Unlike VR, AR’s rise in relevance hasn’t largely been fuelled by gaming (save for the enormous success of Pokemon Go). That’s why we’re so interested to see the first games for Apple’s new ARKit. Arise is one of those games.
This is the latest project from Climax Studios, the developer of VR games like Lola and the Giant, Balloon Chair Death Match and even some Google Tango apps. It looks like a clever evolution of puzzle-platformer games like Echochrome using the new positional tracking featured in ARKit. You help clear a path for a tiny knight that journeys through virtual levels that appear in the real world through your phone. Check out the first trailer below.
At certain points, your character will come across obstacles, which may be gaps in a walkway or a wall they’ll have to scale. At these moments, players will have to search environments for an optical illusion of sorts that will help them progress. For the gap, for example, you’ll likely find a floating block that can obscure the missing platform, allowing the protagonist to traverse it as if it were really there. When it comes to walls, an overhead view will make the path appear clear again, thus your character can walk on.
It looks like a great showcase of the new types of experiences made possible by ARKit and a fitting introduction to the new platform.
The first three levels of ARise are already available on the App Store for $2.99. Free levels will be arriving within the next few months.
