Anarchy Arcade has been a very cool project to watch develop. AA strives to be a virtual desktop, with images, music, videos, shortcuts and objects accessible through 3D space. Being built in the source engine, this concept has its limits. It can be clunky, inefficient and burdensome on a computer. While you can navigate the desktop the same way you would navigate any 3D game, AA is best described as an experiment in personal virtual reality, which is still in its infancy but which is growing rapidly. Depending on your opinion on virtual reality, AA is either a gimmick that will never take off the ground or a glimpse into what virtual reality will bring in the coming decades.

Since only enthusiasts currently possess virtual reality hardware, this may limit the appeal of AA for most Steam users but it more commonly serves a secondary function: providing a backbone for users to create that awesome arcade, game and media room of their dreams. With pre-configured shortcuts being released on the Steam Workshop daily and with constant updates from the very involved and engaging developer, Anarchy Arcade will fully satisfy anybody seeking this latter experience and, who knows? Perhaps in a decade virtual reality will have fully permeated the gaming world and beyond, and AA will be less of an arcade-builder and more of what it is intended to be.

Anarchy Arcade has been a very cool project to watch develop. AA strives to be a virtual desktop, with images, music, videos, shortcuts and objects accessible through 3D space. Being built in the source engine, this concept has its limits. It can be clunky, inefficient and burdensome on a computer. While you can navigate the desktop the same way you would navigate any 3D game, AA is best described as an experiment in personal virtual reality, which is still in its infancy but which is growing rapidly. Depending on your opinion on virtual reality, AA is either a gimmick that will never take off the ground or a glimpse into what virtual reality will bring in the coming decades. Since only enthusiasts currently possess virtual reality hardware, this may limit the appeal of AA for most Steam users but it more commonly serves a secondary function: providing a backbone for users to create that awesome arcade, game and media room of their dreams. With pre-configured shortcuts being released on the Steam Workshop daily and with constant updates from the very involved and engaging developer, Anarchy Arcade will fully satisfy anybody seeking this latter experience and, who knows? Perhaps in a decade virtual reality will have fully permeated the gaming world and beyond, and AA will be less of an arcade-builder and more of what it is intended to be.