vr road trip game

8 Best Oculus Quest 2 Travel Games and Experiences (Must Have)

vr road trip game

One of the wonders of virtual reality is that you get to explore entire worlds and have it feel as real as being there. Visually, anyway. One of these worlds is our very own, and if you’ve got an interest for exploring it in VR, you’re in the right place!

In this article I’m going to be talking about the 8 best Oculus Quest 2 travel games and experiences. Namely:

  • National Geographic Explore VR
  • 360 Travel Videos
  • Google Earth VR
  • Flow (Bonus Entry)

First, let’s talk about the native Oculus experiences in more detail so you can see where you want to be going!

1) National Geographic Explore VR

Spit on that virtual camera lens and wipe it clean as you experience the wonders in National Geographic Explore VR. As an explorer, you’ll have to visit locations and capture the same photographs as the one who came before you.

The VR experience that will have you demanding more. Like, seriously. The biggest criticism of the game is that it’s only got two locations for you to dive into.

  • An expedition to Antartica
  • Machu Picchu, Peru 

Although the game doesn’t have the best graphics out there, it’s still worth checking out by VR standards. Survive a snowstorm, keep still during a mummy worship, and experience much more with National Geographic Explore VR!

Since there’s not much replay value with only two locations, you might want to wait for a sale to really get the most bang for your buck.

Get National Geographic Explorer for $9.99 on Oculus Store

2) ecosphere

ecoshpere is a collection of fantastic 360-degree exploration videos. But they’re not your typical 360 videos!

The ones in ecosphere are beautifully narrated documentaries that add to the element of immersion. You have over 10 episodes to download and start your virtual adventure. Learn more about locations such as Africa, Malaysia, and Indonesia from the comfort of your Oculus Quest 2.

What’s even more is that ecosphere is getting constant support with new updates and features, so the future for 360 travel is looking really good on this app!

Get ecosphere for free on Oculus Store

There’s one big reason I’d like everybody to at least give Alcove a try: variety. Okay, there are two big reasons. It’s also free. But let’s talk about the first one more.

While not being big on high-end graphics, Alcove does a fantastic job of letting you go on a tour in virtual reality. The game includes virtual tours across hundreds of landscapes and beautiful sites around the world. Ride hot air balloons or go for long drives in VR.

What’s more is that you can even take to the seas of Australia and the Pacific Ocean!

That’s not even where the possibilities end. Alcove allows you to customize your personal vacation home in VR, and invite your friends over to appreciate it even more. 

Although the majority of minigames like Chess and Puzzles are single-player, Alcove is constantly receiving fresh updates and new features. The opportunity to do more with your friends may not be far off!

Get Alcove for free on Oculus Store

4) 360-Degree Travel Videos

These are the travel experiences you’re looking for if your main goal is to explore the world. Leaving out the gaming and interaction parts, 360-degree travel videos are available across the Internet and have plenty of thrill to offer.

How do they work? All you have to do is load the video from within your browser in your headset.

Oculus Browser will do just fine, but some Quest 2 users recommend using the Mozilla Firefox browser. They experience higher frame rates and an overall better VR tour experience.

Since the durations of many 360-degree tour videos are short, you can look for multiple videos and add them to a playlist. Then, simply hit play and let yourself be taken around the world from the comfort of your couch.

For your convenience, here are two of the best VR tour compilations I came across:

The best 360° aerial footage by AirPano. Part I – YouTube

Virtual Travel (VR Experience) – YouTube

Wander is not your average adventure app, not by a long shot. 

And by that, I mean that this app lets you travel in time. With a unique feature, you get to actually visit different areas at different points in time . See your hometown since you moved away or the construction of Dubai from a desert. 

The magic of this app also integrates Google Street view to give you a truly one of a kind experience.

Even with time travel being an amazing feature, it doesn’t mean you can’t travel in the present. Wander lets you visit the world without restrictions. Explore the Wonders of the World in VR and live the traveling dream you always had!

Get Wander for $9.99 on Oculus Store .

Best PCVR Travel Experiences for the Quest 2

Since we’re talking about the best travel experiences you can have on the Quest 2, it wouldn’t be fair to leave out the PCVR possibilities!

You can immerse yourself in PCVR experiences on your Quest 2 through PC streaming options such as Virtual Desktop or Oculus (Air) Link. If you are new to VR and want to know more about how these options work, check out this article .

6) Google Earth VR

First, let’s address the elephant in the room: Google Earth VR. When it comes to travelling experiences, everybody should have at least heard of this app.

Google Earth VR lets you travel the literal world in your VR body. You get to float around in any location and take in the marvelous sites created by man and nature anywhere!

As a bonus, this app comes with preloaded tours for selected locations like the Amazon River and The Grand Canyon. All you have to do is not forget to enjoy the ride.

So whether it’s the Eiffel Tower, Pyramids of Giza, or the entire Great Wall of China, Google Earth VR is something definitely worth trying out!

Did I mention it’s free? Get it from Steam now!

7) Realities

With additional add-ons that are just as free as the game, Realities is a mesmerizing historical VR experience.

This app takes you to a bunch of different locations that are incredibly detailed for a VR game and lets you explore what once was. Photorealism is at the core of Realities as it abandons the traditional 360-degree approach to VR experiences in favor of greater and more realistic immersion.

You’ll especially like this app if you’re interested in knowing what the less popular “tourist sites” are like!

Get to explore the chill of the Alcatraz prison, the lifelessness of Death Valley, and the ruins of old castles with Realities.

Get Realities for Free on Steam

8) Bonus Entry: Flow

Not everybody wants to travel for the fun, the thrill, or the exploration. Some people want to visit new locations for the serenity and to discover new ways to relax.

If your next trip across the world in VR is like that, then Flow is the app for you. The locations in this app revolve around what Iceland has to offer, mainly because of the natural scenery there . 

The features of Flow revolve around meditation and calmness. Even the chosen locations from around the world are an inspiration to help the human brain feel more calm.

There’s also a specially curated playlist to help VR enthusiasts make the most of their virtual vacation.

Recharge yourself in all the soothing experiences that Flow has to offer on the Quest 2!

Get Flow Free from SideQuest

Note! For more information on how to sideload an app onto your Quest 2, give this article a read.

That concludes my current list for the best travel experiences on the Quest 2. There are a few games that are currently only compatible with the Oculus Go that are slowly but surely making their way to the Quest 2.

Stay tuned for more, especially as new game releases and updates roll out! 

HARDWARE USED FOR TESTING AND WRITING THE ARTICLES : * Meta Quest 2 (My “daily driver” headset, which I absolutely love & recommend) * Lenovo Legion 5 Pro (AMD Ryzen 5 5600H, Nvidia Geforce RTX 3060, 16GB RAM) * TP-Link Archer C6 (budget dedicated router for Air Link, see my full setup tutorial ) ESSENTIAL QUEST 2 COMFORT ACCESSORIES : * VR Cover Foam Replacement (one of the easiest & cheapest ways to improve headset comfort) * BoboVR M2 Head Strap (reduce pressure on your head and improve the overall fit of the headset)

Martin Rakver

I am a software engineer and tech enthusiast. During my free time, I like to immerse myself in the world of virtual and augmented reality, which I believe will be more and more prominent in the years to come.

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vr road trip game

Road Trip FRVR

It's a beautiful day! Climb in your car and get ready for a pleasant drive through the countryside. Road Trip offers a fun and relaxing way to unwind while exercising a bit of brainpower.

The road is free of obstructions when you begin, but as you pass through the levels, the scenery and seasons change. The road needs to be connected before you can continue!

Navigating through the forests, mountains, and suburban areas may be a bit of a puzzle, but swapping the right tiles will allow you to keep motoring along. Be sure to pick up the roadmaps you find along the way! They'll help you move forward with confidence and allow you to enjoy the scenery. There are also bonus gold coins for the taking if you make all the right moves.

The original soundtrack keeps you in the perfect state of relaxed alertness as you travel along.

Have a pleasant journey!

  • Original soundtrack
  • Relaxing play
  • Bonus options
  • Endless hours of fun
  • Pleasant graphics
  • Works great on any mobile device with full iOS, Android and Windows Phone support
  • No need to install anything, works without Flash or Java

Please enable JavaScript to play now!

More information

  • FRVR Website
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  • FRVR on Google+

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About this game, system requirements.

  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • OS: Windows 10
  • Processor: i5-4590 Equivalent or Greater
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 970 Equivalent or Greater
  • Storage: 10 GB available space
  • VR Support: Oculus

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Valve Software

The best VR games on PC

The best VR games for the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Valve Index.

Half-Life: Alyx G-Man

First Person Action

Rhythm and vibes, fantasy adventure, puzzling intrigue, small and strange, chill exploration, strategy and racing.

Looking for some of the best VR games on PC? Though Half Life: Alyx really pushed the boundaries of virtual reality in terms of gameplay, there was already an impressive library of titles to pick from before that. Whether you prefer the slight jank and gore of Blade & Sorcery or Gorn, a nightmarish rhythm-based experience like Thumper, or you just want to pretend your fishing or driving a truck, VR caters to every kind of gameplay and simulation.

Baldur's Gate 3 - Jaheira with a glowing green sword looks ready for battle

2024 games : Upcoming releases Best PC games : All-time favorites Free PC games : Freebie fest Best FPS games : Finest gunplay Best MMOs : Massive worlds Best RPGs : Grand adventures

One of the few drawbacks with VR is compatability and how inconsistent it can be in terms of some games being available on certain headsets, but not others. That said, in this list we've gathered together some of the best VR games around, as well as listing what setups you can play them on.

We've combed through countless VR games to recommend the best here, and we'll continue to update as we discover new ones. We've focused on games for the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, and Windows Mixed Reality specifically. These are all PC-based VR games, which is why we haven't included any built specifically for the the newly dubbed Meta Quest headsets (known previously as Oculus Quest), even though we think they are the best VR headset for most people. 

Half-Life: Alyx

PC Gamer's got your back Our experienced team dedicates many hours to every review, to really get to the heart of what matters most to you. Find out more about how we evaluate games and hardware.

Developer: Valve | Link: Steam | Compatibility: Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality

It only took 15 years, but in 2020 we finally got a new Half-Life. Alyx is a prequel to Half-Life 2, set once again in the dystopian City 17, and features everything you'd expect from a Half-Life game, including headcrab zombies, physics puzzles, and a compelling, mystery-laden plot.

