The global gaming business is now expanding at a tremendous rate. In 1968, the first phase of augmented reality (AR) is established. As augmented reality is employed in most applications, the combination of augmented reality with gaming is the future industry. We apply Spradley’s nine-dimension design principles to know the human-centric aspects of handheld augmented reality games. This research is divided into three stages. In the first stages, 215 individuals are tested out of which 7.7% of users played the AR game without understanding that it is known to handle augmented reality. We moved on to the second phase after deriving four insights from descriptive observation and assessed 55 users for focused observation. The problem identification matrix is constructed by coupling together the nine dimensions. Four fundamental challenges were identified and addressed in-depth in the second stage. In the third step for selected observation, we solicit input from 13 experienced UX designers and use the round-robin approach to develop the dimensional aspects, which also broadens everyone's viewpoint. We conclude the research by giving important five dimensions to formulate user-centric core principles for the handheld augmented reality gaming community. At the end of the research, the design community will understand the essential elements of a user-centric design approach for handheld AR games.