Subway surfers

Subway Surfers really is a perfect combination of Jetpack Joyride and Temple Run, though it’s more parsimonious than both. After a while, the grinding becomes so onerous – exacerbated by unresponsive controls – that you’re more or less forced to either pay to hasten your progress or stop playing altogether.

Thanks largely to the game’s unresponsive controls, you’ll find yourself failing a lot. You can restart instantly, but unless you’re getting further through skill you don’t enjoy a real sense of purpose – just a compulsive loop of coin-collecting and upgrade-purchasing until the coins dry up and you arrive at the IAP crossroads: pay or go.