The game squeezes an incredible amount of variety into its 15 hours, from large scale firefights with Combine soldiers and moments of quiet, atmospheric exploration, to genuinely unsettling horror in the dark tunnels beneath the city. If you thought a poison headcrab leaping at you in Half-Life 2 was bad, imagine that happening in VR, in a dark room, where all you have is a tiny flashlight to find your way to safety.

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners

Developer: Skydance Interactive | Link: Steam | Compatibility: Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality

Saints and Sinners' nuanced simulation of knife/skull interaction is as remarkable as it is harrowing. Not only does it make each zombie encounter slightly unique (and also fraught with apprehension) it also effectively communicates your personal journey as a survivor in The Walking Dead's world.

After the messy horror of that first kill, you'll be buzzing with nervous adrenaline, certain the odds are impossibly stacked against you. Over time, however, you'll learn how to efficiently dispatch the walkers, leading with your off-hand to keep them at bay, perfecting the arc of your swing and getting access to bigger, nastier melee weapons.

This one mechanic is probably enough to carry Saints and Sinners on its own. But it's only a small part of the most mechanically rich VR game we've played yet. 

Superhot VR

Developer: Superhot Team | Link: Meta Quest | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index

In Superhot VR, it’s possible to toss a brick at a man, knock his semi-auto pistol into the air, catch it, and bash him over the head with it before shooting three other men out of a helicopter behind you. This can all happen within a few seconds or the span of three minutes—or however long you need to plan out the most efficient and action-movie-cool way of taking them all out. Time only moves forward if you move, and while the original Superhot had you weaving in and out of bullets using traditional FPS movement and controls, in VR, you can’t run about. Everything comes to you, turning levels into bite-sized Matrix scenarios, where agent after agent is headed your way. 

It’s up to you to suss out how to take care of them using the few weapons and objects around you, all the while dodging, throwing, catching, and punching to stay alive. Wrapped up in the same meta narrative framework as the original game, Superhot VR has too much style, fluidity, and inherent satisfaction to skip.  

Developer: Stress Level Zero | Link: Steam | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, Valve Index, HTC Vive, Windows Mixed Reality

As Crysis pushed the limits of PC hardware, Boneworks pushes the limits of VR—and honestly, it feels like VR has some catching up to do. Stress Level Zero's puzzle-shooter is incredibly ambitious with its full-body rendering, complex physics system, and intense physical interactions, which lead to a certain amount of jankiness because current VR hardware isn't quite ready to handle it all. 

But it's still an enjoyable playground with a good sense of humor for shooting, melee combat, and throwing objects around as you fight your way out of an oppressive research facility filled with virtual drone soldiers.

Robo Recall

Developer: Epic Games | Link: Meta Quest | Compatibility: Oculus Rift

You're tasked with tracking down rogue robots in this VR shooter from Epic Games. Blast away with a shotgun or twin pistols, but don't forget just about everything else you can see can be picked up and used as a weapon or shield. You can pluck bullets and projectiles out of the air and chuck them back at your enemies, and can even rip the limbs or heads off robots and use them as weapons, too. As an action game it's completely over the top, and tons of fun.

Developer: Sólfar Studios | Link: Steam | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index

2018 was kind to VR archery lovers: both Sacralith and QuiVr are worth checking out, but In Death is the best of the bunch. It’s a roguelite about battling through a procedural fantasy castle, and it has the most imaginative use of a bow-and-arrow we’ve seen in VR. It’s primarily a weapon, and you come across cool arrow types by exploring, but it’s also your means of getting around: you fire a teleporting arrow to move. 

Nocking an arrow and letting it fly feels smooth, and after every run you’ll make progress on at least a handful of different achievements, which means you’ll always have a reason to dive back in for one more go. It’s tough for newcomers, but well worth sticking with.

Echo Combat

Developer: Ready at Dawn | Link: Meta Quest | Compatibility: Oculus Rift

Echo Combat, part of Echo VR, has the best movement of any FPS we’ve ever played : with pistol, laser rifle or shotgun in hand, you rocket boost your way around zero-gravity levels, grabbing onto the walls and pushing yourself off for extra speed.

It’s slick and polished, and traversing each map feels as big an achievement as popping a long-range headshot. It only has a few arenas but they’re cleverly designed, with lots of objects to take cover behind and plenty of routes to flank your enemies. If you have a Rift, it’s a must-own.

Developer: Vertical Robot | Link: Steam | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality

This puzzler, set on a Russian base on one of Saturn’s moons, won’t leave you scratching your head too often, but it’s full of otherworldly atmosphere. Every room is packed with objects to interact with, even if they’re not part of the main puzzle: you’ll yank open lockers to discover letters from faraway families, play with moving platforms, and throw gas canisters around. 

The story is decent, and there’s plenty of incidental details that enrich it. Your handheld scanner fills in the blanks by revealing information about whatever you’re looking at—it will translate notes you find from Russian, for example. It’s worth taking the time to explore every hidey hole.

Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades

Developer: RUST LTD. | Link: Steam | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality

Even though it’s still in Early Access, this weapons sandbox has more than enough content for us to recommend it, with more guns and modes added every month. It gives you hundreds of weapons and attachments, from gravity guns to missile launchers, and simulates all the physics—such as proper reloads—in detail. You’re let loose in 20+ game modes, from the ridiculous grenade bowling to the tactical Take and Hold, where you capture points and defend them against waves of humanoid hot dogs. Those modes provide a loose structure, but you can also just hit a range and set up your own scenarios.

Developer: Mixed Realms Pte Ltd, Swag Soft | Link: Steam | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index

If you’ve ever dreamed of becoming a cyber ninja, then you need Sairento in your life. It’s a ridiculous, cinematic combat playground in which you can, in no particular order, triple jump off of a wall, backflip, slow down time, blast dual Uzis, block bullets with your dual blades and slice up an enemy with a katana, sending blood spraying all over the level—and your screen. 

It has a campaign, an endless mode and PvP multiplayer, so there’s lots to get stuck into. It takes a while to learn how to pull of its fanciest moves, but when you finally nail the killer combo you’ve been practicing for so long, you’ll never want to take your headset off. 

Developer: Free Lives | Link: Steam | Compatibility: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality

Gorn is excessively violent—you can rip enemy’s hearts out, chop their arms off, and watch their eyeballs roll across the arena floor—but its cartoony vibe stops it feeling gross. Menacing enemies wield giant sledgehammers, but they’re made less scary by the fact their weapons wobble and bend as they waddle towards you. Each of its weapons, from battle-axes to retractable Wolverine-style claws, react fluidly to your wild arm flails, and the detailed physics throw up plenty of funny moments, such as enemies falling into spike traps. Basically, it’s bloody good.

Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope

Developer: Croteam VR | Link: Steam | Compatibility: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Valve Index, WIndows Mixed Reality

The Last Hope is a timeless concept—a wave shooter where you’re rooted to the spot—pulled off to near-perfection. There’s nothing fancy, here: just long lines of giant insects and men holding bombs running at you as fast as they can, and it’s your job to fend them off for as long as possible. It’s properly stressful, and you’ll have to constantly snap your head from side-to-side to keep track of your enemies, while also shooting projectiles from the sky. A solid, accessible VR shooter at an affordable price.

Alien: Isolation

Developer: Creative Assembly | Link: Official site | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive

If you’ve ever watched Alien and wished you were there on the Nostromo being chased by H.R. Giger’s most famous creation, then you’re in luck. Alien: Isolation doesn’t officially support VR, but the functionality is in the game—you just have to know how to activate it. In the game’s data folder, edit the line in the ENGINE_SETTINGS.XML file under ‘stereo mode’ to say on rather than off. For the Vive, Isolation is supported by VorpX . Getting it working isn’t the hard part, though. The hard part is playing the game.

Isolation is a survival horror game based on Ridley Scott’s classic 1979 sci-fi horror, and it perfectly replicates the film’s slow, almost unbearable tension. You’re dropped into a room, or a series of rooms, with Giger’s alien. It stomps around, hunting for you, behaving unpredictably, and you have to sneak around it to find keys, unlock doors, access computers, and other simple tasks. In VR, the darkness of the stricken Sevastopol station feels somehow even darker. The feeling of claustrophobia, and the fear that the creature will catch you, is so intense that it’s almost unplayable at times—but, equally, totally exhilarating.

Developer: Beat Games | Link: Steam | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality

Guitar Hero with lightsabers, basically—and arguably the best thing you can play in VR right now. With a laser sword in each motion-controlled hand, you slash at boxes that are coming at you to a beat, ducking under low walls and dodging bombs as you go. It’s relentless, and awards points for style rather than pure timing—the flashier your follow throughs, the better, so unleash that inner Jedi.

It’s constantly getting new tracks for you to dice to pieces, but you can also import custom songs: Tutorials and a list of the best tracks are over at the unofficial BeastSaber site . It’s simply a brilliant idea, executed to perfection.

Developer: Drool | Link: Steam | Compatibility: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Valve Index

Already a great rhythm hell game in flatspace, Thumper is even more trance-inducing in VR. It's not very mechanically complicated—tap to the beat and slide around corners, at least at first—but it's brutal. As James put it , Thumper is "a psychedelic journey through impossible geometry and a crunchy, slippery, overwhelmingly oppressive force." In VR, it becomes a waking sound nightmare I should want to escape, but don't.

Rez Infinite

Developer: Monstars Inc., Resonair | Site: Steam | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index

Classic on-rails shooter Rez came to PC in 2017 with full VR support, and it’s one of those games everybody should play at least once. Its levels are colourful kaleidoscopes; pulsing masses of neon and electronic music that grow ever-more complex the more enemies you explode. Aiming with your head feels natural, and even though the use of VR only really comes alive in the odd level, it’s still worth having on your headset.

Tetris Effect

Developer: Monstars Inc. and Resonair | Link: Steam | Compatibility: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality

It sure took a while, but finally we have a worthy successor to the iconic Tetris. And Tetris Effect is even better in VR, where you'll be mesmerized by the music and visuals as they wash over you. Even if you were never particularly good at Tetris you'll enjoy Tetris Effect, and in VR it's impossible not to feel swept away and engulfed by the sounds and sights. It's a psychedelic and enchanting trip everyone with a VR headset should take. 

Developer: Polyarc | Link: Steam | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality

A charming third-person platformer in which you’re both controlling Moss the mouse and poking at bits of the level with your hands, pushing and pulling objects into place to create new routes. The jumping, puzzling and sword-swinging are nothing special, but VR makes its gorgeous levels come alive. They’re full of detail and an endearing innocence, and each tells its own story. 

