We’ve been closely watching the App Store for some of our favorite old school iOS games to get updated to 64-bit so they won’t fall into the dusty halls of App Store history when iOS 11 launches. Tonight, Canabalt ($2.99) got updated to be a 64-bit app, removing it from the list of games doomed to die on my phone when I inevitably update next month. If you’ve never played it, Canabalt is the quintessential endless runner, and is historically important on mobile for a number of reasons.

First off, it went a long way in popularizing the endless runner genre on the App Store. The randomized levels generated with each new playthrough meant that every game was fresh, which was a pretty novel concept at the time which now (obviously) has been beaten to death by tens of thousands (if not more) games. Additionally, Canabalt launched at an interesting time when race to the bottom pricing was just beginning, and holding strong at a $2.99 price point spawned incredible arguments over whether or not the game was “worth" paying for.

Here’s me getting a hands-on preview of the game at GDC Austin in 2009:

Jared and I talk about the importance of Canabalt in our TA Plays Rewind video:

I’ve got nothing but good things to say about Canabalt still, and I’d say it’s a classic you need to have on your iPhone if you don’t already. Now, time for me to go back to crossing my fingers for a Dungeon Raid ($0.99) update. *sigh*