AR Games
AR Games is a built-in augmented reality software application on the Nintendo 3DS that uses the ? Block AR Card and/or the five Character Cards (these feature famous Nintendo characters: Mario, Toon Link, Kirby, Samus, and a group of Pikmin). When activating the feature, a yellow cube emerges from the card, and a targeting reticule appears on the screen. Using the 3DS's gyroscope, players 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.
Uses in Mario games and applications
Photos with Mario
- Main article: Photos with Mario
Photos with Mario, known in Japan as Photo Together with Super Mario, the 3DS's first entirely Mario-centered application, is a photography application compatible with special Mario-themed AR cards, developed by the same teams behind Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario 3D Land. The application and cards were released in Japan on April 23, 2013 and in United States in May 18, 2014.
Mario Party: Island Tour
The two minigames: Ka-Goomba! and Sinking Feeling in Mario Party: Island Tour require the "?" Block AR card. In the first minigame, the objective is to shoot the Goombas that appears near and on the card. In the second minigame, the card functions like the tower that the players must climb.
Fishing
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 Fishbone. 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).
Graffiti
Mario also makes an appearance in the Graffiti minigame, which 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 the 
button to make the drawing jump, and they can move the drawing around using the Template:Nobr. 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.
Star Pics
This feature is activated by using the Question Block AR Card. Once a yellow cube emerges from said card, players can then use one or more Character Cards in place of the Question Block AR Card. If players use Mario's AR Card, they are able to take pictures of Mario using the 3DS's built-in camera feature. The first few notes of Mario's theme are heard when Mario emerges from the card, and he can pose either standing, sitting, flying, jumping, or running. Depending on which pose Mario is in, a different sound effect plays (e.g. "Wahoo!" when in the flight pose). All of Mario's sound effects are taken from Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2, and portions of the Super Mario Bros. theme serve as background music.