James loved it, saying it “recalls the sensation of being a kid and playing around in the dirt, spinning stories and characters out of sticks and grass.” You can read his full thoughts here.  

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice VR

Developer: Ninja Theory | Link: Steam | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index

Don’t let the lack of motion control support put you off: Hellblade is a thing of terrible beauty in VR. Just like the regular version, you’ll play it in third-person with a gamepad or mouse and keyboard, but being able to swivel your head around while Senua moves makes you appreciate just how stunning a world Ninja Theory has crafted. 

It was already a moody game, but being surrounded by it makes it feel even more atmospheric—the voices that Senua hears in her head will torment you, and when they whisper in our ear, our hair stands on edge. It’s simply the best way to experience Hellblade if you’ve never played before, and even if you have, the VR version is free for owners of the original. Don’t miss out.

Vanishing Realms

Developer: Indimo Labs LLC | Link: Steam | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index

A polished first-person dungeon crawler about stabbing skeletons, finding treasure and solving riddles. The combat is considered without being difficult: enemies move slowly, but you still need to time your blocks, dodges and parries. Puzzles rarely challenge you too hard, but they help vary the pace, and item shops dotted throughout the world make you feel like you’re always progressing. If you can, grab The Sundered Rift expansion, which essentially doubles the size of the game and takes you out of dungeons into bigger, open areas: all told, you’ll have about six hours of exploration, and lots of secrets to find.

Blade and Sorcery

Developer: WarpFrog | Link: Steam | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality

This brutal fantasy combat game is still in Early Access, but it already has some of the best melee battles you’ll see in VR. It gives you endless ways to fight: you can zap lightning spells, punch enemies in slow motion, pick them up and bash their heads together, hurl concrete blocks at them with telekinesis, or simply just stab them in the belly. The enjoyment comes in stringing these moves together in imaginative, stylish ways. 

Battling human enemies sets it apart from the cartoony GORN, and the way the enemies crumple and scream when we skewer them makes us feel guilty for enjoying it so much . 

Developer: Gunfire Games | Link: Meta Quest | Compatibility: Oculus Rift

Chronos is one of the finest examples of an existing genre being imported into VR and gaining an immense boost of immersion in the process. As Wes wrote in his review : "This is a tried-and-true action RPG in the Zelda vein, with timing-heavy combat and puzzle solving that feel more than a little familiar. But Chronos did something for me that Zelda never could. That no game I’ve ever played on a monitor or TV has ever done for me. Even when I’m utterly absorbed in a game’s world, I don’t feel like I’ve been transported inside my monitor. But that’s what it feels like to play Chronos in VR. I was there , and I didn’t want that experience to end."

This is a meaty 15 hour adventure, with an interconnected (and often beautiful) world to explore and demanding, timing-based combat to learn. It's all a bit simplified compared to an RPG like Dark Souls, but the experience of playing in VR makes every minute engaging. Of the Oculus Rift launch lineup, this is the only one we'd call an absolute can't miss.

 L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files

Developer: Rockstar Games | Link: Steam | Compatibility: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift

Rockstar's opinion-splitting crime epic L.A. Noire is the last game you'd expect to make the transition to VR, but it works brilliantly. This isn't the whole game, but rather a selection of cases re-designed for virtual reality. As detective Cole Phelps you'll investigate murders, interrogate suspects, search for evidence, and occasionally reach for your service pistol.

It's the same stuff you do in the regular game, but rendered infinitely more engaging and intimate by the fact that you're controlling Phelps's arms, squeezing the trigger, flipping corpses over, and poking around grimy apartments for evidence. VR also gives you a new perspective on L.A. Noire's realistic performance-captured faces, which come into their own when you're interrogating someone who's trying to lie their way out of a prison sentence. The only downside is that you'll need a fairly hefty PC to run it.

Developer: Cyan Inc. | Link: S team | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality

A spiritual successor to Myst and Riven made by the original development team, Obduction is filled with environmental puzzles and clues hidden in plain site to help you solve them. It feels like you are actually in and exploring a classic Myst world, but there’s nothing old-fashioned about physically leaning your body in toward something to get a better look. 

But the reason Obduction really works well in VR is because the original Myst movement scheme was practically tailormade for Virtual Reality. You jump between set points in the world, then have time to look at your surroundings and take everything in. The mechanics and pacing of the game didn’t need to be compromised at all to make it ideal for VR. You can also run around normally if you have a stomach of steel, but Cyan has made each point you can hop to feel interesting and intentional, rather than just another dot on the path. 

The Talos Principle VR

Developer: Croteam | Link: Steam | Compatibility: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality

Sometimes you can just tell when an existing game will be a great fit for VR. The philosophical puzzle adventure game The Talos Principle from Croteam is one of them. Wander its mazes, solving progressively more difficult (and satisfying) puzzles and taking in the atmosphere of its unusual world. There's an intricate and thoughtful story at its center as well, and Croteam has done a great job in making the VR version feel natural and intuitive.

The Gallery Episode 1: Call of Starseed

Developer: Cloudhead Games | Link: Steam | Compatibility: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality

It seemed like a no-brainer that first-person adventure games in the Myst vein would be perfect for VR. Apparently, it was a no-brainer, because Obduction and The Gallery are two of the best VR games. The first episode of The Gallery transports you to a moody island at night, with little clue what's going on but plenty of atmosphere to pull you in. Walking around in real space to explore corners of the environment, and then picking up objects by reaching out and grabbing them, is... well, it's almost real.

This kind of VR experience is made or broken by the fidelity of the world and how believable it feels to be there, and some small touches in The Gallery help sell the effect. The lighting, the ability to hold a sheet of paper up to your face and read it, the little environmental touches like roman candles you can pick up and fire off. These are all the things that pulled me into the first hour of The Gallery, and at that point its mystery started to channel into an intriguing story with a sci-fi bent. It's the first episodic game we played in VR, and likely the first we'll play through to the end.

I Expect You To Die

Developer: Schell Games | Site: Steam | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index

A spy thriller with a very British sense of humour, I Expect You To Die packs each of its high-stakes scenarios—escape a submarine, defuse a bomb, drive a car from a moving airplane—with plenty of detail and funny quips. The central puzzles are clever enough (we especially enjoyed distilling an anti-virus serum while pretending to be a window cleaner), but what’s more impressive are the incidental interactions that sit alongside them. 

There’s champagne bottles to pop and pour—“a little early to celebrate, don’t you think?”—breakfasts to munch, cigars to smoke, and actual windows to wash with a sponge. It exercises the kind of restraint few VR games manage: it only has a handful of levels, but each one feels lavish.

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

Developer: Steel Crate Games | Link: Steam | Compatibility: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality

Keep Talking is the most family-friendly bomb disarming sim you can play today. Family friendly because some participants aren’t expected to play the videogame portion of the game at all, required instead to flip through a thick physical bomb disarmament instruction manual (that you need to print off yourself), screaming out directions while a lone player frantically flips and studies a virtual explosive device. 

The VR component isn’t the most immersive experience out there, but isolating yourself in a room with a complex bomb puzzle goes a long way in developing tension. It’s also a nice way to prevent cheaters from sneaking a peek at the manual themselves. And if you don’t have a VR headset, you can still play with a good old-fashioned monitor. Everybody wins (if they don’t explode). 

Accounting+

Developer: Crows Crows Crows, Squanch Games | Link: Steam | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index

The VR headset you put on to play Accounting+ is just the first of many. As you enter the cartoony, comedic, tremendously obnoxious game you'll find new VR headsets—virtual VR headsets—to strap on over your real ones. Each new headset plunges you into a new reality, each more bizarre and surreal than the last. You'll find yourself cleaning your office desk one moment and summoning demons the next, all while being screamed out by profane, oddball characters. 

It's quite a ride to take in just a half-hour or so, and the natural result of what happens when you lock The Stanley Parable developer Crows Crows Crows in a writer's room with Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland. Depending on your tastes, that's either an immediate sell or a hard nope.

Developer: KO_OP | Link: Steam | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index

The prettiest VR game we played in 2018. It’s a puzzler in which you open the box-shaped heads of colorful monsters, twisting and turning different objects inside to make something fun happen before turning the box over and twiddling some more. It’s like a VR Botanicula , and every dial you twiddle, or butterfly you poke, is accompanied by a brilliant sound effect. We have no idea what we’re doing sometimes, and the solutions to puzzles can feel obscure, but when prodding at the environment feels this delightful, we don’t care. 

Vacation Simulator

Developer: Owlchemy Labs | Link: Steam | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality

The follow up to the excellent Job Simulator is still silly VR fun, but it’s bigger in scope, swapping office cubicles and swivel chairs for sun, sea and beach balls. It plays as a series of minigames and simple puzzles across three worlds—beach, forest, and mountain. What makes it stick is how intuitive each interaction feels: your actions mimic familiar real-life movements, and fluid controls make it easy to lose yourself in the world. You roast marshmallows on a stick. You build sandcastles. You play volleyball. You melt ice with a hot drink. You slap paint onto canvas—all under the watchful eye of jovial robots. It can get repetitive, but if you’re looking for a light-hearted, accessible VR game that everyone can understand, this is it.

Trover Saves the Universe

Developer: Squanch Games | Link: Steam | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index

Squanch Games' unique blend of profane comedy and vibrant, bizarre world-building definitely isn't for everyone, but there's still a solid, if fairly simple, VR adventure-platformer beneath it. As an alien permanently stuck to a chair (a fitting excuse to play while sitting) you're on a quest to rescue your dogs from a madman while controlling a purple creature named Trover, who's too tired to do anything himself. Since Trover is the one doing all the acrobatics, it's a good game for those who typically suffer from motion sickness (though there's a bunch of gross-outs that may still make you queasy).

Virtual Virtual Reality

Developer: Tender Claws | Site: Steam | Compatibility: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift

In VVR, humans only exist for the entertainment of sentient robots: cue a cautionary tale about the future of AI full of witty writing and inventive minigames. To entertain each robot client, you must put on a series of (virtual) VR headset to play out various scenarios. One places you in a kitschy kitchen with an endless supply of toasters, and bread that needs buttering—another sees you soar above skyscrapers, their lights flashing rhythmically. 

It gets most interesting when you disobey your AI overlords, which leads to funny, and occasionally sinister, moments. We don’t want to say more: just jump in and poke around each level until something unexpected happens.

