AR Games

AR Games (short for Augmented Reality Games) is a built-in software application on the Nintendo 3DS. It requires the use of the ? Block AR Card. The application features thirteen games that the player progressively unlocks. Some of the games make use of the five Character Cards, also bundled with the Nintendo 3DS: Mario, Link, Kirby, Samus Aran, and Pikmin.

To active AR Games, the player must point their Nintendo 3DS at the ? Block AR Card. In doing so, a yellow cube emerges from the card, and a targeting reticule appears on the screen. Using the 3DS's gyroscope, the player must shoot this cube, which causes it to jump in the air. A second later, this cube is replaced by six others, each of which open an AR Game when shot: Graffiti, Star Pics, Mii Pics, Fishing, Archery, and AR Shot (though only Archery is available when the software is opened for the first time). After using these for a period of time, a blue box appears in the bottom-right section of the main menu. Shooting it flips the surface that the AR Card is on to reveal seven more blue boxes: Clock, Globe, 3D Tools, Fish Gallery, Free Fishing, Archery 2, and AR Shot 2, all of which can be unlocked for one to three Play Coins.

Games
There are two games available from the start: Archery and Star Pics. The latter minigame shows 3D models of characters on top of their respective Character Cards, including Mario. The models can be manipulated, such as by changing their position, size, and pose, and then photographed.

In Graffiti, the players uses tools commonly found in an art studio: a pencil, paint, stamps, and an eraser. Images of the five Character Cards are available to trace, and the stamp section includes a stamp of an 8-bit Mario sprite from Super Mario Bros. The 3D Tools option, once unlocked, allows players to turn their drawings (created on the touch screen) into three-dimensional images. Players can press to make the drawing jump, and they can move the drawing around using the Circle Pad. If left idle for a certain period of time, the drawing will lay flat on the surface on which the AR Card is placed, though it returns to an upright position shortly thereafter.

In the Fishing minigame, Mario items and enemies can be caught. When the game is activated, a water droplet appears on the Question Block AR Card. It jumps up and lands on the card, turning the surface the card is on into a body of water. Both a Blooper and a Lakitu appear randomly, and the Lakitu will fish the Blooper (which players can also catch) out of the water. If lightning strikes the water, then players can catch a Fish Bone. If the AR Card is placed on a green colored surface, then players can catch a Green Shell. If the AR Card is located on a red surface instead, Cheep Cheeps can be caught. The chances of catching any of these are improved if players unlock the Free Fishing minigame, which enables them to fish for an unlimited amount of time (the main game sets a two-minute time limit, after which players are forced to fight a dragon, a boss used in Shooting and AR Shot as well).