Anki is clearly the future of living room racing if you can swallow the price tag, it’ll leave your old racing toys in the dust. This is a rare case, however, where the steep price actually seems worth it when you watch your friends, partner, kids, and pets stare in awe at this insane thing in action. We’re talking about a good $300 to get the most out of it, and while Anki has a few bundles on offer to alleviate the financial strain, there’s no way around it: Overdrive is a costly investment. (Owners of the original Anki Drive can rest easy knowing the new one is backwards compatible, so old cars work fine in the new game.) You’ll likely want some extra cars, too, but at $50 apiece, they’ll also test your budget. While you can get decent mileage out of the standard straightaway and curves of the Starter Kit, you’ll quickly want to plunk down for the t-shaped Collision Kit ($30), a few extra Corner and Speed Kits ($20 a pop), and of course the ridiculously cool Launch Kit ($30) - yes, a jump - to really build the whole thing out. Then there’s the issue of cost - and it’s a hefty one. Our machine overlords are not as infallible as they’d have you believe. The set includes a game mat, two cars, charging pods restore their batteries, and a nifty gadget to clean gunk out of the tires. Cars periodically skid off the track, and on a few occasions I watched a car just totally freak out, turn around, and head into oncoming traffic. At 199 for the starter set, Anki Drive is not exactly an impulse buy. Occasionally, however, the illusion falters. It’s not quite as fun as going neck and neck with another human, but the different computer-controlled competitors show some real smarts in how they handle themselves. You can indulge in a variety of race types (Battles, Time Trials, even King of the Hill matches) against a bunch of cartoonish AI characters, and the programming here isn’t half bad. While it’s best to play Overdrive with and against other humans, Anki provides a surprisingly robust single-player experience too. So, for instance, your iPhone’s Groundshock car might only be level 3, while my Galaxy S6 Groundshock is level 7 and has a few cool new tricks. Each car gets upgraded the more you use it, and that info is saved to each device. Tilting your device makes it switch between four “lanes,” a throttle speeds it up or slows it down, and tapping on various weapons will fire invisible blasts to disable opponents or tractor beams to slow them down. You can exert a modicum of control over your car.

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