Analysis and Comparison of Temple Run Contestants

[The Red Jaguars]

Veronica was definitely the worst out of the whole group. She was the one that took the longest in the Pit out of all those other girls. Taking over a minute was beyond pathetic. Kristen took a long time to climb also, but she still got the job done faster. And she didn't even have a platform to pull herself up onto like Veronica then. That is just beyond pathetic, like the whole "One-Eyed Jack" run is anyways.

Kim and Tia were just lost causes like mentioned above. Kim didn't really struggle climbing the wall like the other girls did. Her problem even goes beyond stupidity  than the other ones above. But she didn't struggle to climb the wall at all in her defense. I am not sure what Tia was trying to accomplish, and neither did she either.

Finally, Dana and Lauren were just incompetent period. Dana screwed up because she took the wrong door in the Ledges and wasted her remaining time in the Pit while Lauren didn't even make it to the King's Storeroom with over a minute left. They were so pathetic. I know the layouts were hard and they didn't have enough time due to their clueless partners, but Katie from "Imperial Wizard" and Elisa also made it far in their layouts with little time. That is why I never compare Jennifer from "Madame Tussaud" with these two losers.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

I think the platform being there was the reason Veronica didn't make it up the wall the first time. The spacing of the holes in the wall in the Pit was not uniform along the whole face of the wall. The foothold below the door to the Center of the Rooms was lower than the one to the Observatory. Many contestants in Seasons 1 and 2 had more difficulty getting into the Center of the Rooms because of the way that foothold was spaced. Adding in the platform made getting up even more difficult because the contestant had to brace themselves against the wall and then maneuver themselves backward, up, and over the platform. Veronica nearly made it up on her first attempt; she just didn't get a good grip on the door to the Chamber of the Sacred Markers to then hoist her legs up and over the platform.

And if you'll notice, there was only one other Season 3 contestant who even attempted to climb up that left wall in the same manner as Veronica's first attempt (and she was successful). Every other person either went around the platform on the left wall, up the back wall, or around the platform on the right wall.

[PurpleParrot319]

Honestly, if Lissy (the successful contestant PP4L is referring to) can do it, anyone can. Veronica was just a bad player, there's no denying this. Chamber, followed by Ancient Warriors, then Storeroom = bad.

[The Red Jaguars]

Yeah, Veronica was a horrible contestant, and not just for taking over a minute to climb the wall either. Her partner was equally as stupid as she was. Seriously, no other second runners beside Thomas tried pulling the books in the Crypt. And I know it was one of the first season 3 runs on the show. But look at the other runs that day (William the Conqueror/War Fan/Sir Gawain) and none of them are as pitiful as "Bifocal Monocle". In fact, I think Bifocal Monocle is the second worst run on the whole show after Golde Cricket Cage.

[The Red Jaguars]

Looking at the design for "The Thornwood Gavel of Judge Roy Bean", do you guys think it was a more probable chance of the Orange Iguanas winning if Mike went straight to the King's Storeroom from the Pit? The King's Storeroom route would've been much shorter since it was one less objective for Mike to complete and he still would've been taken out in the Room of the Secret Password. And when Kelli would enter, the King's Storeroom would've already been cleared for her and she wouldn't have wasted time there. I think this team would've won if they entered the King's Storeroom the start. Although they still would've won if Kelli wasn't so stupid. 

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Looking at the design for "The Thornwood Gavel of Judge Roy Bean", do you guys think it was a more probable chance of the Orange Iguanas winning if Mike went straight to the King's Storeroom from the Pit? The King's Storeroom route would've been much shorter since it was one less objective for Mike to complete and he still would've been taken out in the Room of the Secret Password. And when Kelli would enter, the King's Storeroom would've already been cleared for her and she wouldn't have wasted time there. I think this team would've won if they entered the King's Storeroom the start. Although they still would've won if Kelli wasn't so stupid. 

I believe that Mike would have breezed through the King's Storeroom and would have left Kelli with even more time left on the clock to finish the lower floor. Mike entered the Tomb of the Headless Kings at 2:38 and reached the Room of the Ancient Warriors at 1:48, a total of 50 seconds. He could have completed the King's Storeroom much more quickly than those two rooms. Kelli additionally spent 32 seconds traversing through the King's Storeroom, which would have instead gone into completing the bottom floor of the temple. While it is not guaranteed, I believe that the "Thornwood Gavel" team could have achieved a victory if Mike had begun in the King's Storeroom.

Conversely, I'm not sure if the team would have won had Kelli followed Mike's path through the Tomb of the Headless Kings, but I'm pretty certain that she would have at least grabbed the artifact.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Out of all of the contestants who got caught in a dead-end during their temple runs, who do you think best overcame this obstacle?

I would have to say that Vicky (Silver Saddle Horn of Hannibal) did a good job of staying oriented in the temple and trying to move forward. Her dead-end was a whopping three rooms long, as opposed to most runs with the dead-end being only one room. Even so, she kept a pretty good pace and even took a trek through the Holes of Python. By the time she got taken out of the temple, she cleared an impressive seven rooms and still left her partner with almost a minute on the clock.

