VR Game Recommendations
Game recommendations are primarily focused on PC VR, but some games in this list have also been ported to standalone headsets and PSVR. Quest section only contains details about exclusives.
Introductory Demos
The Lab: Valve's smorgasbord tech demo of fun mini games and small experiences. Worth it just for the bow and arrow mini game.
Utilities
XSOverlay: This is one of the best upgrades you can make to your VR experience if you're in the SteamVR ecosystem. Adds much more functionality over the default desktop dash. Attach screens to your hand for quick viewing or place around your play space to streamline your shitposting from VR experience. Also allows you to check how much charge is left in your controller and tracker batteries and can display some performance stats.
Desktop+: A free alternative to XSOverlay that still provides some improvements over the default SteamVR desktop.
OVR Advanced Settings: A free tool that gives you access to a lot of extra settings and data. Lets you do things like completely hide the chaperone and fix your playspace height without rerunning room setup. Also includes playspace mover, which is especially useful with FBT. Formerly known as OpenVR Advanced Settings, the Steam version is now paid, but it's only really needed if you want easier updates.
https://github.com/OpenVR-Advanced-Settings/OpenVR-AdvancedSettings
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1009850/OVR_Advanced_Settings/
fpsVR: Provides more detailed performance metrics than the basic metrics you can get from some other SteamVR overlays. Not generally needed, but can help you track down performance issues if the stats in XSOverlay aren't enough.
Steam VR Wheel: An emulated steering wheel using SteamVR controllers for people without an actual one. Has some drawbacks, but it's nice for immersion if you'd rather not use a controller for racing sims.
https://github.com/mdovgialo/steam-vr-wheel
Applications
Vermillion - VR Painting: Unlike many of the other VR painting applications, Vermillion lets you do more traditional oil painting on a virtual canvas. Can be run as a SteamVR overlay so you can paint in other games, also supports multiplayer.
Open Brush: Paint stuff into the air for amazing holographic-feeling art. A replacement for Tiltbrush that builds off of their open sourced code.
Bigscreen: Allows users to mirror their desktop to a screen in a VR environment, which can be shared with others in multiplayer. Intended for watching movies or playing non-VR games in one of the preset environments. Still has some use for solo movie watching, but you're generally better off using VRChat for group watches.
Social and Metaverse
VRChat: Be the little girl. This is the biggest VR social app by far and is where you will find most of /vrg/. It allows the community to generate its own content such as worlds, games and avatars using Unity and VRChat’s API. UDON scripting has allowed for more gameplay functionality in worlds, but it's still fairly limited, so don't expect too much in the way of gameplay. This is primarily a social game and it does that well.
Resonite: Interesting application that's like a social VR unity engine. It supports direct importing in game of most 3d/2d assets and features an in game scripting language. If you have Freecad installed you can import and view CAD models in the STEP format straight in game. Developed by an autistic enginedev features are constantly being added so it's one to watch. Is a continuation of NeosVR under a new name.
Rec Room: The go-to free social multiplayer hang-out gaming application where you can play paintball, dodge ball, etc with others. Includes a very fun "Quest" mode that plays like Left 4 Dead where you're all going through a level and fighting off waves of enemies. Simple family friendly style. Warning: play with friends or at sleeping times, or risk running into sessions filled with kids.
Singleplayer FPS
Half-Life: Alyx: The first of Valve's promised VR games. As an Alyx-focused spinoff, it plays more like a survival horror game than your typical Half-Life game, with a slower pace, more scarce ammo, and more cramped environments, although it does open up more later in the game. Has been simplified in some ways for the sake of polish and comfort, but as a result, it feels like a full-fledged VR game instead of a tech demo. It's easily the most polished VR game out right now, and one of the best single player experiences you can have in VR. An Asset Pack has been released for Valve's level editor Hammer, and some Source 2 tools are available. Mods aren't as plentiful as HL2, but there's some good stuff out there on the Workshop.
Boneworks: Borderline tech demo with a incredibly robust physics system, and a soundtrack that's better than it has any right to be. Wears it's Half-Life influences on it's sleeve, and has more of HL2's physics tech demo feel than Alyx does. The physics interactions and smooth locomotion implementation are actually better than Alyx's, despite being janky at times. Story and enemy variety are pretty weak, but it's still a fun shooter that's worth playing just to mess around with the physics if nothing else. Unfortunately, the sequel, Bonelab, is a disappointing sequel that doesn't really fix any of the issues the first games had and is really only worth picking up if you're desperate for more of the same.
Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners: Work your way through post-apocalyptic New Orleans fighting zombies, crafting weapons and upgrades, and choosing how to deal with the survivors you come across. Based on the Walking Dead comics, but you don't really need to know anything about the series to enjoy it. Heavy emphasis on melee combat and player choice. If you like it, Chapter 2: Retribution is more of the same.
Vertigo 2: An improvement over the original in pretty much every way, and the best VR FPS released in years. Not quite as polished as Alyx, but has more enemy and level variety and feels less like it's been dumbed down for new VR users. It's incredibly well done for an indie project by a solo dev and at 8-10 hours long has a pretty good amount of content. There's no need to play the first game before playing this one, but you're better off playing both together.
Vertigo Remastered: A pretty solid singleplayer VR FPS that takes a lot of inspiration from Valve's games. Fairly short and somewhat rough around the edges since it's a refresh of a 2016 game that was done while developing the sequel, but it's definitely worth a playthrough if you're looking for more VR FPS to play.
Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades: Excellent firearms simulator. There is a large selection of weapons to pick from of different forms: single-action revolvers, lever-action shotguns, bolt-action rifles, assault rifles, and so on. These are all portrayed in a realistic manner and are a joy to play with. New content is always being added in the form of new guns and game modes. It takes some time to get used to a few of the controls such as operating a slide release and especially loading a Colt SAA, but these are all well explained in the devlogs on YouTube (which I highly suggest watching). Solid recommendation for any firearm enthusiast, especially to those in nogunz countries.
Superhot VR: A shooter with a unique and fun time slowdown mechanic where time moves only when you move, with room-scale sandbox-y gameplay and some melee action. Attractive simple art style. Very short at 1-2 hours but does have some replayability and is still highly enjoyable. Same amount of innovative feel for VR as Robo Recall, and goes in a different direction by playing with your perception of how time works (real body/hand/head movement = time movement), but much less well produced given the indie scope. The game had some "sensitive" content patched out back in 2021, but can be downgraded to restore that.
Multiplayer FPS
Pavlov VR: One of the most currently popular multiplayer FPS games on VR right now. The gameplay is modeled after Counter-Strike with a familiar buy system and very familiar weapons. The primary focus is Search and Destroy, although other game modes like DM, TDM, Gun Game, One in the Chamber, The Hidden, Push, and TTT are supported, along with some more custom game modes. Has an active modding community that adds in original maps and ports of well-known maps, especially CS maps.
Contractors: Currently the closest thing we have to CoD multiplayer in VR. Not as active as Pavlov, but with crossplay being supported, you can still find pub games, and it has a pretty good modding community.
Breachers: Rainbow Six Siege but in VR. Well polished attack and defend gameplay with a pretty limited set of maps for now. Fairly well populated if you include crossplay users, but you're likely to get stuck playing with kids if you play pub games.
Bonelab: Despite the unmodded singleplayer experience being a complete letdown, the Boneworks sequel is still worth playing around with in modded multiplayer lobbies. Since we currently have regularly hosted multiplayer lobbies for this on Saturdays with details here, this gets a tentative recommendation if you're interested in joining those or if you have some friends outside of that to play it with. Multiplayer does work with pirated copies, although it's a little harder to set up.
Rhythm Games
Beat Saber: Swing two lightsabers to match colour and direction of boxes that approach to the beat of songs. Much more fun than it sounds. Think of it as Guitar Hero re-imagined for VR. Only a few songs included in the base game but it's very easily modded to include thousands of songs created by fans of the game. Also an excellent workout. Has official multiplayer support now, but it's a bit limited compared to the old mods.
Ragnarock: Beat Saber, but with Vikings. No color matching, just hit drums to the beat to make your boat go further. Base game and DLC songs lean more towards stuff that fits in with the theme, but there's a modding scene here too if you're looking for more songs available. Has multiplayer support available if you want to race your friends, and /vrg/ lobbies are run occasionally.
Synth Riders: A rhythm game that's more focused on dancing to the beat. Hit orbs and follow rails with your arms. Has support for modded songs and multiplayer.
Pistol Whip: A stylized rhythm game where you shoot and punch enemies to the beat. Think Beat Saber meets John Wick. Limited mod support now available.
Active Games
Eleven Table Tennis: The go-to table tennis sim. Has incredibly realistic singleplayer AI, and multiplayer.
