It’s safe to say that Oculus Quest came out of the gates swinging. That makes picking a list of the best Oculus Quest games pretty tough.
Facebook’s standalone VR headset, which seems to have singlehandedly reignited the entire VR industry, launched with over 50 apps. In the months that have followed it’s cherry-picked a steady stream of other greatest hits to bring to an entirely new audience. The result is a platform that has a tightly curated list of fantastic VR experiences that are easy to discover.
But which are our favorites?
What Are The Best Oculus Quest Games?
We’ve poured over our list of the 25 best Oculus Quest games and experiences. Quest already spans a diverse number of genres, offering everything from accessible entry points to blockbuster titans.
If you’re looking to build out your library, you need to start here.
25. The Curious Tale Of The Stolen Pets – Read Our Review
If this were a list of the most wholesome Oculus Quest games, The Curious Tale Of The Stolen Pets would be right at the top. In this adorable VR puzzler you explore tiny diorama-like scenes that depict memories from your childhood. With the help of a grandparent, you go on the hunt for missing animals, buried within the levels and exploring your past relationship with a sibling.
From a challenge perspective, Curious Tale is a very light bit of brain-teasing, but it’s the game’s splendid visuals that really help it stand out. Take particular note of the gorgeous animation, which brings stop motion into VR with wonderful results. This is one that the whole family can enjoy.
24. National Geographic VR
It might romanticize the job of a National Geographic reporter a little too much, but this compelling travel app is still one of the best examples of what Quest can do beyond gaming. After the latest update, you can now travel to the arctic to kayak in icy waters, or get an intimate look at the ruins of Machu Picchu to learn about its unique history.
National Geographic VR excels because it has so many clever ways to teach you things about the areas you’re exploring, and the photogrammetry used to capture real-world environments really puts you in the moment. If you want to show someone just how VR can be used as a tool for travel or education, stick this on their heads.
23. Space Pirate Trainer
One of the original VR arcade shooters is still going strong on Quest. Space Pirate Trainer has proven to be an enduring, addictive take on VR wave-shooting that keeps us coming back for more. This was one of the first VR games to truly consider what two-handed combat and position tracking could mean for the platform. The result is a fast-paced shooter that keeps you on your toes and always ready to go another round.
22. Journey of the Gods – Read Our Review
Oculus itself once described Journey of the Gods as a Zelda-like adventure and we can’t think of a better way to put it. This might not have the scale of a Nintendo epic, but it captures the lively spirit and invention with satisfactory results. Whether you’re slaying monsters with a sword or calling upon the power of the gods to alter landscapes, Journey of the Gods presents a VR quest work undertaking.
21. Robo Recall Unplugged
We didn’t think Epic Games’ shiny shooter would ever be able to make it onto Quest. Boy were we wrong; the core experience remains fully intact here. This expansive wave shooter lets you tinker to your hearts content, finding the fun in robot massacre. Graphically it obviously doesn’t match the PC original, but it’s still a standout on Quest that proves the platform is capable of grand-scale VR games.
20. Apex Construct – Read Our Review
Apex Construct has to be one of the more ambitious ports from PC VR and PSVR to Quest, offering a full campaign built around the satisfaction that comes with firing a bow and arrow in VR. Fast Travel games pulled the conversion off with style, delivering a feature-complete version of a fun, if not spectacular adventure that gives you a glimpse of what a full VR game looks like.
19. Rec Room and VRChat
There are lots of social VR spaces out there, but few can compete with Rec Room and VRChat in terms of accessibility and content. Not only does Rec Room offer a pleasing mix of activities from sports to co-op quests, but it’s also given the community the tools to make its own fun. And VRChat itself is a sprawling hub of VR possibilities, and you can explore them all with friends on other headsets and even make your own worlds and avatars. It feels like the closest we’ve gotten to Ready Player One so far. Plus — both apps are totally free!
18. Face Your Fears II
If VR is good for anything, it’s surely scaring the crap out of your friends. Face Your Fears II is specifically designed to do just that, offering a number of short scary scenarios you can dare others to sit through. Moreover, FYFII is convincing evidence that the best VR doesn’t have to mean long-form experiences that tick all the boxes; shorter, sharper apps can often leave a heavier impact.