Catch and Release

Developer: Metricminds GmbH & Co KG | Link: Steam | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality

A chill fishing sim in which you row a boat to a likely spot on a lake, sling your hook, and enjoy the mountain scenery. It’s one of the most relaxing games you can play in VR and, as Chris wrote in the summer , it’s wonderfully interactive: to tune the radio to a song you want, you have to grab the tuning knob and twiddle, and to eat sandwiches you have to slam the bread into your face. You can even upload your own songs into a custom playlist to enjoy while you wait for a fish to bite. 

Elite: Dangerous

Developer: Frontier Developments | Link: Steam | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality

The first commercial game to offer native VR support, Elite: Dangerous is still the best example of the power of the tech to date. Strapped into the detailed cockpits of its ships, from bulky battleships to nimble fighters, dogfights are intense. It’s like being in the best Star Wars space battle ever. It’s also practical, because you can move your head to track enemy ships as they scream past you. Look down and you’ll see your pilot’s body, and their hands will mirror your own if you’re playing with a flight stick. You can even stand up and walk around your cockpit, providing it’s big enough to do so.

Elite is impressive in VR no matter what you’re doing: from docking to gazing slack-jawed at stunning cosmic scenery. You’ll never forget the first time you fly into a planet’s ring system. Millions of slowly spinning space-rocks fill your field of view, and you can’t help but just stop and stare. The galaxy is beautiful on a regular 2D screen, but in VR it feels truly massive. Jumping to other stars and docking feel more intimate and intense too when they’re happening right in front of your nose. When you jump to another system, you feel yourself leaning back in your chair as the stars streak past your windows.

Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator

Developer: SCS Software | Link: Official site | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive

Virtual reality can whisk you away to fantastic, unimaginable worlds, but it’s testament to the power of the tech that even driving a truck down a German motorway can be a mindblowing experience. Euro Truck Simulator 2 is a genuinely brilliant game, and with the launch of the new VR headsets, SCS Software has added support for the consumer Rift and the HTC Vive. You can read about how to enable VR support for either headset on the Steam forums .

The game is, as the title suggests, about driving trucks around Europe, delivering goods between depots, and obeying the rules of the road. It’s oddly hypnotising, despite the seemingly boring subject matter, and a polished, well-made game to boot. The detailed cockpits of the trucks, which are all replicas of real-world heavy goods vehicles, give you a powerful feeling of being in a physical, three-dimensional space. You can look up and see the sky moving past through the sunroof, or lean out of the window if you need to squeeze through a tight spot with an oversized load.

Rolling Line

Developer: Gaugepunk Games | Link: Steam | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality

If you can’t afford to build a huge model railway in your garage, then Rolling Line is the next best thing. You can play around with its two default sets—inspired by Santa Fe and New Zealand—or create your own from scratch with its simple, powerful building tools, which even let you choose where to place individual trees, and pick how big they’ll be. Slowly crafting your set and idly flicking with the signals is a great way to blow off steam.

No Man’s Sky

Developer: Hello Games | Link: Steam | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality

In addition to the massive amount of new features No Man's Sky has introduced over the years, you can now also play it in VR. It's not a different version of the game—you can use your old saves and jump in right where you left off, and even play right alongside players who don't use VR. Pretty neat, really. It could still use (and I suspect, will still get) some work, but it's already impressive that you can ride a procedural creature that's walking along a procedural planet and not instantly barf up your lunch. Zooming around in your spaceship in VR and gazing at the beautiful sci-fi panoramas is a cosmic pleasure.

Minecraft VR

Developer: Mojang | Link: Meta Quest | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality

For a game you can easily spend a dozen hours at a pop playing, with much of that time spent hunched over crafting menus and chipping away at stone walls, we're not sure Minecraft is really the best fit for VR on a regular basis. But as a way to explore beautifully blocky vistas and biomes from time to time, the VR works wonderfully. Longtime Minecraft fans will get a real thrill seeing the game they love from a whole new angle.

Brass Tactics

Developer: Hidden Path Entertainment | Link: Meta Quest | Compatibility : Oculus Rift

Brass Tactics is an RTS developed by the creative mind behind Age of Empires 2—and that pedigree shows. It makes us feel like a real-life general, towering over a miniature battlefield and directing intricately animated troops with our hands.

Everything is done through touch controls: to place structures you flip your hand to bring up lots of tiny models, grab one with your other hand, and throw it on the board. It’s not the most complex strategy game , but trying to keep an eye on the entire battlefield at once is enough of a challenge to keep us hooked. 

If you’re looking for something with a smaller scope, or you don’t have a Rift, we’d recommend Castle Must Be Mine , a cutesy tower defence game. 

Developer: Refract | Link: Steam | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index

The best arcade VR racing game spent six years in Early Access—and it was worth the wait. You drive around trippy, sci-fi tracks at impossible speeds, trying to react to the way its randomly generated tracks rotate and morph shape. You’ll sometimes take flight, too, jumping between sections of track and rotating your car to drive on the ceiling and up walls. 

It has a campaign, an arcade mode, online multiplayer and a track creation tool, and it’s all set to a wonderfully thumping soundtrack that will help keep you focused on the twisting road ahead.

Sprint Vector

Developer: Survios | Link: Steam | Compatibility: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift

Proof that exercise can be fun. You’ll get hot and sweaty swinging your arms to make your virtual skater zoom through icy levels, but in the moment you’ll barely notice your racing heart: you’ll be too busy hunting for shortcuts, hitting jumps, avoiding obstacles and lobbing power-ups at your opponents. A recent Steam review described it as “Like Mario Kart, but you're on LSD”, which isn’t a bad summation. Brightly-coloured tracks and thumping bass music are the backdrop for thrilling races against computer opponents. It’s a shame the online community is virtually dead, but it’s still worth a try, especially if you’re looking to burn some calories.

Final Assault

Developer: Phaser Lock Interactive | Site: Steam | Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality

Final Assault makes us long for Company of Heroes: VR. It’s a WW2 RTS that keeps resource management simple, auto-deploying units that march towards your enemy’s command centre—but you can also plop down your own units from a handheld list. You order your army around the battlefield by drawing routes on the map from overhead, which feels brilliant. It works best with planes: you sweep your hand across the sky and then trace a line on the ground, watching them swoop in and mow down enemy infantry. Different generals offer different units, and the variety of modes, including campaign scenarios and multiplayer skirmishes, give you plenty of reasons to return.

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Samuel Horti

Samuel Horti is a long-time freelance writer for PC Gamer based in the UK, who loves RPGs and making long lists of games he'll never have time to play. 

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Road Trip FRVR

Road Trip FRVR

With you master mind you will drive further, 11/29/2022 12:41:11 pm.

The 20 best VR games for PC

VR is here to stay

Since the release of pivotal Half-Life: Alyx, virtual reality has been going from strength to strength, so we've put together a list of the best VR games you can play on PC right now. It's by no means a complete list, as there are now more great VR games than you'll ever have time to play, but if you've just bought yourself a virtual reality headset such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive Cosmos or Valve Index, then these are the VR games you should play first.

We've concentrated on VR games that run on multiple platforms when compiling this list, though you will find a handful of Oculus exclusives among our top picks. We've also concentrating on looking at official releases rather than user-made hacks, as well as experiences that have been designed at least in part with VR in mind. That means no games that are mostly about staring or watching than actually playing. Don't forget, you can also play all the VR games below on an Oculus Quest as well, thanks to Oculus Link. Just follow our How to play Half-Life: Alyx on Oculus Quest guide to get started.

Best VR games

Virtual reality is an increasingly mature medium, which means the best VR games cover enough genres to appeal to most different kinds of players. Our picks of the very best are below, but if you think there's a great VR game we've missed then tell us why you love what you love in the comments below. You can also find out more about what we think of the best VR headsets for PC , or if you've got lost and don't want a VR game at all, check out our non-VR picks of the best PC games you can play right now.

Half-Life: Alyx

Pistol whip, no man's sky, i expect you to die, tetris effect, job simulator, serious sam vr: the last hope, american truck simulator, fantastic contraption, house of the dying sun, rez infinite, superhot vr.

A screenshot of two zombies in Half-Life: Alyx.

Half-Life: Alyx is Valve's first Half-Life game in 13 years, and their first FPS in eight, but they've lost none of the craft that first made them famous. HL:A takes everything that made previous games in the series great and makes them work in VR, from headcrabs pouncing at your face to Antlions bursting when you shoot their glowing sacs.

There's a lot that's new here, too. Set five years before the events of Half-Life 2, you take control of former sidekick Alyx. She speaks - the series' first talking protagonist - and the dialogue is funny throughout. Alyx also has gravity gloves rather than a gravity gun, to help you in pawing your way through the newly dense environments. You have to manually load bullets into your weapons, all of which can now be upgraded, and combat is newly tense as a result. Particularly during the frequent horror sections, which are among the scariest experiences you can have in VR and pitch perfect in avoiding frustration.

If you're looking for a large scale FPS game in VR, Half-Life: Alyx is the game for you. Valve can operate at a scale and level of polish that other studios simply can't afford to match. Hopefully it won't be another 13 years before they try again.

A screenshot of a surreal environment with silhouetted men in suits shooting at you in Pistol Whip.

Imagine Guitar Hero - or Beat Saber, elsewhere on this list - but you're shooting at men in time to the music instead of tapping or slicing blocks. That's Pistol Whip, and it's glorious.

Each level has you sliding down a straight tunnel as silhouetted figures appear and take aim. You have to duck and dodge their bullets, and shoot or punch them first. Some enemies wear armour and require multiple hits to go down, but otherwise there's not much more to it than that. It's easy enough, with generous aim assist, that you can breeze through most of its levels on your first couple of tries.

The real magic happens when you start trying to increase your score by timing your shots and reloads in time to the music, turning combat into a dance. It's propulsive like Hotline Miami. It's aesthetically complete like Superhot - the movie posters representing each stage are a particular highlight. And it's a surprisingly good way to workout and de-stress.

A screenshot of red and blue blocks coming toward you in Beat Saber.

Rhythm games turn out to be well suited to VR, and Beat Saber is their perfect expression. The game's basic structure is the same as any you might have played with a plastic guitar, as blocks swoosh towards you in columns and you must pop them in time with the music. The difference is that you don't hit them with button presses, but by slicing them with one of the glowing sabers you wield in each hand. Red blocks must be hit with the red saber, blue with the blue, and each block must be slashed in the direction indicated on their front.