Thrill of the Fight: More realistic boxing game if you're looking for something a bit more serious than Creed. No multiplayer mode, but there's a decent amount of singleplayer content to keep you busy. Can be a pretty good workout too.
Walkabout Mini Golf: Minigolf sim with lots of content that still gets regular updates. Physics feel good and it's fun playing around and going for trickshots. We have pretty frequent multiplayer lobbies, and DLC isn't required as long as one person in the lobby has it unless you want the new balls or clubs.
Simulation
Assetto Corsa: A good racing sim with a great modding community and decent VR support. Career mode is kinda weak, but it's great for hotlapping and multiplayer. Can often be picked up on sale for less than $10 with all of the DLC and there are regular /vrg/ lobbies.
EA Sports WRC: Codemasters is back at it with a new rally sim that has (some form of) VR support. Basically DR2.0 with tons and tons of new, high-quality stages, often over twice as long as long stages from DR2, improved handling, and also a bunch of new cool cars. Only real problem is the performance, which can be pretty rough if you have a weaker system. Club details and some additional information is available here
Dirt Rally 2.0: More Dirt Rally, with pretty good SteamVR support. Unfortunately, it's pretty light on content, and a lot of the DLC is recycled content from the first game. Has effectively been replaced by WRC in terms of ongoing support, but if you're looking for something to try out rally or your PC isn't up to the challenge of running WRC, then it's still worth picking up for a few bucks on sale.
Euro Truck Simulator 2: Comfy trucking. Drive big rigs to deliver cargo and build up a trucking company. If you're looking for a more relaxed VR driving experience, this might be for you. American Truck Simulator is more of the same, but set in the US instead of Europe.
Flight
VTOL VR: A near-futuristic combat flight game built for Virtual Reality. Pilot advanced multi-role jets, using your hands to flip switches, press buttons, and manipulate the virtual flight controls. Extra info here
Project Wingman: Indie Ace Combat with VR support, good if you're looking for something a more arcadey than VTOL. No VR controls, but works well with a gamepad or HOTAS.
Elite: Dangerous: The go-to space trucker simulator that also has combat. It is an MMO with trading, mining, combat, and more, though there isn't an economy like Eve. Offers dozens to hundreds of hours if you're into cockpit space sims. Boring and grindy if not, but still provides beautiful graphics and sound design, in space. Throttle and stick highly recommended. If you are a cockpit sim fan, this game alone is worth getting VR for.
Flat Game Ports
Skyrim VR: Buy his game. It's Skyrim SE in VR. Almost all SE mods are compatible with it, and there are VR specific versions of SkyUI and SKSE. A properly modded install significantly improves the lazy port and turns it into a really solid VR game that fills a niche that isn't really well served otherwise. If you're looking for a place to start, you can try the FUS modlist, and plenty of lewd mods are supported if that's what you're looking for.
Serious Sam VR: Full classic FPS with the fastest gameplay seen in VR. Pretty much perfectly working port of Serious Sam and this might be your definitive experience of the game now. First Encounter, Second Encounter, and Before First Encounter are all available, and the full bundle gets pretty cheap on Steam sales. Those susceptible to sim sickness might want to pass.
Talos Principle VR: Another Croteam VR port, but this one is a first person puzzle game. The port is just as polished as the Serious Sam games, and is a little friendlier to those with sim sickness since it's much slower paced.
Fallout 4 VR: Say what you will, this is the first port of the immense (and watered down) RPGs Bethesda is known for. The port is worse than the Skyrim one, but some mods are still supported, and it at least supports smooth movement. Modding guide here if you're interested.
No Man's Sky: Space exploration survival game that gradually got patched into something that's actually worth playing. VR support was added in 2019 as one of the many changes in the BEYOND update. Fully supports motion controls, including virtual controls to fly your ship.
Subnautica VR: Terrible VR port but the game is fun and good in VR. Explore the ocean, build a base, get spooked by the unknown abyss. Comfy and terrifying. The subpar VR experience can be improved with the SubmersedVR mod.