17. Racket: NX
Racket: NX is unique because it imagines a sport that wouldn’t be possible in real life at all. It’s basically like playing solo racquetball, floating in space. Each time you hit the ball it bounces back and around you in full 360 and is insanely addictive with it’s satisfying haptics and excellent audio. It is one of the few VR games where you can spend time refining a genuine skill just like you would in real life. It’s a great first-time experience too that embodies the benefits of wireless roomscale.
16. Espire 1: VR Operative – Read Our Review
It’s very true that Espire 1 is weighed down with lofty technical issues across the wide range of platforms you can play it on. The game’s AI can start running in circles, dampening the Splinter Cell-slickness you’re aiming for. But, when Espire 1 works it can be a truly compelling experience, especially on Quest.
This VR stealth game comes up with great context. You control androids that can sneak through levels by climbing walls, firing out sticky cams and creeping through vents. It’s the sense of freedom the game gives you that makes it such a standout, even if it’s also the reason Espire 1 occasionally caves in on itself.
15. Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes
Four or so years on from its first VR release, KTANE remains one of the most instant and excellent ways to show VR at parties and gatherings. One player puts on a headset to defuse a bomb. Others refer to a free manual detailing the steps needed to survive. Players need to work together, communicating at every step to reach a safe outcome. It’s frantic, ridiculous, heated and a consistent essential in any VR library. That makes it one of the best Oculus Quest games.
14. The Climb
The Climb was always a great showcase of comfortable VR locomotion, but it really finds a home on Quest where there’s no wire pulling you down as you scale up massive cliff faces. True, the game has taken a hit on the visual side compared to the stunning CryEngine showcase on Rift, but the visual design shines through to deliver something that can still be stunning to look at. There’s a little piece of The Climb in a lot of games that have released since, but few offer as thrilling gameplay.
13. Acron – Read Our Review
Acron is like capture the flag on acid… if you took acid in the middle of a forest. VR players become a tree that must throw seeds and other weapons at squirrels to stop them from stealing their nuts. The twist? Those squirrels are actually other players, joining in on smartphones via a free app working together to distract the VR user and claim their prize. It’s a winning concept that translates seamlessly into a fluid local multiplayer VR experience.
12. Job Simulator – Read Our Review
There’s a reason that Job Simulator remains one of the most referred-to VR experiences since launch in 2016. Its finely-tuned mix of engaging interactions and sandbox environments makes it the perfect place to introduce VR to others. This is silly, liberating and genuinely magical virtual experimentation. Expect the launch of Vacation Simulator on Oculus Quest to be just as significant.
11. Virtual-Virtual Reality – Read Our Review
VVR feels ahead of its time. It’s a narrative-driven VR experience that takes a satirical look at the future we’ve just put ourselves on by buying these shiny new headsets. It envisions a world in which players serve AI clients with outlandish obsessions. Though it’s sharp script starts off with its tongue in cheek, the further you dive into its twisted world, the more revealing this cautionary tale becomes. An essential piece of early VR storytelling.
10. The Exorcist: Legion VR – Read Our Review
Wolf & Wood was the perfect fit for an Exorcist VR game. The studio’s Chair in a Room series sought after a more harrowing brand of psychological scares compared to many cheaper horror games. It applies that logic to this disturbing five part series that does right by its namesake. Exorcist VR is a methodical detective terror that you won’t want to miss if you’re brave enough.
9. I Expect You To Die – Read Our Review
When Schell Games’ I Expect You To Die first launched years ago it offered a handful of levels that made for great escape room-style VR puzzling. Since then the developer had added yet more levels for free, making the Quest version that arrived in May 2019 the best release yet. This is a hugely enjoyable strand of trial-and-error brain-teasing that’s designed specifically around VR.
8. Accounting+ – Read Our Review
VR doesn’t get weirder nor more surreal than Accounting+, and we mean that in a very good way. This mad mashup from the minds behind Rick and Morty and Crows, Crows, Crows is a startling, erratic exploration of character presence in VR. In Accounting+, grotesque creatures scream at you and friendly abominations are gutted accidentally. It’s scary, awkward, hilarious and a wide range of other things that many VR games aren’t. That makes it one of the best Oculus Quest games.
