Just getting started with the Quest 2? Maybe you got one as a holiday or birthday gift, or just picked one up because you were curious about VR. Either way, there are thousands of games available for the Quest 2 and it can be daunting figuring out what to play first. Thankfully, for you, we’ve got the answers you’re looking for.
Like any good gaming console, the best Quest 2 games (opens in new tab) span a wide range of interests and physical playing abilities, from zen puzzlers to twitch multiplayer shooters, there’s quite literally something for everyone on the Oculus Quest 2.
We’ve chosen five games that feature unique experiences tailor-made for VR. Each of them also makes it easy for first-time VR players to quickly jump in and enjoy the action without needing to get adjusted to virtual movement. We made sure to select a variety of games that will hopefully pique your interest, including different gameplay styles and themes.
But we’re not stopping there. Once you’ve chosen a game and are comfortable with it — or even completed the game — we’re giving you a bonus recommendation to move on to next. The second game typically follows a similar gameplay theme but typically requires you to be a bit more comfortable with VR than you might have initially been. So without further ado, here are the 5 Oculus Quest 2 games to play first!
Feel the rhythm
Beat Saber
It’s impossible to make a definitive list of must-play Quest 2 games without Beat Saber. But, even if you’ve never played Beat Saber, there’s little doubt you’ve heard of it or maybe even seen it played on YouTube or even on the Jimmy Fallon Show.
The game is synonymous with VR for a reason. You know exactly what you’re supposed to do from the moment you put on the headset and jump into the game.
The game is synonymous with VR for a reason. You know exactly what you’re supposed to do from the moment you put on the headset and jump into the game. It’s a game that needs very little explanation or time to get immersed in, yet, takes months (or years) of practice to truly master the game.
In its most basic form, Beat Saber is a game where you slice colored blocks with laser swords (sabers), each slice coinciding with the beat of the music that’s playing. Hence, the name. Half a dozen difficulty levels for most songs cover the gamut of skill levels, and players can even play many levels in special 90-degree, 180-degree, or 360-degree rulesets that will have you twirling around the room as you slice to the beat.
Fair warning, it’s quite a workout, and your arms will likely be sore more times than you can count. But that’s ok because it’s totally addictive, a ton of fun, and is incredibly well-supported thanks to the fact that it’s the single best-selling Quest 2 game (opens in new tab) ever. That means the company constantly pumps out (opens in new tab) new music packs (opens in new tab) and regularly hires community members to map out new songs.
It’s a game that’s going nowhere anytime soon — even though it’s nearly half a decade old at this point — and that’s great for everyone who loves it and simply cannot get enough.
What to play next: Pistol Whip
Once you get the action rhythm game bug, it’s hard to put it aside. While there are plenty of titles to choose from, few are as unique as Pistol Whip. In many ways, Pistol Whip feels like the embodiment of any given action scene out of a John Wick movie. In fact, Pistol Whip doesn’t refer to each level as a “song,” instead, they are scenes.
Pistol Whip feels like the embodiment of any given action scene out of a John Wick movie.
That’s because most of Pistol Whip’s levels are deeply inspired by popular action movies. So whether it’s The Matrix or a Clint Eastwood Wild West flick, players will find their character automatically progressing through levels as they duck, dodge, and weave around bullets flying at them from all angles.
It’s an adrenaline rush like few other games and a great way to get some exercise for your bottom half after the top half has been decimated by a few Beat Saber songs.
Like Beat Saber, you won’t be walking around these levels. Rather, you’ll stand in the center of the room as your character progresses through a linear path. You’re then freed up to move your body any which way you need to dodge those bullets and send plenty of your own to meet their mark on each and every enemy along the way.
If that sounds daunting, don’t worry. The opposite is true of Pistol Whip whose developer, Cloudhead Games, has regularly won awards for VR game design that won’t make you sick or dizzy and is perfect for any fledgling VR players who aren’t comfortable moving around virtual while their physical bodies stand still.
Two of the game’s biggest updates, Pistol Whip: 2089 and Pistol Whip: Smoke & Thunder — both of which have been totally free — feature some light story elements that weave their way through around half a dozen levels apiece. It’s a wild ride that keeps getting better with every update.
