Smile Inc. is a new mobile game from YouTube personality Roman Atwood. It’s an endless runner where your goal is to get your character through the work day by dodging dangerous obstacles like saw blades, hammers and sharks. If you are having trouble getting past these obstacles and surviving, here are some tips to help you get ahead in the murderous corporate landscape.
Getting Started
Smile Inc. has very simple controls. You tilt the device left or right to move your character in that direction and tap the screen to use your special power. If you find yourself sliding all over the place and want slightly more control over where little Roman goes, head to the settings menu and decrease your sensitivity. I find the game is easiest to control when the slider is at 45.
If you find your wrists getting tired, switch to joystick controls in the settings menu. You won’t have to rock your phone back and forth to play.
How To Unlock More Runners
There are dozens of characters to unlock in Smile Inc., with three different levels of rarity: common, rare and legendary. The rarer your runner is, the more powerful their special ability will be.
There are four special abilities in the game: jump, sneak, roll and double down -- which doubles the amount of coins you collect in a game. Each character gets one ability; the higher the rarity, the stronger the ability.
Finding which ability fits your playstyle the best is important; I find roll to be the most consistently useful.
Characters can be unlocked two different ways: buying them in the character select screen or unlocking them in a mystery box. Mystery boxes can be earned by completing missions or paying 1000 coins.
If you want a specific Roman and don’t want to pay real money, it isn’t going to be easy. After opening 25 mystery boxes I only got one rare.
You can equip hats you collect in mystery boxes by opening the character select screen and clicking the icon underneath your dancing character.
Beating Obstacles
Smile Inc. is a brutal game that will punish you for any mistake you make. Red lines or danger exclamation marks on the ground mean imminent death. A saw blade can roll over your head, a wood chipper can gnaw your body off or a doughnut can flatten you whole. It doesn't matter how many games you play, those obstacles will always be a pain.
Blue coins give you one point, green coins give you five and yellow coins give you ten.
Coffee mugs increase your speed and helmets allow you to survive getting hit by one obstacle. Grab these power ups whenever possible.
Other Stuff
Missions update every day, so if you are trying to get more mystery boxes to get a legendary, always finish your missions. Free coins are nice.
Getting past the first three doors is easy, after that is where the game becomes a real challenge.
- Remember that it’s still just a game, so smile more :)
