Subway Surfers Guide

Subway Surfers is one of the oldest popular games to still have a strong following. There is something timeless about the game. Die-hard fans have been playing Subway Surfers for almost a decade! 

• How to Play Subway Surfer
• Movements and Controls
• Coins in Subway Surfer
• Missions
• Daily Challenges and Word Hunt
• Cheats and Hacks
• Editions and Locations (coming soon)

How to Play

Subway Surfers, like the other famous continuous-running games, keeps users engaged by rewards points based on the distance traveled.

Your objective is going to be to avoid the policeman chasing you. Apparently, the policeman is angry because you sprayed graffiti on the wall. If you hit a train or obstacle, the policeman will grab you.

To download for Apple click here. To download for Android click here.

Tracks

There are always 3 tracks. Yes, even when you are flying in the air! One of the 3 tracks will always be accessible while the others may be filled. To stay in the game, you will need to keep switching tracks to ensure that you don’t crash into anything.

Each track has 3 possible locations. You can run along the ground, the top of the train, or fly in the air.

You will need to turn into another lane, jump, duck, or fly to avoid the moving trains and obstacles.

Obstacles

There are a lot of obstacles in Subway Surfer. Most of the obstacles will cause you to lose, but some of them will only cause the policeman to get closer.

• Trains. Don’t crash into the train. Like trains in real-life, the trains will kill you.
• Stop Blocks. This is the technical name for the metal devices that notify train-drivers that the train tracks are impassible. The game is filled with Stop Blocks of different sizes. We will discuss techniques for avoiding them below.
• Sides of Trains. If you are running and turn into the side of the train, this will cause the policeman to get closer. If you do it again within a short period of time, the policeman will catch you.
• Raised Train Platforms. If you pass a train station, the two outer tracks will have a raised platform that you will need to jump onto.
• Flower Pots. There are small flower pots on the ground near train stations. Keep an eye out for them.
• Blocked Tunnels. Not all tunnels are passable. Some are filled with cement.
• Pillars for Overhead Tracks. Some sections will have tall pillars that run along the center track. You may need to watch them as you weave between the outer lanes to avoid oncoming trains.
• Train Traffic Lights. Occasionally, between tracks will be thin obstacles (like a traffic light). If you hit them as you switch lanes, the policeman will get closer.

Boosts and Boons

The obstacles make the game harder. The boosts make it easier. Some of the boosts are straight-forward, but many of them are rather complicated.

• Gold. Collect as much gold as you can as you run. Gold will help you buy gifts in the store.
• Hoverboard. This is one of the most important ways to protect yourself in Subway Surfer. The hoverboard looks cool, but more importantly, it protects you from getting out.
• Keys. The Keys enable you to save your life and keep running. Why keys? Not terribly sure!
• Jetpack. This in-game boost is straight-up awesome. The spray-can jetpack enables you to fly above the entire game for a long duration.
• Pogostick. This shiny prize enables you to fly in the air, collecting coins and prizes, but more importantly, avoiding trains and obstacles.
• Super Sneakers. I’m torn when it comes to this boon. It enables you to jump high. More often than not, I’ll avoid this prize just because it loses my control of the jumping on the game. It’s not the greatest prize anyways.
• Coin Magnet. The coin magnet is great for collecting coins. It will collect any passing coins without requiring you to physically touch them. It’s a great asset. Grab the magnet whenever you see it!
• x10 Boost. I love this prize. It will x10 your points for a limited amount of time. It’s a great way to get a high score!

How to Win

Technically, there is no such thing as winning in Subway Surfer. Everyone gets caught in the end.

In order to win, you need to get as high a score as you can! There are record lists based on the week. The higher you score, the higher up your name!

You can also create personal records which you can try and beat the next time you play.

There are also challenges that you can join. We will discuss the challenges in more detail below!

Movements and Controls

The movements on Subway Surfer are awfully simple, and because you are playing on a phone, all the controls are activated by swiping your finger over the screen.

Swiping Left and Right

Changing lanes is achieved by swiping left and right. If there are obstacles in the way, you will need to use the left and right motion to avoid them

In general, I strongly recommend using the middle lane as your default. This will help you switch lanes at a quicker pace!

Jumping and Rolling

In addition to changing lanes, you will need to avoid obstacles by jumping over barriers and rolling underneath obstructions. Jumping is employed by swiping upwards along the screen. You can roll by swiping downwards.

Expert Tip: There are some obstacles that enable you to jump over or roll underneath them. Make sure you formulate your decision as soon as you see it. The delay that may occur as you contemplate what to do may cause you to crash into it.

Mid Air Lane Changing

Subway Surfers gives you the ability to change lanes as you are jumping/falling. This ability gives you a lot of power to be able to determine exactly where you want to land.

You can even change your mind mid-way and swing back into another lane before landing on the tracks. All of this can be accomplished by swiping left and right.

Dropping Down

Sometimes when jumping from on top of the trains, you will realize that by the time you land, you are going to crash into something. You can drop faster by swiping down. This will enable you to have more time to change lanes or jump up again.

Coins in Subway Surfer

Coins in Subway Surfer are the essential way to power-up your gaming experience. Coins (and real money) can buy you all sorts of perks.

Coins are collected as you run. If you run into the coin, you can keep it. Your gold coin amount is shown in the top right corner right underneath the score.

Spending Coins

The coins go far. There are so many ways to spend the money! We recommend putting some of the coins to boosting the boosts. What does that even mean? Basically, you can pay some coins and let your Speed Up go for longer. Keep Reading.

Single Use: The single-use items will let you use a boost 1 time and then it is done. So, for example, you can purchase a hoverboard for a one-time-use. Don’t go crazy with these single-use items. Buy a few, every once in a while, but save most of your coins for the upgrades!

Upgrade: The upgrades are the real place to invest your coins. At first, it won’t cost much to hit the “upgrade” button, but once you hit the 4th slot, it will cost 10,000 coins to upgrade. I strongly recommend bringing all the upgrades to the 3rd upgrade. As you get more coins, keep adding more upgrades.

Buying Coins

Alternatively, you can buy coins with real money. Yes, the same money that the landlord will want at the end of the month. To say that Subway Surfers is a great expense would be an understatement. Subway Surfers is far more important than food!

Spoiler Alert: Subway Surfer is NOT more important than food. Don’t spend too much real money (or any) in the Shop.

Missions

As will be discussed below, the missions are the number 1 hack to getting a high score on Subway Surfer. You can be extremely talented and have incredible reflexes, but unless you are a verified ninja, you will be hard pressed to get an incredibly high score without the missions. A player who has finished the missions will be getting twenty times the same points for the same distance as someone who hasn’t done them. Yes, you read that correctly (unless you have reading problems) – twenty times.

Where are the Missions Located?

The Subway Surfers interface is a little confusing. The missions can be located in on the main page by clicking the button “My Tour”  which sits at the top and then clicking the button “Missions” at the bottom of the next page. Alternatively, you can push the pause button during the actual game, and the waiting screen will show the current missions.

How to Complete the Missions?

The Missions are rather arbitrary milestones or tasks that need to be fulfilled during the game-play. They may require getting a certain amount of coins, reaching a certain milestone, making certain movements, and more.

Each mission has 3 tasks. Once you complete the mission, you will get the reward and move straight onto the next mission.

If you are talented enough, you can complete several missions all in the span of one run.

We will soon publish another article that will break-down how to finish each mission successfully.

Mission Rewards

The rewards for the missions are almost unbelievable. Every mission will multiply your base points by 2. By the time you reach level 20, your run score will multiply by 20 times.

I’ve barely seen a game that has such an easy way to raise the score…

Even a mediocre player who progresses through the missions will end up getting a very high score for a very short run!

Daily Challenge and Word Hunt

The daily challenges and word hunts are super easy. The rewards aren’t anything special, but the work involved in rather minimal!

Cheats and Hacks for Subway Surfer

The cheats and hacks section is coming soon! Stay tuned!