Best yet, this one has a free trial so you can download and play a level or two before committing to a purchase!
Shooting games to get your heart pumping
SUPERHOT VR
SUPERHOT is one of those games that translates so well to VR you will wonder why the developers even bother with non-VR versions once you try it. As the second game in a three-part series, SUPERHOT VR is the VR-exclusive entry that puts players in the shoes of an unwitting hacker turned action-hero as you enter the virtual world of SUPERHOT.
In this virtual world, time only moves when you do, giving you the unique opportunity to actually look around and enjoy the sights before getting hit by a volley of bullets.
In this virtual world, time only moves when you do, giving you the unique opportunity to actually look around and enjoy the sights before getting hit by a volley of bullets.
The game uses a unique art style with tech-stylized humanoids, each of which looks like a rough polygonal human shape. These characters are entirely red, making them easy to spot against the backdrop of an entirely white world. Any object that hits an enemy — be it a stapler, your fists, a knife, or the bullet from any gun you find lying around — shatters an enemy, forcing them to eject their weapon.
If you’re cunning enough, you can steal the weapon right from an enemy’s hands and use it against them in a split second.
Enemies move at the same pace as the rest of the world, meaning they won’t move if you don’t. The exception is head movement, as it allows players to look around and formulate a strategy before getting their hands in on the action.
SUPERHOT VR is played in a relatively stationary position. However, you’re able to physically walk around your room to avoid enemies, duck behind cover, and use any other parts of the environment necessary to survive. It’s incredibly visceral and, again, one of those experiences that just immediately makes sense the moment you enter VR.
What to play next: Resident Evil 4 VR
The classic title comes to VR in a way that seems almost too good to be true until you start playing. It’s hard to believe this nearly 20-year-old game used to be a Gamecube title, but scouring the countryside through the eyes of Leon Kennedy feels as natural in VR as if Resident Evil 4 VR were originally built for the medium.
Scouring the countryside through the eyes of Leon Kennedy feels as natural in VR as if the game were initially built for VR.
On top of that, this one is a Quest 2-exclusive title, so you can’t play it in VR anywhere else.
Previously, Resident Evil VII made the series debut in VR on the PlayStation VR, but that game still used a standard DualShock 4 controller to control your character, which made it a bit less immersive than actually reaching out with your own hands to grab objects, open doors, and otherwise interact with anything in the game.
As the first title in the series to switch up the camera perspective when it originally launched, it makes sense that Resident Evil 4 would be the first Resident Evil game to make the transition to a full motion-tracked VR experience. Even the menus were completely redesigned to better fit the VR experience.
By nature, Resident Evil 4 is a bit more of an intense experience than SUPERHOT VR because you’ll be the one moving your character around virtually in the game. Players who aren’t physically comfortable with smooth joystick movement can teleport around, giving you a moment to adjust to your surroundings before moving on to the next space.
A number of other comfort options will also make it easier for players to adjust to virtual movement in VR, which can sometimes make players feel woozy because your brain thinks you should be moving while your physical body is standing still.
The latest updates to the game include Mercenaries mode and, given the game’s successful sales since launch, there’s little doubt that we’ll see more content come out before long.
A puzzling reality
A Fisherman’s Tale
Sometimes, short and sweet is the way to go. A Fisherman’s Tale will only take you a few hours to get through but, if you’re someone who loves puzzles, you’ll find this game’s unique blend of mind-bending puzzles and brilliant storytelling a breath of fresh, salty air.
You’ll be controlling yourself throughout multiple streams of time, defying the laws of physics, and finding that this simple fisherman’s tale is a lot more involved than you thought.
As the name implies, you’ll be playing the role of a seaman of sorts who finds himself waking up day in and day out inside a lighthouse, tending to the important duty of keeping the light on and protecting boats from running aground.
Despite what it may initially seem, however, the story takes a rather trippy turn, and you’ll soon be controlling yourself throughout multiple streams of time, defying the laws of physics and finding that this simple fisherman’s tale is a lot more involved than you thought.