Eusinia (King Tut's Cobra Staff) briefly entered the "dead-end" Throne Room before returning back to the Heart Room and going across the top floor of the temple. I think that besides this minor wrong turn, the rest of her temple run performance was strong. She was quick and completed all of her objectives rather swiftly. Eusinia got taken out of the temple in her seventh room, but still left 1:30 on the clock, which was enough time for David to reach the artifact.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

I'd definitely say Eusinia from "King Tut's Cobra Staff." Even though she was so easily confused, she still left David plenty of time to at least reach the artifact. And yeah, the rest of her temple performance was pretty strong. She moved faster than David even.

[The Red Jaguars]

Given the circumstances that Katherine had to face in "The Golden Cup of Belshazzar", I have to say that Katherine did a good job retracing her steps from the Room of Harmonic Convergence. She moved fast through her whole tenure in the temple and she just had really bad luck with that layout. It was so brutal but she still made it to the Treasure Room with a little over a minute left.

I am not sure if I consider the Throne Room a deadend room for Eusinia either. Since the Throne Room opened, it looked like an alternate path that she could take from the Cave. Even though she was not very bright, she did move very fast and got taken out in the Shrine with more than enough time to bring the artifact out. David was the opposite of Eusinia - he  was slow but also smarter. Its funny how that worked out. I don't remember this happening in other runs where the temple runners were the opposite of each other.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

I am not sure if I consider the Throne Room a deadend room for Eusinia either. Since the Throne Room opened, it looked like an alternate path that she could take from the Cave.

The door heading back to the Wheel Room opened, which suggests that they could have begun in the Cave of Sighs and gone along the bottom. But since the rock slab was still down and she could not progress that way (backwards), I'm calling it a dead-end. 

[PurpleParrot4Life]

I would like to bump this thread so that we can discuss some of our opinions regarding the "3 Strikes Contestants by Season" Temple Games threads. Feel free to refer back to prior conversation, and by all means add more! I loved rereading through this thread just now because a lot of the discussion here has been reflected (but also a bit was contradictory) in our voting patterns in the Temple Games thread.

[The Red Jaguars]

How about we talk about the Robert the Bruce team? Some people feel that Christine and Jeremy were a lackluster and below average team in the temple, while others feel that the team did pretty well with their layout given.

In my opinion, Christine and Jeremy were a pretty disappointing team. Christine moved at a slow pace and she didn't make it that far while traveling through 4 rooms. Jeremy was kind of slow also. He also should've noticed that half-pendant in the Pit too, but made no attempt to look for it.  Plus, he kind of struggled in the Shrine and Ancient Warriors also. I don't think they were a terrible team, but they were kind of lackluster in my eyes. Even if they had a "Pytheas" type layout, they probably wouldn't have won.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Christine entered 5 rooms before being removed from the temple. She could have saved time by avoiding the Ledges, but c'est la vie. She didn't struggle with any objectives; the only reason that the King's Storeroom took a bit longer was because the key was in the third pot and the last pedestal activated the door.

Jeremy should have gone directly into the Crypt, but besides that followed up on Christine's path decently. I don't think he struggled too badly with his objectives, even though he was not the speediest contestant. I can forgive him passing up the half pendant because it was a bit off to the side of the door frame. Unlike most other episodes, all three guards were unavoidable, so it was imperative for Jeremy to get the half pendant in order to have a chance at victory.

Overall, I find this run to be interesting in that the path forced the team up into the Crypt and all the way around the horn before returning on the bottom floor. The forced temple guard placement was also unusual. Even though the team lost, I like this episode for these unique features.

[The Red Jaguars]

I thought it was very unfair that the team was forced to encounter all 3 guards with that brutal layout. But I guess it was bound to happen since they were forced to enter every temple room already. They did the same thing in "Lost Taj Mahal Turban" where that Green Monkeys team was forced into all 3 guards too. Personally, I felt that one guard should at least be avoidable in 1.5 pendant runs.

I don't really have a problem with the Robert the Bruce team either way. They were forgettable and nothing special, but they weren't as terrible as people make them out to be. Especially when people accuse Jeremy of being a cheater. It was only an honest mistake and he got caught either way and it didn't benefit him in the end. It did cost him a half-pendant though since he was leading his temple game before being forced to go back.

They probably would've finished in the Jester's Court if they used up all their time. If they were given access to the Shrine-Dark Forest shortcut, they might've reached the Spider Web.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

What are everyone's thoughts on Jay and Nate? Both contestants were secondrunners of Tomb of the Headless Kings runs, and both were able to retrieve their respective artifacts, but neither succeeded in bringing them out of the temple.

Jay outlasted Nate in the "Best Male Players" list and has gotten generally better feedback in all of the "Rate the..." threads. However, Jay only completed the Shrine, Dark Forest, and Jesters' Court. His run ended with him in the Tomb of the Headless Kings. Nate, on the other hand, had to complete the same rooms as well as the King's Storeroom and Ancient Warriors. Additionally, Nate was able to make it to the Pit. I understand that Janeen left Jay with less time than Lissy did for Nate, but Nate completed more tasks and got closer to a victory. With that being said, why does it seem that Jay is the more favored of the two contestants?