If you’ve never experienced virtual reality , it can be hard to appreciate just how convincing the best VR games have become in recent years. VR headsets such as the Meta Quest 3 are now wireless and lightweight, with crisp resolutions, full body tracking, and zippy, lifelike refresh rates creating unnervingly realistic environments before your very eyes.
The best VR games take advantage of the hardware in fun and interesting ways. While the technology has come a long way, bounding around in virtual reality is physically exhausting, so, the games with most appeal tend to be playable in short bursts – think Superhot VR and Beat Saber .
Getting into VR gaming has also become cheaper in recent years. The Meta Quest 3 leads the charge with its budget-friendly headset but, if you’ve got the resources, many of the best and most graphically impressive VR games require you to connect your VR headset to a reasonably powerful – and therefore expensive – gaming PC .
Depending on the headset you choose, you might also experience VR games in a slightly different way. Room-scale VR has been the biggest recent advancement. By scanning your surroundings, games can now designate safe play areas in the real world, which appear inside the headset as virtual environments around which you can physically walk.
We’ve rounded up the best VR games in 2024 for both standalone headsets and those that require extra hardware, such as the PSVR2 , which needs a PS5 to plug into, and Half-Life: Alyx , which runs on most headsets but needs tethering to a gaming PC.
How we tested
At IndyBest, we’ve been testing VR games on a wide range of headsets for years, from as far back as the original Oculus Rift all the way up to newer headsets such as the Pico 4 and Meta Quest 3.
Testing takes place in our reviewers’ homes, so we have a more realistic understanding of the space requirements for playing. Most VR games can be played while seated, but some are best when you’ve got a 2m x 2m playing area free from obstacles, which, in a small flat, can be difficult to find without moving furniture.
On PC, we mostly test games through SteamVR, which is the leading platform for virtual reality gaming. This testing is carried out on a gaming PC with a 12th-generation Core i7 CPU, 32GB of RAM and a GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card.
The best VR games for 2024 are:
- Best VR game overall – Half-Life: Alyx : £49.99, Steampowered.com
- Best budget game – Elite Dangerous : £5.79, Cdkeys.com
- Best for workouts – Beat Saber : £22.99, Meta.com
- Best multiplayer game – Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes : £9.99, Apple.com
- Best action-adventure game – Horizon Call of the Mountain : £59.99, Playstation.com
‘Half-Life: Alyx'
‘Elite Dangerous'
‘Beat Saber'
‘Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes'
‘Horizon Call of the Mountain'
‘Microsoft Flight Simulator'
‘Tetris Effect: Connected'
‘Job Simulator'
‘Superhot VR'
‘No Man’s Sky'
The verdict: Best VR games
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