A little over a month ago we checked out the trailer for a pretty cool looking upcoming augmented reality game called Defend It! (Free) from Wizards Games, and now that game has officially launched in the App Store. To back up a bit, this past January Apple updated their ARKit technology to allow for your iOS device to recognize flat vertical surfaces in addition to recognizing flat horizontal surfaces. Wizard Games saw this and instantly thought how cool it would be if you could create a game that was literally bursting through the walls in augmented reality. The concept they came up with is a shooter where you’re defending a crystal from an army of enemies who come from within the walls to attack said crystal. It’s a simple premise, and a pretty simple game, but executed quite well.

Wow, I did NOT realize that the inside of my walls were so cavernous and dirty! We have yet to see very many games where the use of augmented reality has been critical to the functionality of a game. In most cases it’s simply a cool addition and probably a pretty neat party trick to show off to your friends. I feel like Defend It! falls somewhere in the middle. It’s a great use of Apple’s new ARKit functionality, and definitely a cool-looking party trick, but also adds a neat element of immersion to the actual gameplay that you can’t quite get without the augmented reality part. Defent It! is free so if you’re curious after checking out the trailer definitely give it a download and try it out.