Levels soon begin stacking themselves inside one another in a sort of Russian nesting doll way, with each world mirroring the events in the others, leading to some fascinating puzzles involving object transformation. It’s a game that’s a bit hard to discuss without spoiling anything, so I’ll leave it here: if you love puzzle games, this is certainly one to try.
What to play next: Demeo
A Fisherman’s Tale might have you looking up at a giant version of yourself, but the tables turn — quite literally — in Demeo. It’s a strategy game that borrows concepts from Dungeons & Dragons without the need to remember complicated rules or your own set of dice.
You’ll feel like you’re actually sitting around a table playing D&D with friends … minus the complicated ruleset.
After launching to much fanfare, Demeo has been updated many times throughout 2022, now spanning over 5 main campaign missions, giving players several new characters to play as, and even including non-VR players on PC so all your friends can experience the fun. There’s even a new PvP mode planned for early 2023 and new campaigns in the works after that.
As you might expect from a game that’s traditionally played on a tabletop, players will find themselves looking over a virtual table containing the game world. Taking full advantage of the immersion factor of VR, players can tilt the board and zoom in and out as much as they want, getting a birds-eye view of the action or pulling in close so that player characters and enemies alike are nearly life-sized.
Players will begin each round moving their character, attacking enemies, or just playing their hand at special spells and moves found within the deck of cards in their hand. Each game board is completely randomized, and players will never know what they’ll find, although the end goal is the same in each campaign.
Between rounds, you can use gold earned in combat or otherwise found throughout levels to upgrade your deck of cards, giving you more special skills and spells to use throughout combat. You’ll also earn experience with each level completion, leveling up each of the game’s half-dozen character types as you go.
While Demeo’s mechanics are brilliant in and of themselves, Demeo’s true strength lies in its ability to pull up to four players together in a virtual room and make them feel like they’re actually sitting around a table together. It’s a design that’s optionally social but played best with others, and soon you’ll even be able to pull your non-VR friends in on the action, although they certainly won’t find it as immersive as it is in VR.
Action games that’ll have you feeling the weight
Until You Fall
Until you Fall (opens in new tab) was one of the first VR games to utilize a unique physics engine that creates the feel of real weapon weight, delivering a more visceral, realistic combat experience. Despite the fact that your controllers weigh the same as they do any other time, the way Schell Games programmed each weapon’s weight into the game’s physics engine makes them actually feel heavier or lighter.
You’ll feel like you’re swinging real weapons thanks to the game’s advanced physics engine.
It’s a sort of magic trick played on your brain, as weapons move faster or slower depending on their weight and can be used to different effects during combat.
The game is structured as a typical roguelite, which means you’ll play through the semi-procedurally-generated world and get as far as you can until you die, hence the name of the game. The world includes three tiers of levels, each made up of several areas that contain a mix of standard enemies, mini-bosses, and full-fledged bosses.
Players will earn Aether with each area completion, which can then be used to unlock skills and upgrade weapons to help with your next run through the world. Each time you die, you get stronger, leading to bigger and better weapons and abilities the more you progress.
It’s a true battle of attrition with combat that feels like nothing you’ve ever played before, despite several others implementing similar physics-based combat since its original release.
Schell Games even added a handful of new two-handed weapons in an update in 2022, adding more replayability for folks wanting something new in this now-classic VR title.
What to play next: Iron Man VR
For whatever strange reason, there aren’t a lot of superhero games in VR. That’s particularly bizarre given VR’s ability to make you feel like a totally different person and allow you to do things you simply couldn’t do in the real world.
Enter Iron Man VR (opens in new tab), a superhero game that’s not just good because Iron Man is awesome, but because developer Camouflaj created a genuinely excellent, made-for-VR title.
Flying around as Iron Man feels every bit as natural as you could imagine.
As you should expect, you’ll be in the Iron Man suit throughout most of the game’s 10+ hour-long campaign, fighting bad guys and the ghosts of Tony Stark’s past. Levels are Peppered (that’s an Iron Man joke) with bouts as Tony Stark himself, either in the Stark penthouse on Malibu’s beautiful rocky shores or even onboard the floating S.H.I.EL.D. headquarters.