The slow mastery of upbeat songs is more satisfying than ever when it involves turning you into the midway point between a dancer and a sword fighter. This alone would be enough to recommend the game, but the package around it is exemplary. Every song has easy, medium, hard and expert modes; there's a practice mode that lets you slow down songs so you can practice them; and there's a growing catalogue of user-created custom songs to import and official song packs to buy. Beat Saber operates smoothly within every limitation of VR, and makes use of its every benefit.

A screenshot of a ship cockpit in No Man's Sky

The galaxy-exploring survival-crafting-creative game has been gradually improving via free updates for a few years, and a recent update brought VR support with it. It's instantly one of the best full game experiences available in virtual reality.

That's in part because of the nature of the game itself. No Man's Sky is about flying between colourful planets, exploring their surfaces, and gawping at strange flora and fauna. All of these experiences are enhanced when done in VR. Hello Games have also put lots of effort into making sure the game's controls work in VR - swinging your arms to move is a good fit, and grabbing and hoisting on parts of your spacecraft is a delight.

It's also atmospheric enough that it's worth trying out even if you have no desire to build a spacebase or fight for survival. Simply land on a space station, sit at the end of the runway, and watch the NPC spaceships come and go.

A screenshot of a 50s style office with a projector on a table showing your mission stats in I Expect You To Die.

Virtual reality has offered a boon to adventure-style puzzle games, as it turns out tinkering with an environment is infinitely more interesting when you're doing it with your own hands rather than a set of verb buttons.

I Expect You To Die is one of the best: a spy movie spoof in which you're dropped into various familiar scenarios and must Bond your way out of them. You'll be dodging lasers and hot-wiring gadget-stuffed cars one moment, and neutralizing deadly neurotoxins the next.

As the name may suggest, you should expect to die a lot. Many of the levels drop you into a scenario where death is either imminent or a few missteps away. The levels are short however, once you know what you're doing, so repeating a handful of steps to recover your progress is rarely a bother. This is a game about making discoveries and thinking your way out of problems, not about the challenge of actually enacting solutions.

A screenshot of a hex-covered dome in Racket: Nx.

There are a lot of VR games hoping to recreate the breakout success of Wii Sports, but that game was dependent on hot seat multiplayer that's harder to recreate with a sweat-stained headset. Racket: Nx works by comparison because it's a sport designed from the ground up with VR in mind.

You stand in the middle of a hex-covered dome, racket in hand. Fizzing targets appear in waves via those hexes, and you must hit a ball into them to destroy them. There's a time limit, there are power-ups that extend your time and mines that deplete it. Most importantly, there is a button to attract the ball back towards your racket, so you can line up your next perfect shot.

The results capture the satisfaction of hitting a ball with a racket, and much of the challenge of doing so accurately, but in a way that's much better suited to virtual reality than rallying over a net with a partner.

A screenshot of a psychedelic Tetris board in Tetris Effect,

You'd be forgiven for being surprised that a Tetris game is the best anything in 2020, let alone a virtual reality game. At least until you hear that Tetris Effect's development involved Tetsuya Mizuguchi, the designer of Rez Infinite, found elsewhere on this list.

Tetris Effect is at its core still Tetris: tetrominos fall from the top and must be positioned in order to complete and clear lines. But around that it wraps stunning presentation, placing your playing field in the midst of starfields, underwater explorations, and dozens of other light shows. Each one reacts to the music and to your play, and builds until players reach the 'Zone', a phase of the game during which you're able to place multiple blocks at once.

The phrase "Tetris effect" refers to the way the game seeps into your consciousness until you begin to see its shapes and patterns in your thoughts, dreams and daily life. The game seems to take this as permission, turning a simple and still-wonderful puzzle game into something which aims to entrance, delight and fill you with awe. It succeeds.

A screenshot of a plane suspended on the edge of a cliff in The Climb.

The Climb is one of the most effective meeting points between high concept experience and substantial game that we've tried to date. It's a rock-climbing simulator, set in a small series of suitably fantastic-looking backdrops (thank you kindly, Cryengine), and that immediately saves it from the sick-making movement issues that can plague so many other games which shoot for a first-person experience. All the movement comes from the arms and shoulders here, and in short sharp bursts rather than sustained running.

The brilliance of The Climb is that it feels so physical, even without Touch controllers (though more so with them). When your character lunges up and out for a far-off grip, you shunt your torso with them. This is a standing still game, but the Rift's motion sensor keeps tabs on where your head is - and if it's not close enough to that grip, you're going to miss, and might well fall.

Oddly and mercifully, the vertigo is not as acute as the shots and concept might suggest, so this isn't a game to be afraid of - but it will give you a surprising work-out.

Cover image for YouTube video

Minecraft, the building/fighting game your damn kid/niece/nephew/neighbour spends every second of their time watching jolly videos about. It's an immediately easy pitch for VR: an infinite world, relatively sedate movement and combat, and the ability to be awed all over again by your own towering creations.

Minecraft's landscapes look fantastic in VR, too. A blockworld with all those clear, cuboid edges, somehow seems so much more tangible than the photoreality others shoot for. It's worth just booting up for the sake of looking at some scenery.

It's slightly more problematic to control, unfortunately. The official Minecraft VR doesn't support motion controllers, meaning you'll either be controlling the game via a cursor tied to your headset or via a regular gamepad. Thankfully there are unofficial mods such as Vivecraft , which offers a greater range of features and hardware support, including for motion controllers. It requires the original Java version of Minecraft to use and the official Minecraft VR is probably easier if you just want a brief visit to blockland.

A screenshot from Job Simulator where you're pretending to work in an old-fashioned, but brightly coloured garage.

Job Simulator is funny, but more importantly it understands that the nature of wearing a plastic box on your head and waving plastic sticks around is a) to be encumbered and b) to recreate only coarse approximations of reality.

And so it is that, primarily, you knock things over, set things on fire and generally break things via designed cack-handedness, in a boxy, joky alt-future where robots rule the world and are bemusedly recreating long-forgotten human jobs such as fry-chef, bored clerk and car mechanic for their own entertainment. It's a giggle, for about two hours, and then you've seen it all. But, first time around, it's irresistible.

A screenshot of a headless enemy running toward you in Serious Sam: The Last Hope.

Serious Sam VR is a total riot, and if you want a first-person gun for VR, this is king of the hill. It's not just a collection of mini-games, like so many VR shooters.

It's a giant-scale throwback to lightgun arcade games, but thanks to the VR controllers it goes one step further and essentially becomes a finger guns game, in which you mow down vast and endless hordes of ridiculous and ridiculously gigantic monsterfolk. In terms of defining the future of the medium, no, not at all; in terms of having a damned good time for quite some time with your headset, yes, absolutely.

A screenshot of a night scene from inside your truck in American Truck Simulator.

The best game you've (probably) never played is a surprisingly good fit for VR, given how intricate it can be - flying in the face of apparent current wisdom that VR games have to be as simple as possible.

American Truck Simulator is exactly as it sounds, but it's up to you whether that entails precision driving and tuning or just a jolly lovely road trip across a shrunken but still impressive California, Arizona and Nevada (more to come) while blasting a radio station of your choice. In VR, you get a driver's seat view and the ability to look around freely, which is a godsend at busy junctions.

The steady movement and vehicular nature of ATS also saves it from the physical dissonance/ motion sickness problems which dog anything that tries to replicate leg-based movement - this is one of the longer-haul VR prospects around. Headset + wheel + thermos full of coffee is a beautiful way to spend an evening.

A screenshot showing a rabbit (your character) creating a strange four-legged creature out of tubes and wireframes in Fantastic Contraption.

Fantastic Contraption is VR at its most toylike, a corncupia of assembling, stretching, rotating and reshaping minute parts as you invent bizarre DIY vehicles to navigate across physics-puzzle levels.

VR is famous for making us look like plonkers as we swipe and bat at imaginary things, but in FC's case, you'll look even worse - hunched over, poking, prodding and pulling with the tiniest of action, as if autopsying an invisible bee.

It's that sense of actually making and changing things which makes this so very memorable - and then the charm of pressing a button and seeing the whole machine attached to it move, hopefully, in more or less the right direction. But that sense of tactility, of fiddling with buttons and levers, extends even to the various menus. Push/pull/press/stretch/attach/dismantle! This is like going back to our first, wonder-filled visits to a science museum.

A screenshot of an open two-storey room with sliding shoji screen doors in Holopoint.

Holopoint is virtual reality archery, which in a sense endorses the sense that VR is the newest evolution of the Wii. It's the manual, physical action that really sings here - drawing back, taking aim and letting go, a real sense of bodily involvement in a way that waggling a motion controller to simulate a gun is not.

The structure is that of a wave shooter, with you desperately nocking up new arrows as assorted holographic shapes appear around you - but where many physicsy games want to giggle about how clumsy you are with a couple of plastic sticks in your hand, this one is about feeling like a bow-god. You'll pop a target, duck under an incoming blast, swivel while grabbing another arrow from your back, and unleash another shot all in a single movement. It's yer Hawkeye simulator, basically.

A screenshot of a long space tunnel surrounded in greenery in ADR1FT.

If any game is going to make you nauseous in virtual reality, it'll be ADR1FT. That's a great pity as its Gravity-aping float through a collapsing space station shtick is striking.

As the lone survivor of a space station catastrophe, you have to fix your suit and try to survive among the debris. It's gone to great lengths to make its distressed near-future environments detailed and impressive, and it's well worth seeing to put paid to any sentiment that VR can only do basic graphics. But yes, do take it easy. Not everyone gets sick while playing the game, but the mixture of your constant floating movement and its choice of controls makes a lot of people queasy.

A screenshot of a space battle taking place between red asteroids in House Of The Dying Sun.

If it's spaceship dogfighting you want, House Of The Dying Sun is our pick. It's an accessible yet highly tactical game, focused on combat first and foremost, and it's entirely welcoming to elaborate setups including VR and HOTAS. While not as visually breathtaking in VR as Elite Dangerous is, it's nonetheless an impressively natural fit, plus you get to jump straight into action rather than coast about for hours looking for trouble and/or mining opportunities. The atmosphere's great, the action taut.

The menus are particularly lovely in VR too - vast starfields pulsing in the background, and this neat gimmick of switching between a sort of tactical map and straight into the cockpit of your choice - or jumping over to a different one in your squad. That's much better than squinting at the small text of Elite's heads-up display.

A screenshot of Captain Olivia Rhodes from Lone Echo holding a tablet with your android character's face on it.

