million plays every day. Some say that Temple Run is more famous than Zynga. So, anyway, the game is basically a mild toned down version of Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider. It is maybe even a combination of the both; since the initial character that you play with is a man called Guy Dangerous and the objective is to keep running and escape demon monkeys after stealing a golden statue from a temple, which is very Tomb Raider like. It is a highly addictive game and whoever I have come across that plays the game has vouched for that.

When I first started playing Temple Run, I did find it boring and maybe because of my ADD, the lack of concentration meant that I couldn't focus on the game and tune my reflexes accordingly. The game starts off at a slow pace and then slowly increases in pace, as you keep racking up points and collect gold coins to redeem at the store. However, a friend of mine posted on her Facebook that she had downloaded Temple Run and it was addictive. She also proudly bragged that she had scored 1.2 million points and challenged people to beat her. In the beginning I barely managed to make 145,679 points and died. GAME OVER. That's such a pathetic score. Her status motivated me to keep playing and soon I realised that I am getting really good at the game. I made my first million after my 7th try at the game.

I was bored and made my 2.4 million points and was very proud. Posted the screen shot on Facebook and another friend of mine posted a comment saying she had made 3.7 million and she was laughing at me. Then, I got motivated to play the game even more. On my 100th try at the game, I made 5 million points and posted the screen shot on Facebook and she got shocked. She said "Game on Aisha!!" She is yet to get back to me on that. Hence, I am declared the winner in this duel. My thirst for more points didn't end here. I kept playing and playing. While playing my 240th game of Temple Run, I made 10 million something points and beat the last objective of the game too! Posted a status and it was thrilling I must say!! A lot of my friends because of me have started playing Temple Run and I have gone on to score a lot more points than 10 million.

Now, an interesting conversation happened regarding the game with a female friend. I guess she is a bit of a feminist? She seems more of a hard core feminist to me. I was playing the game on my iPod - let me just state here that I just bought the iPod 4G so I could play Temple Run, I am still a very much BlackBerry person - While I was playing the game on my iPod, she was staring at me. I was using the Guy Dangerous character while running. An interesting conversation ensued.

M: "Why aren't you using one of the female characters to play the game? Why are you using the male character? You have unlocked the female characters right?"

Me: "Yes, I have unlocked the female characters, but I want to play with the male one."

M: "What is so great about playing with that guy? You should play with the female one. Be a feminist! Why are you using a male character, while being a female?"

Now, over here I had to stop and think for a second before replying to her and I think I did a good job at it.

Me: "Thing is, if you look at it from my perspective, using a male character to play the game, is a FEMINIST thing to do."

M: "Hunh? How is that?"

Me: "Well, in the game you make the character jump, slide, go right and go left. You can make the character go in the swamp or fall of the path ledges to die. Right?"

M: "Yeh so?"

Me: "So, as a female I love the idea that I am controlling a male, albeit even in a virtual setting. I make Guy Dangerous dance to my tune. If I swipe my finger up the screen, he jumps. If I swipe my finger down the screen, he slides. If I don't, he dies. That's more satisfying to me as a female. It is all about control, baby."

At this moment my friend is just staring at me, literally gobsmacked. She goes, I didn't think of that! and I nod in acknowledgement. So I guess this is my take on what it feels like to be a female that plays Temple Run? I love the game so much! I wonder if other females out there think the same and I do wonder what the male perspective is on this. Do males unlock female characters of the game and play using them, thinking along the same lines as I do? Who knows?