This isn’t some pancake game shoehorned into a VR shell, though. Flying around as Iron Man feels every bit as natural as you could imagine. Each hand is mounted with a rocket thruster that you can steer in any direction you’d like, and the game’s sprawling levels are complex and enjoyable to explore.
Combat is also fantastic, as well. You’ve got those palm-mounted Repulsors that shoot rapid-fire bursts, a set of homing missiles for bigger enemies, and a whole slew of upgrades and new suits to earn throughout your time in the game. It’s a dream come true for Marvel fans and even folks like me who generally don’t give a hoot about superheroes at all.
The biggest negative points of the game revolve around the fact that it was originally designed for the PlayStation VR, meaning there are some strange concessions that had to be made to fit within that system’s limited tracking abilities. Even with that, though, this is a title that feels great to play even standing, as it’s designed in a way that makes you feel stable even while flying through the clouds.
It’s just you and your crew
Among Us VR
Listen up, beans! You may have played the old, flat version of Among Us plenty of times but you’ve never experienced what it actually feels like to be a crewmate. That is, until Among Us VR came along, of course.
Among Us VR takes the concepts and ideas from the Among Us game many know and love and puts you in the shoes of a crewmate or an imposter. This first-person adaptation of the original is a game completely redesigned from the ground up for VR, including spatial audio that lets you talk to other crewmates (and potential imposters) only if you’re within a reasonable physical distance.
There’s no describing how difficult it is to lie in VR and just how much fun this game is.
Being able to talk to other crewmates is immersive enough, but walking around and seeing the hull of The Skeld II from a first-person perspective gives it an entirely new feel. Don’t worry if virtual movement makes you sick. This one’s easy to play sitting down and is designed by the same developer who created Until You Fall and a host of other VR classics.
Like the original, you’ll begin each game in a holding area, this time the cafeteria on the ship. Once the game begins, a number of players are randomly chosen from the group to be the imposter. You’ll have one or two imposters depending on how many players are in a session at a time — 1 imposter per 5 players, with a maximum of 10 players per map.
Imposters are tasked with the job of eliminating all the crewmates in order to win. Meanwhile, crewmates are tasked to do their job and work on the ship all while trying to identify who the imposters are and ejecting them from the vessel. Crewmate jobs are all new and specifically designed for VR, so you’ll get a load of fun little minigames to play while you slink around the ship.
If you die as a crewmate you’ll be able to walk around as a ghost and spectate everyone else, but only other ghosts can hear you talk. Similarly, ghost imposters are free to sabotage the ship like a poltergeist.
Truly, there’s no describing how difficult it is to lie in VR and just how much fun this game is. As an imposter, it’s your job to fool the crewmates into thinking someone else is the imposter so you can stay alive long enough to eliminate everyone else. Play this one with friends and you’ll find out what a real-life game of Clue must feel like.
As of launch, The Skeld II was the only map available but Innersloth and Schell Games posted a roadmap (opens in new tab) detailing planned updates for 2023. Those updates include tweaks to the gameplay, new accessories for your crewmates to wear, a new map, and several other goodies to look forward to.
What to play next: Gorilla Tag
If you enjoy the more social aspect of Among Us VR and just can’t get enough, Gorilla Tag is an absolute must-play game for everyone. Best yet? It’s totally free to play. The only things to buy are the in-game items to accessorize your gorilla. We must be civilized monkeys, after all.
Gorilla Tag’s concept is as dead-simple as you could imagine given the game’s name. Plus, it’s totally free to play.
Gorilla Tag’s concept is as dead-simple as you could imagine given the game’s name. You’ll embody a legless gorilla that swings around levels in an attempt to either tag everyone else or try to evade being tagged.
Newer game modes like Infection, Hunt, and Paintbrawl spice things up a bit, or you could just spend a Friday night hanging out with your friends in this virtual world filled with PS1-esque visuals. There are several additional levels these days and more on the way, if past updates are anything to go by.
The game finally got an official Quest store release (opens in new tab) in December after nearly two years in early access and currently enjoys its status as the highest and most-rated game in all of VR.
Given that it’s a totally free-to-play game you’ll, no doubt, run into folks who are unsavory characters and use language that might even embarrass a sailor or two. Keep that in mind before letting your kids roam the virtual jungles wild and free.