Apple Vision Pro for Gaming?

I’ve played some Apple Arcade games so you don't have to …

Is Apple Vision Pro (AVP) suitable for gaming? That’s what I set out to do with my AVP. I signed up for Apple Arcade and tried many of the Vision Pro specific games (so no iPad games).

Here is the first game I’ve played, Solitaire:

‎Solitaire Stories

This has been the most ported game in the world as you can probably find it on any platform. This card game is so simple and yet so deeply engaging. I can play many rounds and let time flies.

In the picture above, I got tired of the background music from the game. So I launched Apple Music at the side to play some other music while playing. The game presents itself as a floating table where the deck of cards is laid. You can move the table closer or further and resize as necessary.

On most platforms, Solitaire is played in a 2D fashion. The entire window will display all the cards and you probably use a mouse or finger (on touch devices like iPad) to move the cards. For AVP, since the natural interface is just your hands and eyes, you would be using finger pinching (and your gaze on the card) to move the cards. Now, if you are playing this slowly, you would find it very amazing to stare at the card and pinch to move. But if you want to play your cards quickly, then you will find that gazing at the deck of cards or each individual card is going to take some effort from your eyes. I felt eye strain after a couple of rounds playing the game. I think this would be the biggest limitation of the finger-pinching interface of AVP for gaming. Our eyes are not made for gaming through the quick movement of our gaze. This is probably because our eyes need the effort to focus and our eyes cannot simply move and focus at the same time; we need to re-focus after we stop moving our gaze (just like birds when they are bobbing their heads back and forth while walking).

Next, let’s look at Ninja Fruit:

‎Super Fruit Ninja

This is also a common game on mobile phones and touch devices. Technically, this game can be in 3D, since the fruits need not pop out from just a straight row of pipes (the pipes can curve around where you sit). But on 2D platforms like the iPad, the fruits are all thrown up in 2D, and you use your finger to swipe to cut the fruits. On AVP, we use our palm (on either hand) and shape it like a knife to cut through the fruits. To play this game, you would need some space around you as your hand motion in cutting would cover a fairly big space around you. This is still an interesting game to play, but your hands will get tired after much fruit cutting. This is still an interesting game to pass the time and it helps to build faster hand-eye coordination.

Next, let’s look at another common game, Jetpack Joyride:

https://apps.apple.com/sg/app/jetpack-joyride-2/id1598096399?platform=vision

Unlike the earlier two games, this is an Immersive game, meaning the entire view is taken by the game. However, the graphics are still essentially 2D, though the game developer has added some interface tweaking to add 3D elements. Playing the game is still the same as on other platforms. You pinch to burn fuel in the jet. The longer you pinch, the more fuel burned, and the main character flies around forward and higher. Although the gameplay is pretty simple (and boring), for someone who just wants to spend their time away, this game still offers some fun. Accurate timing of your fingers to control the rocket fuel is not easy.

Now, what about truly 3D games? There is a 3D-style game called Where Cards Fall that is played within a Window (or rather a Volume, a 3D space).

‎Where Cards Fall

You are supposed to use pinching on various elements in the game to move the character along the game story. It would be interesting if this could be made immersive with you as the main character.

There are also other 2D games that simply benefit from the larger virtual display the AVP provides:

‎Illustrated

‎Patterned

Both games are puzzles (from the same vendor). You pinch on a piece of the puzzle and try to find where to fit into the puzzle. Illustrated provides a more immersive experience:

While Patterned lets you play in a 2D window:

And if you like board games, there is also Game Room:

‎Game Room

Having a Chess game on the beach:

And if you want a more board game setting, you can change the environment too:

An interesting 3D-style game is a driving game:

‎Warped Kart Racers

You steer the car with your bare hands, pretending to hold the steering wheel. Through other hand gestures, you can also drift, brake, and even throw something onto other drivers.

I think many driving games will enjoy the 3D look within a racing window. But a controller may be necessary for the fast action (rather than using just your hands).

Now, what about more advanced gaming, like Call of Duty? Currently, there is no such title, but it is still possible to play on game consoles and PC and stream the video to AVP as a large video display. You can use SteamLink (or Moonlight) to stream from PC and consoles. You would need to pair a controller to AVP to play. But the throughput and latency might not be good enough for more fast action games like Call of Duty. High-intensity graphics simply need to be processed within AVP to avoid the bottlenecks of the wireless network. It will be nice to have game emulators that can run older games on other platforms such as PlayStation in AVP. Apple has recently changed the AppStore guidelines to allow game emulators on iOS and iPad OS platforms. Soon, they may appear in AVP as well.

That’s all for now. Hope you have a good idea of what games you can plan on AVP. This is a new platform for 3D immersive experience and we would probably need some time for game developers to build new innovative games.