Payday 2: It's the same heisting game from 2013 but in VR. Free DLC for those who own the base game, but can have some awkward controls. Supports cross-play with non-VR players. Additional details and necessary mods are in a dedicated rentry here
Flat Game Mods
Half-Life 2: VR Mod: In case Alyx wasn't the Half-Life in VR experience you were looking for, modders have added VR support for Half-Life 2 and both of the Episodes with full hand tracking and updated weapon interactions for VR. It isn't tailor made for VR, but it's the full HL2 experience. Available for free on Steam as long as you own the original game.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/658920/HalfLife_2_VR_Mod/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2177750/HalfLife_2_VR_Mod__Episode_One/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2177760/HalfLife_2_VR_Mod__Episode_Two/
Nomai VR (Outer Wilds VR Mod): A puzzle solving space exploration game in which you explore a solar system and try to uncover its secrets. Game progress is your knowledge of the story and puzzles, as you work to understand the situation you're stuck in. A fantastic game that's even better in VR.
https://outerwildsmods.com/mods/nomaivr/
GTFO: GTFO is a tough 4 player co-op horror FPS where you work together to fight your way through monsters in an underground bunker. The VR mod works really well, and while it doesn't quite feel like a proper port, it has added a lot of tweaks to make the game work well in VR. VR mod is also still compatible with the flat version if you have some non-VR friends you want to play with.
https://github.com/DSprtn/GTFO_VR_Plugin
Vivecraft (Minecraft VR) : The definitive way to play Minecraft. If you've never played Minecraft, this is your chance. Official support in the bedrock version may have been dropped, but the Vivecraft mod for the Java version has more features than the official VR support did, and gives you access to plenty of other mods.
Universal Unreal Engine VR Mod: A universal injector for adding VR support to Unreal Engine 4.8 - 5.3 games. Results vary depending on the game, but it works pretty well in some cases, and the Flat2VR discord has some premade configs. The official utilities to make the process of finding compatible games and using premade configs easier are still WIP, but you can use the UEVR profiles site to get premade profiles for now.
https://uevr.io/
https://uevr-profiles.com/
gz3doom: A source port of the original Doom for VR with motion control support and 3D weapon models. Should run Doom/Doom 2/Heretic/Hexen, for any other WADs, you're on your own.
https://github.com/hh79/gz3doom/releases
Quake VR: A Quake source port with hand tracking, updated weapon models, VR interactions, and more.
https://github.com/SuperV1234/quakevr/blob/master/README.md
Halo: Combat Evolved VR:
A full VR conversion mod for the original 2003 PC edition of Halo: Combat Evolved. Doesn't work with the MCC version, so you'll need to source the original PC version, and multiplayer doesn't work, but outside of that, the game is fully playable in VR.
https://github.com/LivingFray/HaloCEVR
Additional Mods
An incomplete list of additional mods some anon posted:
https://github.com/RototRobot/VRMods-List/blob/gh-pages/index.md
Swords & Sorcery
Blade & Sorcery: The best VR melee combat game available right now. Combat and weapon interactions have much more realistic physics than GORN and the game also has a simple magic system. The game has a pretty good modding community with new weapons and other improvements to the game when you get bored of the vanilla experience. One of the few games other than VRChat that supports FBT, which lets you kick people with your actual legs instead of a button.
Platforming
Moss: Short puzzle combat game where you play as both a friendly ghost and a qtp2t mouse. View is from the perspective of the ghost, you use motion controls to move things in the environment and hold enemies. Buttons control the mouse with basic action gameplay. Short but good. The visuals are very pretty and the mouse is so fucking cute. You can pet the mouse. Has a sequel (Moss: Book II) if you're looking for more.
Puzzle:
The Last Clockwinder: An automation game where you record clones of yourself and work with them to solve puzzles and save a tree. Can be pretty challenging in the later levels if you're trying to optimize well enough to beat the challenge goals.
I Expect You To Die: Spy themed puzzler with escape room gameplay. It's an early VR game that uses seated mode exclusively, but it got a few free levels added in 2019, and it's still a lot of fun. Very short though, so it's recommended you get it on sale. Has two sequels that are worth playing if you want more.
Paper Beast: A light story-driven puzzle game in a surreal world with excellent sound and visual design. Puzzles are based on fluid physics, like those falling sands toys but in 3d. Not very challenging, but the environments are comfy/weird enough that it's an enjoyable experience just walking through the world and watching what's going on.
Quest Exclusives:
Resident Evil 4 VR: Standalone Quest native port of the original version of RE4, has a few minor changes, but it's the full game with first person VR support.
Lambda1VR: Quest native port of Half-Life and it's expansions.
https://www.lambda1vr.com/
Quest Utilities:
SideQuest: Quest tool designed to make sideloading unofficial Quest applications and mods easier.
https://sidequestvr.com/