Subway Surfers
- In a sentence
- Subway Surfers is an endless runner. Your character sprints along railway tracks while trains and barriers come the other way, and you switch lanes, jump and roll to keep the run going as long as possible.
“Three lanes and four moves, and it still asks for your full attention after the first thirty seconds.”
Game facts
- Genre
- Arcade
- Developer
- SYBO
- Devices
- Computer, phone, tablet
- Controls
- Arrow keys, Space; swipes on touch
- Session
- One run, usually a few minutes
- Players
- 1
- Poki sign-up
- Not needed
- Suits
- All ages
Poki listing: released February 2019, last updated September 2026.
How a round goes
A run starts slowly. You are on one of three lanes, and trains, barriers and signals appear ahead. Changing lane, jumping over a low barrier or rolling under a high one keeps you going; hitting something head-on ends the run. After roughly half a minute the pace picks up, and the gaps between obstacles get shorter.
Coins line the tracks, often in places that tempt you into a tight spot. They are the main currency: between runs you spend them on characters, hoverboards and upgrades. Keys are rarer and come from achievements and Mystery Boxes.
Four power-ups appear during runs: a Jetpack that lifts you above the tracks for a few seconds, Super Sneakers for higher jumps, a Coin Magnet and a 2x score multiplier. A hoverboard, switched on with Space or a double tap, absorbs one crash so the run can continue.
You start as Jake and unlock Tricky early. Poki lists nine main characters in total, bought with coins, and the game’s world tour moves the setting between cities; the current one on Poki is Bali.
Which keys do what
Left / right arrow, or swipe left / right
Up arrow, or swipe up
Down arrow, or swipe down
Space, or double tap
Things we learned early
Watch the lane you are moving into, not the one you are in. Most crashes happen a moment after a lane change.
Roll to drop out of a jump early. Pressing down in the air brings you back to the tracks faster than waiting.
Keep a hoverboard for the fast part of a run, after the first half minute, rather than using it at the start.
Ignore a row of coins that leads into a closed lane. One coin trail is never worth the run.
Who will enjoy it
Anyone who wants a quick, readable challenge in a spare few minutes, and players who like beating their own best distance.
The catches
Runs end on one mistake, and the speed-up can feel sudden.
Coins, keys and unlocks add a collecting layer some players find distracting.
Poki shows ads around its games.
If you like this one
Heading to Poki
Subway Surfers runs on Poki.com, a separate site with its own ads and cookies. The link opens it in a new tab; nothing on this page starts the game.