10 better games than Minecraft for the Hololens
Looking through rose-colored Hololenses
We got a nice look at some of the possibilities of the Hololens at E3, when Minecraft was used to show its potential. The only problem was, it was Minecraft. Aren't there already 43 different ways to play Minecraft? Here are 10 games, or types of games, I'd be far more interested in using the Hololens to enhance.
Anno 2205
I was going to say Cities: Skylines, but if you're going to build a virtual city all over your den, it should really be a futuristic one, right? Little bitty spaceships flying here and there between the towers of your looming skyscrapers (and the legs of your chairs) or rovers trundling over the surface of the moon (in this case, your bedspread).
Besiege
We saw some things get blown up with TNT in the demonstration, but Minecraft is not exactly known for awesome explosions. Besiege, on the other hand, is all about beautiful, glorious destruction. Snap together an engine with your hands, then turn it loose on your coffee table.
A Gone Home-ish game
If you can map a table and put Minecraft on it, why not map the other surfaces in your home—desks, shelves, bookcases, nightstands—and have them populated with virtual items. Walk around, examine the objects, hear a story being told. Even the smallest apartment could become a place of mystery and intrigue.
Total War
Or any military strategy game, really. You might have to move some furniture, but having your living room floor covered with soldiers and cavalry, and giving them orders as they go into combat would be incredible. The aftermath might be a bit grim, your floors littered with tiny dead archers who will never go home to their virtual families, but that's the price of war.
SOMA
Or some scary game, because AR technology seems particularly well-suited for horror. Walk through your house as ghosts and monsters spring out of doorways and leer at you from picture frames and mirrors.
On second thought, that sounds absolutely horrible. Let's not do that. Forget I ever brought it up.
Hearthstone
Whatever your favorite CCG is, it'd be a kick to play it in AR. See your cards laid out on your desk across from your opponent's, and as you play each card the creatures and champions come to life and perform their attacks in glorious holo-vision.
Trials
It'd be cool to see those insane tracks planted all over your coffee table, and cooler to be able get different vantage points as you're steering your little cyclist through the loops. Coolest yet: those hilarious ragdoll deaths as your little driver totally eats it, flips off the bike, and onto your floor.
Superhot
The game where time only moves when you do is a good example of an FPS that would suit the Hololens. The slow and thoughtful pace of Superhot means you don't need to dive for cover, you can instead slowly lean or step out of the way of enemy bullets. And those enemies? They're standing in your living room.
Mirror's Edge
It looked pretty cool when that little Mincraftian mountain grew out of that table, and we saw a player walking around in it. But there's simply no prettier skyline than the one in Mirror's Edge. Imagine a multiplayer mode, where you could watch your friend, as Faith, parkour over the rooftops as you direct security forces and choppers after her.
That Holographic Star Wars Chess Game
It's apparently called Dejarik, but I only know it as That Holographic Star Wars Chess Game and I've wanted it since 1977, along with the rest of the Millennium Falcon. I'll even buy the DLC that makes my opponent appear as Chewbacca.