So many VR games have hamstrung controls - full analogue character movement rendered undesirable in many games due to as-yet unresolved motion sickness issues - but few seek to make a virtue of it. Although Lone Echo's selling point is that it's a sizeable, story-led game set during a space station disaster, what makes it work so well is how it makes cumbersome control part of the fantasy.

In low gravity, you can't simply amble around - you need to grab handholds and push yourself bodily. Though, seeing as you are an advanced android known as JACK, you also get wrist-mounted mini-thrusters which allow brief movement when you're too far from a grip. Thus, Lone Echo's key challenge is navigation itself - using ledges and edges and LCD screens and even colleague's shoulders to haul yourself around the space station. And, later on, to haul yourself around the exterior of the station without tumbling into the abyss. This can be hard work at times, but it is absolute fealty to an idea.

On top of that, it's very well performed, with some strikingly realistic (by VR standards) face modelling that encourages forming a human connection with your fleshy companions. Impressive stuff.

A screenshot of a solider rounding the corner of a building at sunset, aiming his gun at a military truck in Onwards.

Onward is Counter-Strike for VR, where each round one team attempts to arm an objective while the other defends it. It avoids the cartoony look that most VR games go for, and instead acts as an example of how the realistic approach can work. That applies to the guns as well, which all need to be loaded manually and have their various firing mechanisms primed in specific ways. It doesn’t attempt to do anything fancy with movement, but it doesn’t need to.

You know that moment in an FPS when you’re standing next to a corner, convinced that someone is just the other side of it? It’s a common dilemma: whether to leap out and hope the element of surprise is on your side, or to sit tight and wait for them to run into your crosshairs. In Onward, there's a third option. Without looking, you could stick your gun around the corner and fire - very possibly knocking your would-be ambusher out of the round. That's the kind of stuff that lifelong gaming memories are made of.

A screenshot showing your wireframe character flying through a black void with strange white shapes on the horizon in Rez Infinite.

There are good reasons for most non-VR games to avoid the leap to virtual reality. Full 3D control is tricky to achieve without causing a mass evacuation of players' lunches, and usually it either requires an almighty GPU or significant technical reworking to make a modern game run well in VR.

Step forward Rez Infinite, the cult-classic PlayStation musical shooter whose combination of a semi-fixed camera and beautiful, abstract, non-photoreal graphics put it in a rare sweet spot. You sit down with a gamepad and allow yourself to be overcome by the sight and sound of it all, a genteel sensory overload - always effective from a beat point of view, but wraparound visuals augment that wonderfully.

And all that's before you try out the new 'Area X' mode, which bumps the look from vaguely Tron-ish neon grids to positively celestial starfields. At its best, VR involves a visit to another, impossible place - and Rez Infinite is exactly that. A must-have.

A screenshot showing two red enemies coming toward you with two flying shuriken on either side of them in Superhot VR.

Superhot VR is the virtual reality game that most says 'you are in an action movie.' You really, really are - uppercutting and bottle-throwing and weapon-grabbing and weapon-discarding and weapon-firing and oh so John Woo it hurts.

This is a game of sudden, precise and thrilling arm movements, where every action makes you feel supercool. This all works because of SUPERHOT's take on slow-motion: the entire game moves at a glacial speed unless you're moving (or throwing or punching or shooting), in which case it goes real-time. This means that every breath you take, every move you make, every bone you break, every step you take is thought-through in advance - which invariably means it's successful.

Those playground games we played, when every punch KO'd and every shot killed imaginary baddies? This is that. And there is no shortage of challenge - though every shot might hit, taking people out in the right order and making sure you evade their attacks too is another matter entirely.

Note that though Superhot is also available for your desktop computer, Superhot VR is not a mere port, but a whole new game made specifically for virtual reality. The care and attention pays dividends. SUPERHOT is about as good as VR gets.

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UploadVR

Best VR Games Of All-Time: 25 Titles To Play Right Now

Trying to find a list of the all-time best VR games across Quest, PC VR, Pico and PSVR? We’ve got you covered.

For years now at UploadVR we’ve kept regularly updated lists of the best virtual reality games on individual platforms, including Quest 2 , PC VR, Pico 4 and PSVR 2 . If you're looking for the best VR games on individual platforms though, see our lists below.

  • Best Oculus Quest & Meta Quest 2 Games
  • Best PC VR Games
  • Best PSVR Games
  • Best PSVR 2 Games

However, there's also enough content to compile those into a master list of the best VR games of all-time. For each game on the list below, we’ve noted which platforms you can play on and linked to more coverage if you want to go further down the rabbit hole on a particular developer or game. If you're looking to buy a headset, you can also check out our best VR headset guide for more information. While Pico 4 games are only available through the mobile app ( iOS and Google Play ) or the in-headset store, you’ll find the titles in this list available on the Oculus Store for Quest and Rift , Steam and the PlayStation Store .

But enough talk, let’s run down our list of the best VR games of all time!

The Best VR Games – Ranked

25. unplugged - air guitar (pc vr, pico, psvr 2, quest).

Unplugged - Air Guitar from Anotherway is a hugely innovative and entertaining rhythm game that we consider "Essential" to play in VR. It debuted in 2021 and uses Quest’s hand tracking to deliver an empowering Guitar Hero-like experience. Hand tracking technology is now reliable enough to make an experience like Unplugged completely enjoyable, but you might still experience the odd hiccup every now and then. Still, with a killer setlist of classic rock tracks and great production value, Unplugged offers "totally unique experiences, previously thought unimaginable." It's also available on PC VR and PSVR 2 using controllers , but we don’t recommend trying the experience that way if you already have a Quest headset.

Read more: Bringing Air Guitar To Life Platforms: Quest Store / Steam Store / PlayStation Store

vr road trip game

24. A Fisherman’s Tale (PC VR, Pico, PSVR, Quest)

A Fisherman’s Tale from InnerspaceVR debuted in 2019 as a mind-bending puzzle game unlike anything else. It features a combination of "inventive, platform-driven gameplay, medium-rooted narrative and...arresting immersion" that sees you solve intricate, scale-based puzzles in which you work
 with yourself. Its best puzzles utilize a miniature model of the lighthouse the game’s set in. Lift the model's roof and there's a mini-you, imitating your every move. Throw in a poignant story about self-acceptance and you have a top rated VR game, one that's brief, sharp and stays with you longer than most multi-hour epics.

Read More: Another Fisherman's Tale Platforms: Quest Store / Steam Store / PlayStation Store

vr road trip game

23. What the Bat? (PC VR, PSVR 2, Quest)

What the Bat? from Triband was one of the best indie VR games in 2022, taking our VR Game of the Year award. A great introduction to VR for newcomers that could have you laughing within a few minutes, our "Recommended" review called it a "deceptively complex game that begs to be shown to friends and family members." Placing you into scenarios where you're given a pair of baseball bat hands, you're tasked with doing almost anything besides actually playing baseball.

Platforms: Quest Store / Steam Store / PlayStation Store

vr road trip game

22. Onward (PC VR, Quest)

There’s something for everyone when it comes to VR shooters, from the Counter-Strike-inspired madness of Pavlov to the Fornite-aping antics of Population: One . But, for our money, the focus in Onward on realism still holds it above all others. Onward on Quest was "definitely going to make a lot of Quest users happy" with its debut on that platform in 2020 from Downpour Interactive. The wire-free gameplay really comes into its own in standalone, opening up new tactics like easily going prone. Onward can be hard to get to grips with, but absolutely rewarding to master.

Platforms: Quest Store / Steam Store

vr road trip game

21. Blood & Truth (PSVR)

The London Heist minigame in PlayStation VR Worlds remains one of the most polished and engaging story-driven VR games out there. Developer Sony London took its short tale of crime capers and in 2019 turned it "a fully-fledged narrative that features some of the best performances we’ve seen in VR yet." Every level in Blood & Truth brings new interactions and mechanics to explore. Its story might be somewhat cheesy, but its character models are unmatched and the stunning setpiece moments are often Uncharted-worthy. Don’t let the Guy Ritchie accents fool you; Blood & Truth is one to take seriously and one of the best VR games.

Platforms: PlayStation Store

vr road trip game

20. Iron Man VR (PSVR and Quest 2)

Originally a PSVR exclusive in 2020, Iron Man VR appeared on Quest 2 two years later. Developed by Camouflaj and Endeavor One, the standalone port features drastic improvements like minimal loading times , making this a "Recommended" experience. Playing as Tony Stark, Iron Man VR "captures the essence of the character in the same way that Insomniac and Rocksteady have done on flatscreen platforms with Spider-Man and Batman." On Quest 2, it delivers an engaging story-driven campaign, boosted by strong combat and satisfying traversal.

Read More : Iron Man VR Review (PSVR) / Iron Man VR Quest 2 Review Platforms:   Quest Store / PlayStation Store

vr road trip game

19. Eleven Table Tennis (PC VR, Pico 4, Quest)

If you want the most accurate, authentic representation of a sport in VR today, Eleven Table Tennis from For Fun Labs is easily your best bet. This simulation-level game first released on Steam in 2016 and has been updated continuously since then. Whether you’re serving up hotshots or getting in desperate returns, Eleven’s physics behave exactly the way you’d expect in real life, and tapping the ball with your controller starts to feel as natural as if it were a paddle. More than just a great game, Eleven is one of the rare VR experiences that feels like a genuine replacement for our reality. Yes, it’s that good and one of the best VR games.

vr road trip game

18. Blade And Sorcery (PC VR, Quest 2)

If you’re not hot on VR violence, Blade And Sorcery from Warpfrog is not the game for you. Released in 2018, it's a bloody mess of stabbing, slicing and electrifying and in our Blade and Sorcery: Nomad review on Quest, we called it "a messy, lethal playground with endlessly entertaining results that you simply couldn’t get outside of VR." It’s sandbox, physics-driven combat gives your character real heft, giving every blow a tactile sensation. Still in early access, there's a long way for Blade And Sorcery to go but unparalleled mod support turns it into a fan’s dream, making it an essential pick for the best VR games.

Platforms : Quest Store / Steam Store

vr road trip game

17. Skyrim VR (PC VR, PSVR)

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR from Bethesda is, unsurprisingly, Skyrim in VR. Officially released in 2018, there are definitely some awkward quirks to this port of the ever-popular fantasy RPG. We believe that in many ways, Skyrim VR is "the ultimate version of one of the greatest RPGs of all-time" as you explore Tamriel like never before. With hundreds of hours worth of content, full autonomy to make the kind of character you want and an enormous world to explore, Skyrim VR is the closest we’ve come to fulfilling every adventurer’s dreams. Mod support on PC makes this an unending fountain of brilliant fan-made content that can turn you into entirely new characters or experience whole other games that are just as good as the original. Skyrim VR is hard to top and remains one of the best VR games.