7. Moss – Read Our Review
Moss is another game that might not feel like a natural fit for Quest, but sings on the strength of its content alone. This third-person platformer builds a powerful bond between player and protagonist that fuels the innovative gameplay and joyful sense of discovery. If you don’t have a PSVR or PC headset, this is the best example of why VR doesn’t have to be first-person to succeed.
6. Red Matter – Read Our Review
Broadly speaking, many developers have done a pretty good job bringing their PC and console VR games to Quest. No one has pulled it off quite as well as Red Matter, though, which absolutely shines on the platform. In this intriguing adventure-mystery you journey to an alien planet to investigate an abandoned enemy base in the midst of a Cold War-style sci-fi conflict. But developer Vertical Robot puts immersion above all else, making for an experience you can truly lose yourself in. Red Matter isn’t just the best looking game on the platform, it’s also one of the very best Oculus Quest games.
5. Beat Saber – Read Our Review
VR’s poster child finds its most natural fit on Quest. Wire-free gameplay breaks down the barriers between you and the music as you slice your way through an ever-growing list of tracks. Beat Saber is empowering, energetic and VR’s most devilishly addictive game yet. Don’t expect that status to change any time soon.
4. Star Wars: Vader Immortal Trilogy – Read Our Review
Vader Immortal isn’t a massive, multi-hour Star Wars epic with upgradable skills and deep combat. It is, by traditional gaming standards, a pretty slim package, lasting a little over 90 minutes. But look below the surface and you’ll find something much more interesting; an episodic series that wants to provide a completely immersive VR experience that anyone can enjoy.
There’s fun lightsaber combat to be had both in the story and the excellent Dojo mode, but Vader Immortal’s best moments come from basking in the presence of the Dark Lord himself and meeting other characters in VR. It’s an exercise in story-living and a pretty good one at that.
3. Pistol Whip – Read Our Review
Pistol Whip may be the new kid on the block but, for our money, its sharpshooting, sharp sounding, beat-based gameplay proves to be even more hypnotic than Beat Saber. In this neon-lit shooter, you stream down corridors, blasting bad guys to grizzly tunes, avoiding incoming fire and trying to rack up the best scores.
Pistol Whip’s key is to take influence not just from the VR sales king but also Superhot and, most prominently, John Wick. 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 a pulsating, vibrant monster of its own.
2. A Fisherman’s Tale – Read Our Review
As great as VR is, its initial novelty is bound to wear off after your first few weeks or so. If you want to recapture the magic of putting on the headset for the first time, though, there’s one destination that’s bound to deliver: A Fisherman’s Tale. This is a mind-bending puzzle game unlike anything you’ll see elsewhere. That alone makes it one of the best Oculus Quest games.
In A Fisherman’s Tale, 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 roof of the model and you’ll see a mini-you, imitating your every move. Just try and keep your brain from breaking as you hand yourself giant objects, or reach down to poke your own head. It’s a trip to say the least. Throw in a poignant story about self-acceptance and you have a short, sharp VR game that will stay with you much longer than most multi-hour epics.
1. Superhot VR – Read Our Review
We know, we know, another ‘Best 25 List’, another win for Superhot VR. But that stands testament to how powerful this VR shooter remains even today; a potent concoction of physical VR movement, eye-opening combat freedom and cinematic flair that others can but wish to replicate. Even better, Quest’s lack of wires and a first-rate port make this the best way to play arguably VR’s best game. Topping Superhot VR on our list of best Oculus Quest games will be tough.
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Do you agree with our list of best Oculus Quest games and apps? Let us know in the comments below!
Update 12/06/19 – A Fisherman’s Tale, Pistol Whip. Espire 1, Space Pirate Trainer, National Geographic VR, The Climb and The Curious Tale Of The Stolen Pets were added to the list. They replaced Raccoon Lagoon, Wands, Fujii, Orbus Reborn, BoxVR, Dreadhalls and Thumper.
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