Augmented reality and time with your loved ones

In Krakow, augmented reality city games are usually played with a tablet in your hand. The team follows a set route and solves puzzles, while virtual characters and objects appear on screen over the real streets. Most often the whole team shares one device. So whether your walk becomes a shared adventure depends largely on how you share the screen.

You meet up for a walk, but a moment later everyone is looking at their own phone. A familiar situation doesn’t mean technology always pushes people apart. What matters is what it’s used for during your time together, and whether it gives you a reason to talk or interrupts the conversation. An augmented reality game can change the device’s role: instead of several separate activities, you get one shared challenge.

What is augmented reality?

Augmented reality, or AR for short, adds digital elements to the surroundings you’re looking at. The device uses its camera and sensors, so when you point it at a square or a townhouse, you see on screen, for example, a character from a legend moving against the backdrop of the real place. The walk still takes place in the real city, and the challenge gets an extra layer of story.

It’s not the same as being transported completely into a virtual world. Not every feature of an app is augmented reality, either: a map, your GPS position or a simple question on screen can all work without it. Each game combines these features in its own way, so before you choose, it’s worth checking whether AR is really part of it.

What is an AR city game in Krakow like?

A few examples show how the routes and game times differ. The details come from the operators’ descriptions, checked in September 2026:

• Kraków Legends by EscapeCity, played with AR, takes you along the Royal Route through the Old Town towards Wawel, about 3 km. The full version takes up to 2.5 hours and starts on Matejko Square; the shorter one takes up to 2 hours and starts on St Mary’s Square. Each team gets one iPad.
• Magic Portal is a city game for children aged 7 to 12 that lasts 120 minutes. The start and finish are at ul. Kościuszki 74, and the route of up to 3.5 km heads towards Wawel. The operator rates its difficulty at 4/10.
• Treasure Hunters is a 90-minute family game. The route is about 2 km long and follows a path along the Rudawa river, not through the Old Town. The operator rates its difficulty at 4/10.

The other Gamescape city games also use an iPad, GPS and augmented reality, but they have different themes: a spy plot, a fantasy world or Krakow’s crime stories. Pick a theme that interests the players, not just one that shows off the technology.

One screen doesn’t automatically mean playing together

Imagine that only one person holds the tablet, reads the instructions silently and gives the answers straight away. The others can walk the whole route and still experience very little of it. The problem doesn’t have to be the technology itself, but the way you share the challenge.

You can take turns operating the device, read the text out loud and ask everyone for their observations. When someone notices something around you, it’s worth stopping to compare it with the clue. With AR scenes, a simple agreement works well: the person holding the tablet shows the screen to everyone else before anyone starts guessing the answer. This split is a suggestion for playing together, not a guarantee of better relationships.

With children, it especially helps to wait a moment for their idea. An adult who knows the answer faster doesn’t have to give it away immediately. They can ask: “What in the picture matches what we can see next to us?”

A screen in city traffic

When you’re on the move, shift your attention from the screen to your surroundings. Save reading the task and watching AR scenes for a safe stop, away from road crossings and tram tracks. The city is still shared with other pedestrians and road users. This applies especially to routes through the crowded Old Town, where it’s easy to stop in someone’s way.

If you’d rather play on your own phone

Not every game requires you to pick up a tablet at a specific place. The Krakow Legends app works on your own phone with GPS, with no time limit and no fixed start time, so you can take breaks. It’s a different product from Kraków Legends by EscapeCity with a tablet. The description of this version doesn’t mention augmented reality, so choose it when a relaxed pace matters more than on-screen effects.

Augmented reality beyond games

AR in Krakow isn’t limited to puzzle games. In 2022, the city, together with Wawel Royal Castle, launched a free app called Smok w Krakowie (“Dragon in Krakow”). It guides you to five places between Wawel, Kanonicza Street and the Main Market Square, where you can bring up the dragon on your screen and take a photo with it. When it was announced, it was only available for Android, so before your walk check in your app store whether it works on your phone.

It’s a shorter format than a city game: no puzzles and no time limit. It can be a good introduction for younger children, or an extra on a walk around Wawel.

A shared mission doesn’t have to be digital

You can also choose a game without augmented reality. For your time together, what matters more is whether everyone takes part, not how much technology is involved.

When you finish, put the device away and talk about what you remember. Which moment needed an idea from all of you? Who spotted a detail the rest had missed? A specific conversation like that can become the next part of your time together.