The COVID-19 pandemic has practically shut down all sports except for World Wrestling Entertainment, which has continued staging matches without an audience, leaving us sports fans with nothing much to cheer for. While they can't replace live games, smartphone games provide an alternate reality to live out our competitive entertainment in the absence of the real thing.
Even for those of us who enjoy spending time alone at home, at a certain point, it just gets boring. We all need social interaction, but with stay-at-home orders, that can be hard to come by. If you're feeling the itch to hang out with friends and have a good time, you should know there are plenty of free multiplayer games for iPhone and Android that will let you do just that — remotely.
With all this time spent stuck at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, HQ Trivia would be a prime way to beat the boredom. Unfortunately, HQ went belly up in February, just before everyone had stay-at-home orders. While HQ has teased a potential comeback, there are other trivia games out there that are live right now. One of those brings the spirit of HQ Trivia back to our phones.
As the COVID-19 virus continues to spread, counties, cities, and states are closing down businesses, events, and schools that aren't absolutely necessary. Some companies around the US are recommending or requiring employees to work from home during the coronavirus pandemic. If you're stuck at home, there are apps and services to help you make it through a lockdown.
If there's any lingering uncertainty as to the mainstream viability of augmented reality, a list of the top mobile apps and games of 2019 serves to dispell those doubts.
Magic Leap took years to launch, but when it did, the company managed to quickly become the leading rival to Microsoft's HoloLens (at least when it comes to experimental immersive experiences).
At least one hurdle to China-based augmented reality startup Nreal going mainstream in the United States may be about to be knocked down, thanks to behind the scenes legal movements Next Reality has uncovered.
With EA chief executive Andrew Wilson stating the official mobile version of Apex Legends won't arrive until the 2021 fiscal year, fans have to wait at least another year to enjoy their favorite battle royale game on the go. But for those who can't wait, there are ways to play the game on iPhone and Android right now.
Move over, Star Wars. You're not the only Disney property that can play in the Lenovo Mirage AR headset anymore.
If the name Leroy Jenkins elicits a reaction from you, then you are old enough to remember the iconic title World of Warcraft from its heydey (whether or not you actually played the massively multiplayer online role-playing game).
When it comes to platform games on mobile, endless runners are some of the hardest to play since they can go on seemingly forever. There's always room for improvement since your goal is to beat your previous score (or someone else's high score). But which endless running games are worth your time?
The long tease that is the release of Minecraft Earth continues, this time with an opportunity to start playing what might be one of the hottest augmented reality games ever, before the general public.
With the third season of Netflix's hit series Stranger Things set to debut July 4, it's time to crank up the hype machine, this time, in augmented reality.
Can lightning strike twice? Niantic is betting that it can with its latest augmented reality game based on the best-selling multimedia franchise Harry Potter.
The perfect promotion for Pokémon: Detective Pikachu has finally come to fruition as Niantic has added some movie-related perks to Pokémon GO.
The Game of Thrones premiere is fast approaching, and along with it, Magic Leap has begun to unveil some of the fan-centric swag associated with its immersive experience based on the hit TV series.
In recent months, the Magic Leap One has frequently tied promotions to groundbreaking entertainment properties, but the latest may be the startup's biggest coup yet.
It's a magical time of year for basketball fans, with the NCAA Tournament in full swing and NBA frontrunners in the midst of their push to clinch spots in the playoffs.
Visitors to the Unity booth at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco will get a special augmented reality treat courtesy of Magic Leap and Weta Workshop.
One the leading game developers for the PlayStation 4 and Oculus Rift platforms, Insomniac Games, is finally releasing its first major augmented reality title: Seedling for the Magic Leap One.
Any real Star Wars fan knows that fear is a path to the dark side, as it leads to anger, and then suffering. For players of Star Wars Jedi Challenges, though, access to the antagonistic side of the Force is now available through their mobile apps.
One of the funniest scenes from the teaser trailer for the Wreck-It Ralph sequel is the basis for the new pre-show augmented reality experience via the Noovie ARCade app.
Niantic's most successful app, Pokémon GO, has become the first app to integrate the company's Real World Platform, the developer's AR cloud technology that enables multiplayer AR, persistent content, and occlusion with physical objects.
Because timing is everything, the latest entry in the location-based augmented reality gaming sweepstakes, Ghostbusters World, has arrived just in time for Halloween.
Massive multiplayer shooters like Fortnite have become all the rage, as mobile gamers duke it out in long, protracted battles that can often be as excruciating as they are thrilling. If you're yearning for a more fast-paced shooter on iOS, Nitro Games has you covered, and has soft-launched Heroes of Warland for further tweaking. Of course, you can try the game yourself right now with a tiny hack.
Not content to let NFL's official pizza sponsor corner the market for feeding football fans, 7-Eleven has taken a page out of Pizza Hut's playbook with a promotional augmented reality game.
After parting ways with Papa John's, the National Football League has drafted Pizza Hut as its official pizza purveyor, and the company has hit the field with an augmented reality game to entertain hungry football fans.
Cable TV network Nickelodeon is looking to break new ground with a new series that will be experienced in virtual and augmented reality.
After getting confirmation from Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, we now know Fortnite Battle Royale will not be available on the Play Store when it's finally released for Android. Instead, users will have to download the APK directly from Epic Games' website — and quite frankly, this is a bad idea.
On Thursday, Epic Games released Unreal Engine 4.20, which finally includes support for the latest iterations of ARKit and ARCore, as well as Magic Leap One early access.
Apparently, it's Google Week for the augmented reality business. Now that ARCore has a firm foothold in the app ecosystem, Google is making a case with educators and marketers that the apps should have a place in schools and campaigns, and the company is also encouraging developers to learn how to build apps using ARCore.
Kings of Soccer recently soft launched in the Netherlands and a few other countries, garnering positive reviews from the mobile gamers who've experienced it. With the 2018 FIFA World Cup now in full swing, we wanted to let you in on a little secret: You can play Kings of Soccer right now ahead of everyone else, regardless of where you live.
A newly-filed patent application from Disney Enterprises, Inc. teases more augmented reality lightsaber duels, either for at-home gaming or for the media behemoth's forthcoming Star Wars theme park.
While having no internet connection is definitely a bad thing when you need it, you can at least bide your time until you're back online with a hidden Easter egg inside of the Google Chrome browser. This gem unlocks a secret side-scrolling game that can keep you busy during your downtime.
The guy who recreated Super Mario Bros. as a first-person obstacle course is back with an augmented reality take on another classic game.
Spring training has begun in earnest, and to mark MLB's soft debut, GLU has soft-launched a followup to the smash hit MLB Tap Sports Baseball 2017 in Canada. While MLB Tap Sports Baseball 2018 is still technically unavailable outside of Canada, you can actually play this game right now through a simple hack.
A controversial video from Magic Leap's past has once again surfaced, but this time it comes with a lot more credibility and a good bit of excitement around the Magic Leap One headset.
Now that we finally have vertical plane recognition in ARKit (at least on a developer level until the spring iOS 11.3 release), the real promise of mobile augmented reality is beginning to come into focus on iOS. But a new report indicates that a major near future advancement of ARKit that could change everything has been put on hold by Apple.
While the Twitch app for iOS came out way back in 2011, livestreaming iPhone games was a rarity until Apple recently updated its ReplayKit in iOS 11. However, Twitch hasn't jumped on the bandwagon yet, but that doesn't mean you can't livestream your iPhone games to Twitch right now.
Last week, augmented reality startup Proxy42 released Father.IO, a multiplayer game that turns any indoor or outdoor space into a laser tag arena.
