1. Pokémon GO
Pokémon Go is an AR mobile game developed by Niantic in collaboration with Nintendo and published on Android and iOS platforms. The game released in 2016 over several countries. The gameplay involves finding, capturing, battling and training Pokémon by using the player’s GPS.
The player needs to create an account and customize his/her avatar. The avatar created is displayed on the screen on the player’s location using the GPS. The player can find Pokémon’s as they travel in the real world. During the AR mode, the game uses the device’s camera to display the Pokémon as if it appears in the player’s real location.
The game has introduced new features for the player to add friends, send gifts and play a mode that unlocks new bonuses.
2. Need for Speed No Limits
Electronic Arts have launched its NFS game for mobiles. Need for Speed: No limits has created a new standard for mobile racing games similar to Asphalt, Real Racing, and CSR. The game has good graphics and user-friendly touch controls. The cars have automatic acceleration, the player has to touch right or left sides to steer, swipe down to drift and swipe up to boost.
There are 30 cars in the game, with upgradable parts which you get after you win races. The player has to unlock some blueprints to earn new cars. The game is entertaining to play with easy controls but lacks challenges and different modes.
3. Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is a forthcoming augmented reality game developed and published by Niantic; the company which had previously released Pokémon Go. The game’s theme is based on the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise by J. K. Rowling.
It is a location-based game where the player’s surroundings overlaid by the Harry Potter world appear on the screen. The augmented reality technology is used to impose a magical world around the players surrounding. The players can begin new adventures, cast spells and confront the characters in the Harry Potter franchise as they travel around the neighborhood.
The game is influenced by Niantic’s previous location-based games Ingress and Pokémon Go. John Hanke, the CEO of Niantic has stated that the game would release in late 2018 for Android and iOS.
4. In Mind
InMind is a virtual reality game designed for Google cardboard by Nival. It is a futuristic game when there is an evolution in medicine and nanotechnology. A surgical prototype allows the game character to shrink to micro size to destroy the neurons that cause depression in patients. The player is guided through the human brain where the neurons that appear red should be blasted.
Since the game is played using Google cardboard or a VR headset, the player is required to move his head through the inside of the brain focusing on the damaged neurons. The number of neurons to be destroyed increases as the level increases.
The graphics of the game are pretty good with an organic and realistic design. It gives an experience of traveling into a human brain with nerves appearing at every turn. Basically, it is a shooter game where the player has to eliminate the damaged neurons.
5. Ingress
Ingress was the first location-based augmented reality game created by Niantic; the developers of Pokémon Go. It was released on December 14, 2013, for Android and 2014 for iOS. It is a sci-fi game with the story set in a futuristic backdrop.
The gameplay involves fighting an exotic matter “XM” that creeps into the world through “portals” located at places of public interest around the player’s surroundings. The player is required to physically travel to the real world locations to capture these “portals.”
There are also rewards for exploration, so the player can earn game-badges by visiting new locations. There are also missions where the player must interact with the objects at the portal. To level up in the game, the player needs to accumulate Action Points using a variety of gameplay strategies. Ingress requires a level of commitment, and the player can explore interesting places in his/her city.
6. Jurassic World Alive
Jurassic World Alive is a location-based augmented reality game developed by Ludia Inc. The game displays the map of players’ surroundings through the GPS. Players need to search for various breeds of dinosaurs and fire flechettes to collect the DNA and clone their dinosaurs. The dinosaurs are classified in terms of quantity as ‘Common,’ ‘Rare,’ ‘Epic’ and ‘Legendary.’
In battle mode, the players can use their dinosaurs to fight with dinosaurs of other opponents. The game offers special offers on loot boxes during level ups, but there are many displeasing in-game purchases to proceed further. Ludia has constantly been providing updates to the game. The game is very entertaining during the early stages but gets boring as the levels increase.
7. Haunted Rooms: Escape VR
Haunted Rooms: Escape is a horror, episodic VR game available for Android and iOS. The player character is trapped in a dark and isolated room without any memory of how you got in there. It is an “escape the room” genre game where the plot will unfold as you progress to new episodes by solving the puzzles. A total of six episodes are available currently, and more will be released eventually with a continuation of the story.
You have the option to play the game in VR mode with Google cardboard headsets or Normal mode. In VR mode, you have to stare at objects to highlight and use them and stare at the footstep icon to move. Whereas, in normal mode, you have to tap to move and click on the items in the inventory to highlight and use them.
The graphics are amazing with the sounds and special effects contributing to an eerie and mysterious gameplay experience. So, Haunted Rooms: Escape is an amusing game for those who love mystery and puzzle genre.
8. Apnea VR
Apnea is a virtual reality game that takes the experience of VR gaming to a top-notch level. The game senses your real breath and movements to control the character. It is recommended to use earphones with microphones through which the game detects your breath. The gameplay backdrop is set on 22 May 1968 when an American submarine USS Scorpion had mysteriously disappeared in the Atlantic. You are a Soviet deep diver, set out on a mission the next day to discover the whereabouts of the submarine which contains valuable cargo.
You are required to dive into the ocean, stealthily swimming past the sharks to explore the ocean bed before running out of oxygen. You need to be careful with your exhalations and stroll on your toes so that your oxygen does not drain out fast. The game is available as a free version as well as a paid version for both Android and iOS, but the free version contains only 20% of the full-length game.
