With virtual reality slowly taking hold of our world — in our workplaces, our love lives, and mundane activities like watching the Super Bowl — we’re begging you to skip all the metaverse talk and experience the more exciting and simple VR applications: hardcore gaming.
VR gaming used to be a pipe dream not too long ago (some are still unconvinced due to the industry’s slow progress), but there are steps being made every year to perfect the medium. Sony recently showed off the PlayStation VR 2 headset for the PS5, so it's safe to say the VR movement isn’t abandoning the gaming space.
The library of VR gaming experiences is still small but includes a solid mix of proven titles converted to a VR experience and entirely brand new experiences. No matter what VR headset you’re rocking or what genre you prefer, there’s a game out there for you. Just try to watch out for your TV screen while you’re playing.
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Beat Saber
Available platforms:
PC using a Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, or Windows Mixed Reality headsets, on the Meta Quest 2, and on Playstation VR.
Beat Saber is basically Just Dance meets Guitar Hero with lightsabers from Star Wars and a Tron aesthetic. Make some serious room in your gaming space, turn on one of the 100-plus available tracks, and swat at color-coded blocks that fly at you to the beat. (Don’t forget to dodge the obstacles). Rhythm games are a great way to break a sweat while gaming and Beat Saber is the absolute best one out there.
Superhot VR
Available platforms:
PC using a Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, or Windows Mixed Reality headsets, on the Meta Quest 2, and on Playstation VR.
Indie first-person shooter Superhot feels at home in virtual reality. Described as a bullet-time puzzler, time only moves forward when you do. Dodge bullets and fire back as you’re attacked by dozens of enemies from all angles. Half edge-of-your-seat shooter, half puzzle game — you won’t be able to put this one down until you’ve smashed (hopefully not any walls or objects in your room) through the entire game.
Skyrim VR
Available platforms:
PC using a Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, or Windows Mixed Reality headsets, on the Meta Quest 2, and on Playstation VR.
While the high-fantasy genre has been taken over by Elden Ring, Skyrim is still a masterpiece. A full-fledged RPG, the VR version of Skyrim is gorgeous (and can look even better with some modding). Explore the vast landscape of Skyrim and beyond, fighting vampires and bandits, settling a homestead with your partner, and fulfilling your destiny as the Dragonborn.
If you want to go all out, there are mods for the game that allow you to control magic and other abilities with your brainwaves.
No Man’s Sky
Available platforms:
PC using a Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, or Windows Mixed Reality headsets, on the Meta Quest 2, and on Playstation VR.
No Man’s Sky is an absolute epic sci-fi adventure that lets you explore an entire galaxy. Discover new planets, build bases, and interact with alien creatures both friend and foe. Objectives are few and far between — this is a world built for explorers.
VR-support was added post-launch for No Man’s Sky and long-time players say it feels like a completely new game. Gathering rare materials on hostile planets and piloting your spacecraft just feels a lot cooler in VR.
Blade & Sorcery
Available platforms:
PC using a Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, or Windows Mixed Reality headsets, and on the Meta Quest 2.
If you’ve ever played an RPG and thought “Man, I wish I could skip through all this lore and epic story to just wail on my friend with this sword,” then Blade & Sorcery is the game for you.
This VR title is essentially Skyrim or The Witcher 3 without the seemingly neverending lore and epic storyline, and trades the narrative for just wailing on a friend with a sword. Blade & Sorcery falls in the combat simulator genre and is PvP — it’s also physics-driven for intense battles.
Additionally, the game also has a massive modding community that regularly builds new and interesting additions, including a popular Star Wars conversion complete with lightsabers and Force abilities.
Minecraft VR
Available platforms:
PC using a Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, or Windows Mixed Reality headsets, on the Meta Quest 2, and on Playstation VR.
Minecraft VR is straight-up phenomenal. You wouldn’t think that virtual reality would add much to a game that boils down to digging through dirt searching for diamonds and occasionally whacking a skeleton, but it’s a whole new universe. VR makes exploring your randomly-generated Minecraft world all the more exciting and enemies lurking around the corner feel much more dangerous when you can turn around to find one swiping at your face.
Half-Life Alyx
Available platforms:
PC using a Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, or Windows Mixed Reality headsets, and on the Meta Quest 2.
Half-Life fans have been waiting for Half-Life 3 since the second installment in the series was released nearly 20 years ago. While fans are still hungry for a proper sequel, Half-Life: Alyx certainly lived up to expectations.
In VR, the horror elements of this sci-fi shooter are amplified. Jumpscares hit harder and deadlier enemies will have you fighting the urge to turn around and bolt in real life. The game has a good mix of slow-paced sections with story-building and action-packed combat that will satisfy fans of the series and newcomers alike.
Subnautica
Available platforms:
PC using a Valve Index, HTC Vive, or Oculus Rift headsets, and on the Oculus Meta 2.
Playing Subnautica in VR adds serious immersion to this underwater explorer. Ocean scenes look breathtaking, dangerous biomes feel a lot scarier, and swimming is a unique gaming experience in virtual reality. The VR can feel a little rough around the edges compared to more polished titles on this list, but modders have added tremendous value to the game with graphical and UX upgrades.
Vader Immortal
Available platforms:
PC using a Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, or Windows Mixed Reality headsets, on the Meta Quest 2, and on Playstation VR.
While it isn’t a mainstream Star Wars title like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order or Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, Vader Immortal is a must-play experience for anyone obsessed with the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker. The VR combat mechanics offer nothing new, but we never turn down an excuse to hold a lightsaber.
Track down and face Darth Vader at his mysterious Mustafar base — will you be able to hold your own against a Sith Lord?
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
Available platforms:
PC using a Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, or Windows Mixed Reality headsets, on the Meta Quest 2, and on Playstation VR.
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is an absolute blast if you’ve got the right group of friends or Twitch viewers to play it with. One player straps on a VR headset and is tasked with disarming a bomb covered in quick-hit puzzles. The only problem is that the manual for disarming the bomb safely has been divided up and distributed to other players who must quickly and calmly explain each puzzle. Do you trust your friends to help stop a ticking time bomb without talking over each other?
The puzzles are procedurally-generated so they’re fresh each time you play.
Tetris Effect: Connected
Available platforms:
PC using a Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, or Windows Mixed Reality headsets, on the Meta Quest 2, and on Playstation VR.
While we doubt anyone has played the original Tetris and thought “I wish this was more immersive,” we’re very glad the developers at Enhance and Sony took on the challenge. Tetris Effect: Connected takes the classic gameplay you’ve come to love and makes it, well, gorgeous. The visual effects are pretty stunning in VR and the soundtrack is still an absolute banger.
This latest rendition of the best-selling puzzler has a whopping 10 game modes including online and local multiplayer for mind-blowing head-to-head VR matches.
