Mario who? In 2014, there are plenty of other famous children’s brands rolling out kart-racing games for smartphones and tablets.

We’ve seen Angry Birds Go! last year, but now Moshi Monsters is driving onto iPhone and iPad with its own effort: Moshi Karts. Released today, it’s a speedy game featuring some of kids’ favourite characters from the online virtual world.

That said, it’s not the same kind of karting game as Angry Birds Go! or Mario Kart. In fact, Moshi Karts is much more like Temple Run, as you swipe left, right, up and down to ensure your vehicle misses obstacles and collects boosts.

Any children who’ve played Temple Run – and a LOT of them have – will get to grips with it quickly. There are 40 tracks to race through, with a familiar three-star ratings system used to judge progress.

Be aware that Moshi Karts uses in-app purchases for its ‘Rox’ virtual currency, which can be spent on new karts and helmets. The in-app shop starts with 1,000 Rox for 69p, and goes up to 55,000 Rox for £29.99.

As a guide, the helmets range in price between 300 and 10,000 Rox, while the karts range from 2,000 to 20,000 Rox. However, you also earn Rox from playing the game well, so paying isn’t forced.

Interestingly, this is one of the first apps we’ve seen that explicitly asks how old you are the first time you load it up. I tried signing in as a seven year-old, then as my real age (36), with the difference being that in the latter case, there was an option to connect the game with my Facebook account.

Moshi Karts is a free download for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store.

Read about more Moshi Monsters apps for kids on Apps Playground, and check out our 100 Best iPad Apps of 2013 e-book – £1.99 from Apple’s iBooks Store