iPadOS / iOS Free with in-app purchases
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While many Apple fans are counting down the days until they can experience the sensory overload of the Vision Pro headset, you don’t have to wait until next year to give augmented reality a spin if you have an iPhone.
From Pokémon Go, to Zombies Run, there are a ton of AI-flavored games on the App Store that have gone on to be genre-defining hits, along with a number of lesser-known, yet still great mixed reality titles that have gone somewhat under the radar.
One such app that falls into the latter category is RC Club - AR Racing Simulator a clever radio-controlled car sandbox game.
Realistic speed and gravity
The game makes full use of the LiDAR sensor within your iPhone or iPad, letting you zoom a virtual RC car around your real-world surroundings, and, more importantly, crash into actual objects.
There’s realistic speed and gravity as well as crash impact damage on your vehicle, while haptic vibration ensures you feel the force of those prangs.
As well as a wide selection of cars to drive, there are five driving styles to try out including drifting and offroad, while you can record and share your tricks and smashes using a built-in replay and editing feature.
While the car models aren’t perhaps as graphically convincing as they could be, the in-game physics are genuinely impressive when running the app on a recent iPad Pro. Set up a ramp with some real-world books, and your car will realistically climb the ascent and catch air. Drive it over a kerb, drop over the precipice accordingly, and bobble about while navigating a cobblestone route.
The only downside is that understandably you can’t race against other drivers in real-time (although you can compete with others via RC Club’s Game Center Achievements and Leaderboard), and to get the most out of the game you’ll need to fork out for upgrades via in-app purchases, with the game’s card-based leveling up system somewhat intrusive, particularly in its initial stages.
