How to see the wizard in Temple Run: Oz - hints, tips, and tricks

Temple Run: Oz is the latest (but, sadly, far from the greatest) entry in Imangi Studios's increasingly popular endless-running franchise.

This iPhone, iPad, and Android title is basically an Oz the Great and Powerful-themed re-skin of Temple Run 2. As such, both games are pretty similar.

Near identical, some might say.

Your aim, then, is to travel as far as you possibly can along the infamous Yellow Brick Road, avoiding obstacles (like flying baboons) and collecting coins along the way.

You're going to need some help. Thankfully, we've decided to lend a helping hand. Here's our guide to Temple Run: Oz.

If you've played Temple Run, Temple Run 2, or any of the franchise's many clones, you'll already be more than familiar with Temple Run: Oz's controls.

So, swipe upwards on your device's display, and your plucky on-screen protagonist will leap into the air and over any obstacles.

If you swipe downwards instead, he'll slide under protruding hazards. Swipe left or right, and he'll quickly turn sharp corners.

As you probably already know, you can manoeuvre him into the path of coins and other collectibles by tilting your device from side to side, and activate power-ups by double-tapping your smartphone's screen.

You can activate a power-up every time you collect a set amount of coins.

There are two different currencies in Temple Run: Oz, which are coins and gems.

The Yellow Brick Road is absolutely littered with coins (which can be spent in the in-game store on power-ups and other perks), so they're far from in short supply.

Gems, on the other hand, are extremely rare. If you see one of these green jewels on your travels, be sure to pick it up.

These gems, you see, allow you to resurrect yourself should you accidentally fall down a ditch, run into a hazard, or fall prey to a flying monkey.

Now, you can do this as many times as you need to in a single run. Unfortunately, though, the amount of gems you need to pay doubles every time you prolong your ultimately short life.

Yes, you can grab packs of them through in-app purchases if you wish.

Temple Run: Oz is teeming with power-ups, abilities, and utilities, which you can purchase with coins through the in-game store.

At the beginning of this endless-runner, you're automatically given a shield power-up, which protects you from a single obstacle.

As soon as you possibly can, shell out 7,500 coins for Temple Run: Oz's Magic Magnet power-up, which - when activated - automatically drags coins towards you for a brief period of time.

You can then use this power-up to collect 10,000 coins, which you should spend on the Finely's Boost power-up.

This power-up causes your on-screen adventurer to enter auto-pilot mode, rendering him invincible until its effects wear off.

These are the abilities you're looking for

Abilities (which are basically upgrades for your skills) are just as important as power-ups.

In fact, they may be more important. So, you should definitely splash some of your hard-earned gold coins on them.

We recommend that you first pick up the Double Coins ability.

Basically, coins that have double the value will begin to appear when you successfully pass 2,000m, which is a fairly easy distance to achieve.

You shouldn't ignore the Powerups ability either. This handy perk increases the amount of time the likes of Magic Magnet and Finley's Boost last.

• Utilities, such as Head Start and Stumble Proof, will often help you achieve a higher score and a better position on the Temple Run: Oz leaderboards.
• A Mega HeadStart will propel your character forward to 2,500m. Your Double Coins ability kicks in at 2,000m. Do the math.
• Complete missions to unlock Game Center-powered achievements and improve your score multiplier.