Read More: Best Mods Platforms: Steam Store / PlayStation Store

vr road trip game

16. Lone Echo (Rift)

Packed with strong production values, 2017's Lone Echo provides a "winning blend of intuitive movement, discovery-based gameplay and character-driven storytelling," using zero-gravity traversal and thoughtful character interactions to deliver a compelling campaign.

The game also spawned its own standalone multiplayer spin-off game, Echo VR, which was one of VR's most immediately fun and original multiplayer experiences. However, Echo VR and it's $10 Echo Combat expansion are shutting down in August 2023. However, the single player Lone Echo experience (and its sequel Lone Echo 2 ) remain untouched, with the former maintaining a place on this list as one of the best VR games available.

Read More : Echo VR Shutdown Summary / Lone Echo Review Platforms: Lone Echo Rift Store

vr road trip game

15. No Man’s Sky VR (PC VR, PSVR, PSVR 2)

No Man’s Sky from Hello Games is a hugely ambitious premise that pays off. It offers an "essentially endless, infinite universe to explore and a sense of scale that’s really hard to match in VR" with procedurally generated planets, unending oceans of space and multiplayer support. Hello Games put incredible effort into this VR update and has continued building on it with new updates. There are plenty of beautiful sights and sounds, but also a fairly punishing survival loop and resource-gathering grind to fight against. If that's up your street, No Man’s Sky comes recommended. The PSVR port is toned down from PC and PSVR 2 , but it’s still one of the best VR games.

Platforms: Steam Store / PlayStation Store

vr road trip game

14. Walkabout Mini Golf (PC VR, Pico, Quest, PSVR 2)

If you're looking for proof that mini golf works well in VR, then look no further than Walkabout Mini Golf . From its 2020 release onward, the developers of Walkabout created an experience that accurately represents mini golf, while also going far beyond what's physically possible with the game in real life. This ticks all the boxes – there's new courses every couple months and extensive multiplayer support.  Room codes let you find players across all VR platforms and guest passes allow you to share access to DLC courses like Myst , Upside Town , and Atlantis .

There's hidden balls to find on each hole and a night mode to unlock for more challenging play. The most engaged Walkabout players will even find themselves on "fox hunt" puzzling taking them across areas adjacent to the course, like across the full-size Labyrinth inspired by Jim Henson's movie or the vast Sahara desert surrounding Temple At Zerzura . There's a lot to explore, all grounded by pinpoint physics that are arguably better than the real thing – there's no small snags like you'll find on the surfaces of physical mini golf courses.

Read More : Guided Walkabout Course Tours Platforms: Quest Store / Steam Store / PlayStation Store

vr road trip game

13. Beat Saber (PC VR, PSVR, Quest – PSVR 2 planned)

Beat Saber from Beat Games remains the closest VR has gotten to a ‘killer app.’ The game left early access in 2019 and has been expanded continuously ever since, but one go is all you need to understand. This rhythm game with knock-off lightsabers is an utterly essential experience that remains "completely relevant to modern audiences, exemplifying sublime gameplay that puts intelligent VR design first."You slash notes in time with a beat, which sounds simple but there are few things more satisfying to do in VR. Plus, you'll be working up a sweat and instinctively dancing to the track. Many people will tell you Beat Saber is one of the best VR games, and they’re absolutely right.

Read More: Custom Songs / Beat Saber Review Platforms: Quest Store / Steam Store / PlayStation Store

vr road trip game

12. Asgard’s Wrath (Rift)

Asgard’s Wrath from Sanzaru Games shows the potential of a VR RPG built from the ground up. Released in 2019, it might not match Skyrim VR in size and scale, but this top-rated experience offers "a captivating experience full of enchanting adventure from start to finish" that many hoped VR would offer when they first picked up a headset. It's as AAA as native VR gaming gets with a meaty, 30+ hour campaign filled with secrets and eye candy to gawk at, boosted by a refined menu and combat system. Asgard's Wrath really puts you into this gorgeous world of Norse mythology, featuring incredible moments of heart-pounding action, intense connection and profound growth that could only be achieved in a VR game.

Platforms: Rift Store

vr road trip game

11. Resident Evil Village (PSVR 2)

Resident Evil Village by Capcom marks the franchise's third mainline entry to get VR support. A phenomenal PSVR 2 launch title and an amazing horror shooter, its VR release in 2023 features a fully-fledged campaign that we strongly recommended, believing it "reaches a scale of spectacle rarely seen in VR." Because it was originally designed for flatscreen platforms, some sequences are fairly intense for new VR users. Expect your head and field of view to be quickly repositioned without notice. Nonetheless, a well-paced campaign, gorgeous visuals and engaging gunplay makes Resident Evil Village one of VR's best games.

Read More : Capcom Q&A / Resident Evil Village VR Review Platforms: PlayStation Store

vr road trip game

10. Horizon Call of the Mountain (PSVR 2)

Horizon Call of the Mountain from Guerrilla Games and Firesprite kicked off a strong start for PSVR 2 in 2023. It's a game that "could only work in VR and simultaneously feels faithful to the Horizon franchise" and offers one of the most visually stunning and dense VR experiences available, rivaling Half-Life: Alyx. While the gameplay isn't necessarily revelatory for VR, it is nonetheless incredibly polished and a stunning experience to behold in-headset. For any PSVR 2 owner, Call of the Mountain is an essential experience.

vr road trip game

9. Resident Evil 4 VR (Quest 2)

Resident Evil 7 and Village might be the flashier entries, but we believe Resident Evil 4 VR is "an incredible, if not definitive take on an all-time classic." Armature implemented VR at a meticulous level in 2021. The game's motion-controlled aiming, physical attacks and new interactions really route you in Leon’s journey. This is still very much a 2D game port with plenty of virtual window watching and some bothersome quick time events, but Resident Evil 4 VR successfully captures the original's intensity in new ways.

Read More: Resident Evil 4 Remake VR Mode Platforms: Quest Store

vr road trip game

8. Boneworks (PC VR)

If you want to see how far VR design has come since consumer VR's beginnings, check out 2019's Boneworks by Stress Level Zero. It might not have the most masterfully designed of shooter campaigns, but this highly rated physics-based combat sandbox is a true marvel to behold. Filled with "interactive wizardry, devilishly gratifying combat and stunning physical authenticity, even if that occasionally works against you. "This VR shooter lets you pick up every object and wield them as weapons, they all have physical presence in the world. It’s laid the foundations for the future of VR gaming.

Read More: Boneworks Review / Bonelab Review Platforms: Steam Store

vr road trip game

7. Vertigo 2 (PC VR)

Rated " Essential " by UploadVR with its SteamVR release in 2023, Vertigo 2 is one of the best PC VR campaigns available and a masterclass in enthralling, VR-first game design. What's even more impressive is that it's largely put together by one solo developer – Zach Tsiakalis-Brown from Zulubo Productions.

It "pays homage Valve classics and others VR releases, but doesn’t fall victim to imitating them," offering an impressive solo gaming experience in the same vein as Half-Life: Alyx. It's a shining example of the best PC VR has to offer in 2023. While it won't be coming to Quest , there's a chance PSVR 2 support might happen.

Read More : Vertigo 2 Review / Level Editor / Vertigo Remastered Review Platforms: Steam Store

vr road trip game

6. Pistol Whip (PC VR, Pico 4, PSVR, PSVR 2, Quest)

Pistol Whip from Cloudhead Games first released in 2019 and its sharpshooting, sharp sounding, beat-based gameplay proves to be even more hypnotic than Beat Saber. On release, we noted that that the game "is neither fully a shooter nor completely a rhythm game yet it ticks off both boxes and does so exceptionally quickly in a stylish package."

In this neon-lit shooter, you stream down corridors, blasting bad guys to the rhythm of grizzly tunes, avoiding incoming fire and trying to rack up the best scores by playing on-beat. Whereas Beat Saber wants to make you a dancing Jedi master, Pistol Whip aims to teach you gun-fu with style, elegantly fusing the rhythmic and cinematic together into a pulsating, vibrant monster of its own.

Read More: Pistol Whip Review / Modding Tool Platforms: Quest Store / Steam Store / PlayStation Store

vr road trip game

5. Demeo (PC VR, Pico 4, PSVR 2, Quest)

Demeo isn’t a perfect tabletop game, but it is an essential VR game. Resolution Games have provided a trove of consistent content updates since the game's release in 2021, resulting in first-rate four-player multiplayer VR that provides "a near-peerless social VR experience, polished to such a degree that it transforms the kinks of its systems into enjoyable, suspenseful quirks."

You pick a class and a campaign, then tackle enemies across randomly-generated dungeons and environments with your friends.  The game’s punishing difficulty means sessions can last anywhere from a few minutes to multiple hours. Demeo is one of the best VR games, boosted further by cross-platform play across all versions, with Resolution Games still working on more content to come.

Read More: Demeo Hand Tracking / Demeo Battles / Mixed Reality Support / Reign of Madness Expansion

Platforms : Quest Store / Steam Store / PlayStation Store / PC Edition

vr road trip game

4. Superhot VR (PC VR, Pico 4, PSVR, Quest)

Superhot VR from the Superhot Team is one of the most instantly rewarding VR games. It released for the Rift's Touch controllers in 2016 , offering "a pure, distilled, injection of unadulterated adrenaline that will get your blood pumping." However, it achieved its full potential with wireless freedom on Quest in 2019.

In Superhot, time moves only when you do – when you’re still, the world around you is too. When you raise your arm or duck your head, the world crawls to life. Every catch of a handgun or toss of a ninja star comes with an incredible strand of slick satisfaction you won’t find anywhere else. Superhot VR is one of the medium's highest-selling games and, in our view, one of the very best VR games as well.

