Anki Overdrive updates its app to add new
Anki Overdrive is real world racing game where the robotic cars automatically steer themselves round a clip together track so that players can use the smartphone app to find the best racing line, trigger weapons and adjust their speed.
Along with some app fixes, commander tweaks and better device performance Anki Overdrive 1.1 makes a big difference for families with the introduction of teams for both open race and campaign modes. The game becomes more collaborative as well as offering more help in the campaign mode by enlisting AI commanders to race on your side rather than against you.
It's good to see that even with all the positive reviews Anki aren't resting on their laurels and pressing on with new content. I'd still like to see some endurance racing added into the mix with pit stops and fuel quotas like we see in Scalextric ARC AIR and Real FX.
But this is a minor consideration
This means that whereas I have to setup tracks myself on other products, for Anki the kids could get hands on and invent their own courses. As you can see in the video above, they are usually wildly more ambitious than my modest designs, looping up and down onto beds and tables before plunging back into a crisscross of interchanges.
The team mode means that they can level the playing field if an expert racer is taking on two novices. It also enables them to call in help form the AI drivers to take on the other virtual competitors. This has become essential as we press on through the ranks to the high end challenges.
King of the Hill remains a popular mode as well. Here you chase a target car until it is defeated. The car to inflict the most damage then becomes the new target. It's a simple set-up but one that works really well with more complex tracks creating emergent strategies.
We use Anki both outside and inside still even with the weather drawing in. Because it's the cars rather than the tracks that are powered you can leave the track out in a shower, wipe it down and get racing again as soon as the sun comes out.
There are, of course other options. Recent new comer is Real FX that offers more of an assisted driving RC experience. While this offers more of a real racing challenge it lacks the video-game modes and high quality punch of Anki.
Perhaps more of a serious contender is longstanding slot racer Scalextric. The new ARC system adds in an app and different game modes. Next year will upgrade this with ARC AIR that adds wireless controllers and (virtual) changeable weather.
In terms of those endurance races I mentioned earlier, Scalextric has the edge being run on mains power. Its 100 lap race is a real tactical challenge as drivers must track fuel and tire wear on the app and decide when to pit.
Anki Overdrive remains more expensive than the other too. and requires a smartphone or tablet for each player, but for younger children (and big kids who like gaming) it offers an experience that is considerably more flexible.
I continue to be impressed with Anki Overdrive the more we use it. In fact it's got me wondering what Anki will have in store for 2016.
Anki provided cars and track for this post.
