Fan of 'Temple Run' smartphone game? You'll love these

— -- Next to Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja, there's probably no better-known smartphone game than Temple Run.

In fact, the year-old action game — initially available for Apple's iPhone, iPod touch and iPad — was downloaded more than 5 million times in one week by Android users when the game debuted at the Google Play store this past March.

In case you've never played Imangi Studios' fast-paced adventure, Temple Run stars you as a treasure hunter in the wrong place at the wrong time. While being chased by some crazed monkeys who don't want you to leave with your loot, you'll use your finger to run, turn, slide and hop over obstacles and abysses as you race throughout the huge 3D temple. Similar to role-playing games (RPGs), you'll also use power-ups, level up your character and collect coins.

Disney also released Temple Run: Brave, based on the new Pixar animated film currently in theaters.

If you like these games of chase, there are other Temple Run-like digital diversions you might consider for Apple's mobile devices — and they're free to play, too.

Here's a look at two of them, both recommended for kids age 9 or older:

Subway Surfers (Kiloo; kiloo.com; 4 out of 4 stars)

Kiloo's Subway Surfers is an incredibly addictive game that places you as a graffiti artist who gets caught vandalizing a train.

And so you must flee from the inspector and his pit-bull by running down railway tracks, hopping onto the train cars and ducking under signs and other obstacles. You must dodge oncoming trains, collect coins and use power-ups to aid in your escape — including jetpacks, powerful magnets and super sneakers that let you temporarily hop right over fast-moving trains.

Perfect for one-handed play, you'll swipe left or right, up or down, or double-tap to use a hoverboard when you need a boost.

Completing missions — such as rolling 200 times, hopping over 10 trains or collecting 5 mystery boxes — will provide bonus items and gold coins, which can be used to purchase new characters, power-ups and other goodies.

TheEndApp (Goroid; goroid.net; 3 out of 4 stars)

The world has come to an end and you must race around a decrepit city, jump over burning police cars, slide under school buses and tilt to maneuver around patches of lava.

This is the post-apocalyptic premise behind TheEndApp, a new and free game at the App Store.

It's not exactly clear why you're running or who (or what) you're running from, mind you, but you're not likely playing this game for its story, anyway.

As with Temple Run, the game challenges your reflexes as you swipe left and right to run down crumbling roads, plus you'll avoid obstacles, collect rolls of duct tape and buy goodies for your survival camp.

TheEndApp features 14 days' worth of challenges, with five challenges to accomplish each day. There's also an endless Freerun mode to see how long you can survive without too many stumbles. An in-game store lets you purchase items, upgrades and power-ups with virtual currency you've amassed throughout the adventure — or you can opt to use real money to speed up the process.

Visually, the game is bright and colorful, and there are plenty of attractive environments to see throughout the more than 100 levels. The music is also impressive, but the comments and grunts uttered by the protagonist get repetitive and annoying after a short while.

Overall, this free app should satiate fans of Temple Run-like chase games.

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Contact Saltzman at techcomments@usatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter: @marc_saltzman.