Subway SurfersRunning·Free to play
Temple Run
Race a twisting temple path in full 3D: call every corner in time, jump logs and gaps, slide under branches and fire, and keep ahead of the demon monkeys.
Independent browser adaptation · Not an official releaseSign in to save your scores and play history, or keep playing as a guest. Recent game activity and scores appear on the homepage with a masked email or IP address.
Temple RunScore0
Your best0
Time0:00
Keyboard & touch controls
← →Turn at a corner, or step across the path↑ / Space / TapJump↓Slide, or drop fast while airborneSwipe (mobile)All movesPPause
How to play Temple Run
Turn when the corner cue appears
Every stretch ends in a corner. When the turn cue flashes at the top of the screen, press or swipe left or right to match it. A fork accepts either direction. Miss the corner and you run off the edge.
Step across the path between corners
Away from a corner the same left and right inputs move you one tile across the three-tile path. Use them to pass idols, boulders and the broken side of a walkway.
Jump the low things
Press up, tap, or swipe up to leap fallen logs and gaps in the tiles. The arc is fixed, so start it a beat before the obstacle rather than on top of it. Pressing down in the air drops you out of a jump early.
Slide under the high things
Press or swipe down to slide beneath branches and the flames the idols breathe across the path. A slide is short and keeps you free to step sideways the moment it ends.
Manage a stumble
Clipping the edge of an idol while stepping across, or turning a fraction late, is a stumble rather than a crash. The monkeys close in and the alert appears; run clean for a few seconds and they fall back. A second stumble while they are close is the end.
This independent browser adaptation uses the original game’s established title. It is not an official publisher release or an original ROM. Its artwork, tuning and controls may differ from other games with similar rules. Guest personal bests stay in this browser. Signed-in players can also save scores and play history to their private dashboard; there is no global leaderboard. Read about controls and local storage.
Choose a related challenge
A corner called late is a stumble here, and a jump locks out the turn. Temple Run 2 keeps those corners and adds mine carts, zip lines and sloping paths, so you can see whether it is the turns or the section changes that cost you.
What Temple Run is like to play
Temple Run is a full 3D lane runner built around one idea the genre borrowed from Temple Run: the path turns. A cracked stone walkway winds through jungle temple ruins above a misty chasm, and every stretch ends in a right-angle corner - Left, right, or a fork where either way works. Press left or right near the corner and you turn; press it earlier and you step across the three-tile path instead. Between corners the path throws fallen logs and missing tiles to jump, low branches and jets of flame to slide under, carved idols that block one side, and boulders parked in a lane. Three demon monkeys run behind you. Clip an obstacle or turn late and you stumble: the monkeys close in for a few seconds, and a second mistake while they are close ends the run. Coins mark the safe line and arc over the moves you need, power-ups hand you a magnet, a shield, a speed boost or double score, and the whole thing accelerates until you are reading shapes, not reacting to them. A fresh path is laid on every restart and your longest sprint is saved in this browser.
Temple Run at a glance
| Genre | Running Games |
|---|---|
| Challenge | Corners you must call in time |
| Pace | Longer paths, tighter windows |
| Original era | 2011 (Temple Run era) |
| Players | Single player |
| Controls | ← →, ↑ / Space / Tap, ↓, Swipe (mobile) |
| Cost | Free, with no account and no download |
Where Temple Run came from
The endless runner had a one-button ancestor in Canabalt, but it was Temple Run in 2011 that gave the form a third dimension. Built by Keith Shepherd and Natalia Luckyanova at the tiny Imangi Studios, with art by Kiril Tchangov, it placed the camera behind a fleeing explorer and split the world into swipe-sized decisions: turn, jump, slide, tilt. After it went free to play in late 2011 it spread to hundreds of millions of phones and defined a genre.
What made it stick was the corner. Other runners asked you to dodge; Temple Run asked you to read a path that could turn either way, and made the penalty for a late answer a long fall. The demon monkeys softened the edges - a stumble was a warning, not a death - and gave the chase a face.
Temple Run brings that grammar to the browser in full 3D: a path that turns and forks, logs, gaps, branches, fire, idols and boulders, coins that mark the safe line, and a monkey pack that closes in when you slip, with a new route laid down every time you press play.
Ways people play Temple Run
- Temple Run rules
- The 2011 original: swipe to turn, jump and slide, tilt to shift across the path, and a pack of demon monkeys that close in after a stumble.
- Temple Run 2 style
- The sequel added rising and falling paths, mine carts, zip lines and one giant ape. Our Temple Run 2 follows that recipe.
- Three-lane sprint runners
- Subway Surfers and its many followers kept the runner on a straight track and moved the challenge into strict lane changes.
- One-button ancestors
- Canabalt from 2009 reduced the chase to a single jump, the minimalist grandparent of every runner since.
Temple Run questions and answers
What is the goal of Temple Run?
Run as far as you can along the temple path. Distance is your base score, coins add to it with a streak multiplier, and a crash, a fall or being caught by the monkeys ends the run.
How do turns work?
Each stretch ends in a left turn, a right turn or a fork. Press or swipe left or right while the turn cue is showing and the runner turns at the corner. The same inputs step you across the path when no corner is near.
Why did I fall off the edge?
Either the corner came and no turn was queued, or a gap in the tiles arrived while you were on the ground. Watch the turn cue and treat missing tiles like a log: jump a beat early.
What do the monkeys do?
They chase. Normally they trail far behind you. A stumble lets them close in for a few seconds, shown by the alert on the HUD; a second stumble in that window and they catch you. Run clean and they drop back.
What do the power-ups do?
The magnet pulls nearby coins to you, the shield absorbs one hit, the boost sprints you forward untouchable and steers the corners for you, and 2X doubles coin points while it lasts.
Does the path repeat?
No. Every restart lays out a new sequence of corners, hazards and coin lines, so reading the path early is the skill, not memorising it.
How do I play on a touchscreen?
Swipe left or right to turn or step, swipe up or tap to jump, swipe down to slide. On-screen buttons offer the same four moves.
If you like Temple Run, try these next
Four games from the same shelf, each with its own pace. The one-line summaries are how their own pages describe them.
| Game | What it is like | Pace | Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subway Surfers | Three tracks, one runner, endless trains. | The rails only get faster | Play |
| Temple Run 2 | Sky ruins, mine carts, zip lines and one very large ape. | Rising, falling and always faster | Play |
| Dinosaur Game | No internet required - Just jump. | Speed creeps up every second | Play |
| ZigZag | Left, right, left - The path is thinner than it looks. | Ball accelerates the longer you live | Play |
Running games: find your rhythm.
A jump, a flap, a lane change and a corner tap solve four different movement problems.
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