Gaming > Game Play > 22 22 people found this article helpful The 8 Best Free VR Games If you have a VR headset, these are the best free downloads out there By Ruben Circelli Ruben Circelli Editor University of Massachusetts, Boston Ruben Circelli has been a technology writer and editor since 2014. His work has appeared on dozens of sites, including Komando.com, Twinfinite, and TheGamer. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on January 24, 2024 Reviewed by Jessica Kormos Reviewed by Jessica Kormos Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College Jessica Kormos is a writer and editor with 15 years' experience writing articles, copy, and UX content for Tecca.com, Rosenfeld Media, and many others. lifewire's editorial guidelines We independently evaluate all of our recommendations. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. There are tons of VR games out there, including many on iPhone and Android, but a lot of games are premium, pricey experiences. If you're like us, you're not made of money! So we went on the hunt for the most fun and entertaining VR games we could find that were free. The good news is that across Steam, the PlayStation Store, and the Oculus Store, there are quite a few free VR games available. Even better news? We've compiled this list of the ones we enjoy playing most to make your search as easy as possible. Best VR Demos: The Lab Valve What We Like Great way to introduce someone to VR. Minigames feel polished and responsive in VR. Explore a pocket universe within Aperture Science. What We Don't Like Not enough content for more than a few hours playtime. Not much replay value. In conjunction with Valve's development of their headset and controllers and Half-Life: Alyx, Valve released The Lab: a collection of minigames meant to introduce gamers to VR in the world of Aperture Science. If you want a chance to dive back into a Valve world, even on a smaller scale, and are looking to get your feet wet with VR, The Lab is better than any other introductory minigame or tutorial in VR out there. Though it's on Steam and developed by Valve, The Lab supports various headsets and controllers. Available for: Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus, and Windows Mixed Reality. Download The Lab Chat in VR: VRChat VRChat What We Like Hang out with people in VR. Full-body avatars sync lips, eyes, and your entire range of motion. Available on Steam, Quest, Rift, and Viveport. What We Don't Like Technical issues. Community can be toxic. VRChat does what its name implies: It provides virtual hangout spaces where gamers can create realistic avatars that sync their movement and facial cues. There's not just chatting, though; you can play minigames, watch videos, and explore worlds created by the community as well as create worlds. There are still quite a few technical issues with the now four-year-old Early Access game, and if you go into the wrong worlds with certain players, you can easily find a lot of toxicity. But if you're looking for the most active VR hangout game out there, that's VRChat. Available for: Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus, and Windows Mixed Reality. Download VRChat Play VR Games With Friends: Rec Room Rec Room What We Like VRChat hangout but with more of a focus on games. Play a bunch of built-in minigames or choose from thousands of community-created games. Works cross-platform with Rift, Vive, PSVR, Index, and more. What We Don't Like Too many trolls. If you like the idea of hanging out with friends in VR but want something more to do than just hanging out, Rec Room provides an excellent alternative to VRChat, focusing more on built-in minigames and tons of community-created games. Unfortunately, if you don't have friends to play with, the Rec Room community can be toxic. There are always kids online who like to troll, and if you happen to so much as sound like a girl, you will get unwanted attention if you stumble into the wrong place. Available for: PSVR, Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus, and Windows Mixed Reality. Download Rec Room Best VR RPG: A Township Tale A Township Tale What We Like 3D open-world online RPG in the style of Runescape. Play with up to 10 friends as you gather resources, craft, gear up, and explore. Lots of communication from devs. What We Don't Like Still in Alpha. Performance problems. VR novelty is cool but brings nothing new to the genre. A Township Tale has familiar RPG mechanics with crafting, gear, professions, and exploration. You can do it alone or with a group of friends, and visually is reminiscent of the more colorful art design found in RPGs of the 2000s like Runescape. However, you do all of this in VR. Playing A Township Tale is a chill experience in the vein of Valheim. You'll mostly spend your time slowly gathering resources, growing stronger, exploring, and meeting and playing with other people along the way. Doing all of this in VR is a worthwhile novelty, and if you like the immersion of VR and love this kind of game, A Township Tale is a must-play! While it may support more devices over the course of development, A Township Tale currently works with Index, Vive, and Rift headsets. Available for: Valve Index, HTC Vive, and Oculus. Download A Township Tale Watch Movies in a Virtual Theater: Bigscreen Bigscreen VR, Inc. What We Like The best way to watch video content together virtually. Put your computer's desktop on the big screen. Available on all VR platforms, minus PSVR for now. What We Don't Like Few other features to speak of other than virtual desktop functionality. Requires some setup. Bigscreen plops you and your friends into a virtual movie theatre, and your computer's desktop projects onto the big screen. From here, you can stream whatever you want online with friends, play games with friends on your computer, and do whatever you can imagine. You can do a lot with Bigscreen, but more complicated projects will require some setup, and more than anything else, you will need friends who hang out inside VR in Bigscreen consistently. Available for: Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus, and Windows Mixed Reality. Download Bigscreen VR Go for a Thrill Ride: Epic Roller Coasters B4T Games What We Like Awesome, thrilling use of VR. Ride through fantastical settings. Available on Steam and Oculus stores. What We Don't Like Few tracks. Limited interactivity. Rollercoasters immediately spring to mind as one of the best natural applications of VR. It's thrilling and fast-paced, and riding a virtual coaster through fantastic settings would appeal to many people. Enter Epic Roller Coasters: the game which does just that for free. It's not all sunshine and rainbows, though, because the track selection is limited, and there isn't much 'gameplay' to speak of beyond simply riding the coaster. You can buy more tracks to ride, but it can be a hard sell with little replay value after a couple of rides. Available for: Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus, and Windows Mixed Reality. Download Epic Roller Coasters Build, Survive, and Explore: Minecraft VR Mojang What We Like Another way to play Minecraft. VR a good fit for low-detail first-person games. Approachable entrypoint into VR if you're a MInecraft fan. What We Don't Like Only available on Oculus store. Works exclusively with Minecraft for Windows 10, not Minecraft Java. If you're one of the hundreds of millions of Minecraft owners out there, more specifically if you happen to own Minecraft for Windows, Microsoft offers a VR version of Windows Minecraft entirely for free on the Oculus Store. It isn't some stripped-down version of the game, either. You can play the full-fat Minecraft experience but in VR. Plus, the Windows edition of Minecraft has benefits, like better performance, which really come in handy to help keep the VR experience running smoothly. Available for: Oculus, Windows Mixed Reality, and Gear VR. Download Minecraft VR See the World: Google Earth VR Google What We Like Explore the real world like never before. Easy way to be wow'd by VR. Available across VR platforms. What We Don't Like Many limitations on movement. No graphical settings. Abandoned by Google. Google Earth VR is an excellent application of virtual reality: Go anywhere in the world, soaring around to your heart's delight, in a digitized 3D representation of the Earth based on satellite imagery, aerial photography, and images taken by Google's own Street View cars. Unfortunately, Google has stopped supporting the application, and navigating the world, especially trying to find a specific view, can be clunky. There also aren't any fun minigames or exciting features beyond exploring the world. Available for: Valve Index, HTC Vive, and Oculus. Download Google Earth VR Our Favorite VR Apps for the iPhone Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit