Temple Run creator Imangi Studios is announcing its game has been downloaded over 1 billion times on mobile devices. The game just came out in 2011 and it has gone through many versions and updates.

Is this game better than Angry Birds and can it expand into apparel, fruit snacks and more?

First, the game is extremely addictive. In the game you are running through an endless course of bridges and bricks. You move to the left or right by swiping your finger that way. When you encounter a wall you can swipe down to slide through the gap. When you see a large gap in the bricks you can swipe up to jump over it. All of this swiping and running occurs while monkeys and other animals are chasing you.

Next, it's a much faster game than Angry Birds. It requires no real strategy or physics like Angry Birds does. The levels are random and unpredictable so you won't have to pick your brain in order to move on. In fact, you can't really move on, it's an endless runner, you're merely trying to keep running without getting eaten alive by the animals or falling to your death.

Finally, the creators don't plan on making it into a huge thing. They want to keep it small and simple, unlike Angry Birds.

"We always identified, and still do identify, with the indie spirit and the indie movement," co-founder of Imangi Studios Keith Shepherd said. "We want to maintain that. We could go so many directions with the success we've had. We could have tried to grow the team into 150 people and do all sorts of things and eventually try to sell the company for a zillion dollars. But that's never been our goal. We're just a group of people who are passionate about making games. Whether we're starving or we've gotten rich, we still want to do the same thing. It's a lot of fun making games. We love to be a part of that. That's what the indie spirit is about."

So, Angry Birds was a huge thing but they've turned into more of a gaming franchise and corporation. Temple Run is different, they don't want that whole image and just want to focus on the game. So don't expect any Temple Run hoodies or fruit snacks. Just enjoy avoiding those monkeys and running through that endless temple. 

Expect a Temple Run 3 sometime soon!