What the best augmented reality games have in common
- The room matters: where you stand and which way you face changes the game.
- Solid tracking: objects stay put when you move.
- Short, physical sessions: AR asks you to move, so good games respect your energy.
- Honest pricing: no surprise paywalls after you have cleared a space to play.
Types of AR game app
| Type | What you do | Space needed |
|---|---|---|
| Room-scale shooter | Turn and aim at enemies around you | Room to turn |
| Tabletop | Play on a surface in front of you | A table |
| Location-based | Walk to real places | Outdoors |
| Creative | Place, build or paint | Varies |
How to pick the best AR game app for you
- Where will you play? A small flat suits room-scale or tabletop; outdoors suits location games.
- Alone or with friends? Most room-scale games are single-player.
- Online or offline? Offline games work anywhere and send nothing from your camera.
- How long? AR is physical; five to fifteen minutes is often plenty.
Where to start: Down The Drone
Down The Drone is our first-person AR shooter for iPhone: hostile drone swarms are anchored into your real room, and you turn, aim and fire to hold them off. It is free with no ads and no in-app purchases, plays fully offline, and runs on iPhone 6s or later with iOS 13+. Rated 12+.
It is a good first AR game because it shows what AR can do that a normal game cannot: the drones are in your space, and the only way to fight them is to move.
Safety
Clear the floor, keep away from stairs and glass, and look up from the screen now and then. The drones are not real; the coffee table is.