Read More: Making of / Superhot VR Review Platforms: Quest Store / Steam Store / PlayStation Store

vr road trip game

3. Astro Bot Rescue Mission (PSVR)

Astro Bot Rescue Mission from Team Asobi was a highly-rated platforming triumph for PSVR in 2018, offering "further proof that third-person VR not only works but can be just as powerful as the best first-person experiences." A follow up to Sony Japan's Playroom VR compilation, every Astro Bot levels packs new ideas that range from endearingly novel to properly groundbreaking. It’s an absolute joy to play from start to finish that never ceases to amaze you. Plus, there’s power to the bond you form with Astro on this adventure, breaking down the barriers between players and characters in ways not often seen in gaming.

vr road trip game

2. The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (PC VR, PSVR, Quest)

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners from Skydance Interactive is a VR essential, delivering some of the best design and user-interaction you’ll find in VR. Released in 2020, "it’s a zombie apocalypse within your grasp – a living, breathing virtual ruin with player-driven highs that easily outshine its experimental lows." It sets the bar for VR zombie games using Boneworks-style, physics-based combat. The game will have you wrestling with undead hordes, packing its action into a full, meaty VR campaign that sees you trekking through the remains of New Orleans. Add in side-missions and the ability to kill zombies with a spoon, and you have one of the deepest native VR games on the market.

Read More: Saints & Sinners Review / Chapter 2: Retribution Platforms: Quest Store / Steam Store / PlayStation Store

vr road trip game

1. Half-Life: Alyx (PC VR)

It might not technically be Half-Life 3 but make no mistake, Half-Life: Alyx from Valve is a full-sized adventure worthy of the series’ past releases. Giving it top marks in 2020, we believe that "what it does right, it almost always does the best." Playing as Alyx Vance, you fight through City 17 in a highly polished adventure fully designed for VR, relying on classic series elements and introducing plenty of new features. It’s 10+ hours of immaculate, AAA-level VR shootouts, puzzles and narrative design, features some of the best firefights you can have inside a headset and offers truly memorable moments within. Half-Life: Alyx is arguably the best VR game yet, and we hope to see more from Valve.

Read More: Half-Life: Alyx Review / Best Mods Platforms: Steam Store

vr road trip game

Update - 04/24/23 : Until You Fall, Zenith, A Township Tale, Wipeout, RE7 and Ultrawings 2 were removed from the list. Iron Man VR, Walkabout Mini Golf, What The Bat?, Resident Evil Village, Vertigo 2 and Horizon Call of the Mountain were added.  

Update - 02/09/22 : Star Wars: Squadrons, Ghost Giant, Moss, The Room, Gorn and Walkabout were removed from the list. Zenith, Unplugged, Ultrawings 2, A Township Tale and Resident Evil 4 were added.

This post was originally published January 15, 2021. Former UploadVR Editor Jamie Feltham contributed to entries on this list.

Top 25 Best Meta Quest 3 Games - Winter 2023

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Yearly Archives: 2021

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Quest Store New Years Sale Brings Discounts on Top Titles, Ends January 2nd

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Report: Apple Hires Meta’s XR Head of Public Relations

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5 Great Quest Games for New VR Players & Novice Gamers

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Road to VR’s 2021 Game of the Year Awards

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Unity’s Incredible Mixed Reality Demo is Coming to Quest in 2022

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‘Horizon Zero Dawn’ VR Support Arrives from Modder Behind ‘GTA’ & ‘Red Dead Redemption’ VR Mods

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Social VR App ‘Rec Room’ Raises $145M Funding, Now Valued at $3.5B

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A Big Update to ‘Bigscreen’ Boosts Room Sizes, Video Quality, & Quest Performance

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‘After the Fall’ Earned $1.4M in 24 Hours, Beating First Month of ‘Arizona Sunshine’ Sales

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‘Demeo’ 2022 Roadmap Promises PC Edition, New Adventures, PvP Mode & More

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The 20 Best Rated & Most Popular Quest Games & Apps – December 2021

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Simula One is a Standalone VR Headset Running Linux Desktop, Kickstarter in January

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Meta’s Latest Avatar System is Finally Rolling Out to All Unity Developers

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HTC Holiday Sale Discounts up to $300 off Vive PC VR Headsets & Accessories

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‘Puzzling Places’ to Bring its Engrossing 3D Jigsaw Puzzles to PSVR December 14th

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Star Wars VR ‘Vader Immortal’ Trilogy is Getting a Huge Discount, But Still No Quest 3 Upgrade

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‘Helldivers 2’ Fan Trailer Shows How Intense It Could be in VR

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‘Alien: Rogue Incursion’ Signals the Beginning of the End for Quest 2 & Quest Pro

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SOUL COVENANT Review – Ineffectual Melee Sandwiched in a Very Skippable Story

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The Secret to ‘Beat Saber’s’ Fun Isn’t What You Think – Inside XR Design

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Vision Pro is Hands-down the Best Movie Experience You Can Have on a Plane

COMMENTS

  1. The Long Drive on Steam

    About This Game This is a road trip game in an almost infinite random generated desert.The focus is on freedom, driving, exploration and immersion.It has minimal car maintenance and survival elements. Infinite Desert, Freedom and Driving: There are no invisible walls or unable to jump over small fences, or blinking red "wrong direction" signs on the hud. The car won't need 10-20 liter fuel ...

  2. Desert Bus VR on Steam

    The 1998 Penn and Teller cult hit mini-game is coming to virtual reality, so you can fully immerse yourself in the thrilling eight-hour trip from Arizona to Nevada. It's almost like you're driving the "wheel" thing! Desert Bus VR can also be played in standard digital reality if you don't own a VR headset. FEATURES Put the Pedal to ...

  3. 8 Best Oculus Quest 2 Travel Games and Experiences (Must Have)

    In this article I'm going to be talking about the 8 best Oculus Quest 2 travel games and experiences. Namely: National Geographic Explore VR. ecosphere. Alcove. 360 Travel Videos. Wander. Google Earth VR. Realities.

  4. Play Road Trip FRVR

    By FRVR. Genre: Average Rating: 4.8 / 5. It's a beautiful day! Climb in your car and get ready for a pleasant drive through the countryside. Road Trip offers a fun and relaxing way to unwind while exercising a bit of brainpower. The road is free of obstructions when you begin, but as you pass through the levels, the scenery and seasons change.

  5. TRIPP: Mood on Demand on Meta Quest

    Using stunning graphics and award-winning music, TRIPP gives you hundreds of ways to cultivate calm, focus, sleep and breathwork. Get your head in the game today. Winner of Gamesbeat 2024 Game Changers award. A low-cost subscription unlocks Mixed-Reality gifts and 100+ fully Immersive meditation experiences. Download Free Demo of TRIPP today.

  6. OFFROAD VR on Steam

    Offroad VR combines challenging physics-based offroad driving with virtual reality, offering an exciting game that allows players to explore diverse tracks with different vehicles. All Reviews: ... Offroad VR is an exhilarating virtual reality experience, offering a challenging physics-based offroad driving game. In this game, players must ...

  7. DriVR

    Showing the desert area of our open world driving game for VR called DriVR. This game will be available for Oculus Quest 2 and Pico headsets. We need your su...

  8. We've just announced our road trip adventure game made with Unity

    Road trip games are my favorite, haven't played any that properly captured the feeling of travel in a long time. After your trailer i have high hopes, so better don't let me down. ... After almost 3 years of development, I have finally completed the 1.0 version of my game. It's about playing with toy cars in VR and MR. Suggestions, feedback and ...

  9. The best VR games on PC

    These are all PC-based VR games, ... It's a psychedelic and enchanting trip everyone with a VR headset should take. ... delivering goods between depots, and obeying the rules of the road. It's ...

  10. Road Trip FRVR

    With you master mind you will drive further!

  11. The 20 best VR games for PC

    Best VR games. Virtual reality is an increasingly mature medium, which means the best VR games cover enough genres to appeal to most different kinds of players. ... but it's up to you whether that entails precision driving and tuning or just a jolly lovely road trip across a shrunken but still impressive California, Arizona and Nevada (more to ...

  12. 10 Amazing 'Power Trip' VR Games That Make You Feel Like A Badass

    Gorn ( Impressions) Sometimes you just want to hit things really hard and have a comically large impact when you do. Gorn is a game all about cavemen smashing the heads, arms, and pretty much ...

  13. Best VR Games Of All-Time: 25 Titles To Play (Summer 2023)

    25. Unplugged - Air Guitar (PC VR, Pico, PSVR 2, Quest) Unplugged - Air Guitar from Anotherway is a hugely innovative and entertaining rhythm game that we consider "Essential" to play in VR. It ...

  14. Featured

    Road to VR's 2020 Game of the Year Awards. Road to VR-Dec 21, 2020. 17. The 10 Best SteamVR Games to Play in 2020. Scott Hayden-Mar 26, 2020. 41. How to Clean Your VR Headset.

  15. Road trip in Roblox VR

    Oculus Rift S.Discord - https://discord.com/invite/DPd2vEkTwitter - https://twitter.com/7SpotmanGame - The Road Not Taken

  16. virtualvacation.us

    Road Trip 🚙. Experience road trips by virtually driving between cities. Begin! Guessing Game . Can you recognize where a city is just my walking around it? If so, give this game a go! Guessing Time! Support Us . Want to help Virtual Vacation out? Give us a share and give others the gift of travel!

  17. Road Testing the Latest Location-based VR Experiences

    Aug 16, 2023. 5. Location-based VR has bounced back since the pandemic. So let's get some arcade action! The fastest-growing company, Sandbox VR, has just opened their 40th location worldwide ...

  18. I took my viewers on a totally normal road trip

    Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/charborgShop - https://charborg.gg/Main Channel - http://www.youtube.com/charborgTwitter - https://twitter.com/charborggDisco...

  19. The Best VR Games for 2024

    The game adds a series of control enhancements for the VR platform, including 3D audio, a virtual living room mode (for a break from the first-person perspective), VR Turning (snaps head swiveling ...

  20. Road to VR

    Founded in 2011, Road to VR is the leading independent VR news publication. Covering PC VR, Quest, PSVR, Apple Vision Pro, and more.

  21. Top games tagged Roadtrip

    A narrative game about three childhood friends on a roadtrip, set inside their minibus. Northbound. Adventure. The Away Team. $8. In this interactive sci-fi adventure novel, you are the AI pilot of Earth's last interstellar ship. Underflow Studios. Interactive Fiction. Highway Blossoms: Next Exit.

  22. 2021

    Road to VR's 2021 Game of the Year Awards. Road to VR-Dec 21, 2021. 24. Unity's Incredible Mixed Reality Demo is Coming to Quest in 2022. Ben Lang-Dec 20, 2021. 16

  23. VR Roadtrip Game? : r/virtualreality

    A place to discuss any and all things Virtual Reality. ... Question/Support My buddy and I are searching for a VR game were we can have a coop roadtrip. Seems like there isnt really one tho. Are there any games in which you could coop drive for more than like 30 minutes. GMod maps are also welcome since you can play that in VR.