No one disputes that VR is amazing, but with the price point associated with it, gaming may be turning more towards augmented reality than virtual reality, and perhaps nothing proves this point stronger than Pokémon Go and new technologies like the Merge Cube.

The Merge Cube debuted last month and already has a slew of apps and games with it. Essentially, the Merge Cube is a simple device that syncs to a phone to create AR. This AR can be as simple as the cube appearing as a skull through your phone, or it can host a variety of minigames with the cube functioning as a fighter ship in space, a tilting puzzle game, or a Minecraft-esque digging game.

Having tested it ourselves, it’s surprisingly functional for a foam cube viewed through a phone camera. The games so far are simple but also interesting and clever. Not to mention, with many of the apps being free, and the Merge Cube and headset (which a phone fits snuggly into) costing only $25, it’s vastly cheaper and less hassle than its VR counterpoints, which generally run over $300 and take considerable setup time.

We also previously covered the future of Pokémon Go, with Pokémon CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara showing that Pokémon’s involvement in augmented reality and Pokémon Go is still very much at the early stages of development.

By far the biggest advantage of AR is its ease of access as well as mobility. While VR has struggled to find creative ways for the user to move through VR games, AR simply uses the phone or a third party, like the Merge Cube, to allow the user to navigate freely.

The potential for both platforms is huge – Ishihara also mentioned Pokémon responding to physical objects and responding to voices as futures he desires for the franchise – but it’s going to be a race to see which reality platform can bring the technology in line with mass appeal and mass access.