Meta Quest has the biggest standalone VR game library to date and if you’re brand new to the world of VR it might be difficult to know where to start. In this article we’re giving our recommendations of the best Quest 2 and Quest 3 games you’ll find across the whole library.
Why This List?
Now you might be thinking “who are you and why should I think your suggestions for the best Quest games are any good?” And, you know what… I respect that skeptical approach to media consumption. So let me tell you why you can trust me.
My name is Ben Lang and I’m the founder of this here publication, Road to VR. I’ve been reporting on virtual reality for more than a decade, have spent thousands of hours in VR, and used every Quest headset made to date. I’ve played every game I’m recommending on this list. Beyond that, I lead Road to VR’s series Inside XR Design and Insights & Artwork which explore what makes great VR design.
The Best Meta Quest 3 Games
This list aims to present the very best Quest apps that represent the wide variety of awesome experiences you can have in VR. So it isn’t ordered in any meaningful sense; every Quest game here is a game worth playing so don’t discount one just because it’s toward the end!
A quick tip before the list (don’t miss this): Meta has a very reasonable refund policy for Quest games. If you try one of these games and decide it isn’t for you, you may refund the game as long as you’ve A) owned it for less than 14 days and B) played it for less than two hours.
1. Beat Saber – $30
Available on: Quest 1, 2, 3, & Pro | PC VR | PSVR 2
Beat Saber is an excellent VR rhythm game that’s easy to play, tons of fun, and incredibly comfortable for almost all players, which makes an excellent starting point for any Quest user. Despite first launching in 2019, there’s nothing dated about this game. Beat Saber is a bit like Guitar Hero in VR, except instead of just moving your fingers you’ll be moving your whole body to the beat. It’s a really engaging game that’s fun even for short sessions or for showing friends who have never used VR before. And if you really get into it, it’s a solid workout too.
2. SUPERHOT VR – $25
Available on: Quest 1, 2, 3, & Pro | PC VR
SUPERHOT VR is another oldie-but-goodie that still plays like a dream on Quest. With an absolutely unique ‘time moves as you move’ mechanic, this game is part shooter and part spatial puzzle. Superhot VR is the closest I’ve personally come to feeling like like Neo from The Matrix thanks to the way you’ll be dodging bullets in slow motion by mere inches. And if you’re a fan of The Matrix, I highly recommend playing it as the background music for your Superhot sessions.
3. Blade & Sorcery: Nomad – $20
Available on: Quest 2, 3, & Pro | PC VR
Blade & Sorcery is the physics-based VR combat game on Quest. You’ll wield a wide range of melee weaponry to slice and dice virtual foes in ways that make you question why you’re having fun dismembering people. The physics-based combat system does a great job of conveying weight and giving you incredible freedom in combat that you’ve never seen outside of VR. For the most part Blade & Sorcery offers up sandbox or lightly directed gameplay without much story or context, and yet still has enough going to offer countless hours of fun.
4. Asgard’s Wrath 2 – $60
Available on: Quest 2, 3, & Pro
Asgard’s Wrath 2 is hands-down the most ‘AAA’ game on Quest. With a monstrous amount of content and some of the best visuals of any game in the standalone library, this is one you can really sink your teeth into. Unfortunately the original Asgard’s Wrath isn’t available on Quest (it came years ago on PC), but you can jump into the sequel without feeling totally lost. Oh, and if you bought a new Quest 3 during the 2023 holiday season, you own for free as long as you claim it in the store by January 27th, 2024.
5. Red Matter 2 – $30
Available on: Quest 2, 3, & Pro | PC VR | PSVR 2
Red Matter 2 is Quest’s best-looking sci-fi adventure game. It’s a slower paced adventure that’s more about story and puzzle solving than shooting, and it excels in the immersion department in a way that few VR games do. I really enjoy the game’s attention to interactive detail and carefully crafted visual moments scattered throughout.
6. Rec Room – Free
Available on: Quest 1, 2, 3, & Pro | PC VR
For a sampling of what ‘the metaverse’ might one day look like, check out Rec Room. Inside you’ll find activities like paintball, dodgeball, disc golf, and heaps of user-generated games to explore, with a huge community of other people. Whether you make new friends or bring the ones you already have, everything you can do in Rec Room can be done together. And if you get really into it, you can even build your own games and rooms in Rec Room—a way to create your own little slice of virtual reality. And as a bonus, Rec Room is compatible with most VR headsets and most non-VR gaming systems, so you can play with your friends even if they don’t have a headset.
7. Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR – $40
Available on: Quest 2, 3, & Pro
If you’re a fan of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, this is one worth playing. You’ll feel right at home climbing, sneaking, and well… assassinating, but this time fully immersed in VR. Compared to the quaint scale of many VR games, Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR makes you feel like you’re roaming huge spaces. You can climb almost anything, making the rooftops your playground while the streets below are where the danger lies.
8. Dungeons of Eternity – $30
Available on: Quest 2, 3, & Pro
If you’ve ever wished you could go on a fantasy dungeon adventure with your friends, this is it. With co-op support for up to three players total, Dungeons of Eternity is designed around co-op play. This is a dungeon crawler without much narrative but there’s monsters to destroy, loot to be found, and harrowing moments to experience with your friends.
9. Breachers – $30
Available on: Quest 2, 3, & Pro | PC VR | PSVR 2
For the competitive shooters among you, look no further than Breachers. This is very much Counter-Strike meets Rainbow Six Siege, but in VR. Breachers is purely a competitive PvP game, but really nails that ‘tactical’ feeling of close quarters combat. At times it feels a lot like paintball, with the same sense of fear from getting hit because you’ve only got one life per round!
10. Star Wars: Vader Immortal (trilogy) – $10 each
Available on: Quest 1, 2, 3, & Pro (Episode I, Episode II, Episode III)
Ok so technically this is three games, but they were released back-to-back as ‘episodes’ and in essence make up one full game. If you like Star Wars you owe it to yourself to check out Star Wars: Vader Immortal. More than almost any other game on Quest, the cinematic narrative is strong with this one. You’ll feel like you’re right in the middle of the action of a Star Wars story. This is a very guided narrative adventure game so don’t expect to be running around with a blaster on an open battlefield. But that also makes it easy to play and generally very comfortable; it’s a great starting point for VR players but still worth playing even for VR pros.
11. Pistol Whip – $30
Available on: Quest 1, 2, 3, & Pro | PC VR | PSVR 2
If you liked Beat Saber, this is the next VR rhythm game to try. But it isn’t just more of the same. Instead of swinging swords, you’ll be shooting bad guys to the beat while dodging bullets. If you don’t end up feeling like John Wick after playing Pistol Whip, you must not have seen the movies! If Beat Saber is an arm workout, Pistol Whip is going to work your legs (which actually makes the two a pretty good combo for a VR fitness routine). My personal recommendation is to play with the ‘dual wielding’ setting turned on for that extra sense of badass action.
12. Walkabout Mini Golf – $15
Available on: Quest 1, 2, 3, & Pro | PC VR | PSVR 2
If you want to have casual hang out time with friends in VR, Walkabout Mini Golf is seriously one of the best ways to do it. It feels like authentic mini golf (with the occasional VR twist), which means it’s chill enough that you can chat with friends without worrying about the score. Some of the courses are also beautiful and fantastical places in their own right, making Walkabout Mini Golf a genuinely relaxing experience. Sometimes it can be a pain to get together with your friends in VR, but the ‘room code’ system in Walkabout Mini Golf makes it much easier than most games. And you can play with up to eight players total!
13. Resident Evil 4 – $40
Available on: Quest 2, 3, & Pro
VR is full of zombie games, but if you want one you can really sink your teeth into, this is the place to start. This is a well made VR port of the classic Resident Evil 4. Whether you played the original or not, this is a title that feels like a proper ‘full’ game like you’d find on game consoles. A tip if you’ve never played a Resident Evil game before: aim for the head because ammo is never in ample supply.
14. Puzzling Places – $15
Available on: Quest 1, 2, 3, & Pro | PSVR 2
If you have even a passing interest in puzzles, you owe it to yourself to try Puzzling Places. I’m personally not a big puzzler, but even I enjoy the unique challenge of putting together 3D puzzles in Puzzling Places. And the reward for solving your puzzle is even greater than you’re used to with regular 2D puzzles. Every puzzle is created from scans of real-life places and the team that makes them clearly has an eye for picking interesting subjects. So when you finish the puzzle you can look all around it like a little diorama—it’s a very cool experience! Puzzling Places is also a wonderfully chill game to play.
15. Compound – $20
Available on: Quest 2, 3, & Pro | PC VR
In screenshots, Compound’s ‘bitmap’ graphics might look overly simple, but they actually look excellent inside the headset, giving this roguelite a totally unique look. And somehow, behind the low-fi art style, Compound feels surprisingly visceral and immersive. This is a pretty classic roguelite where you’ll try to make it as far as you can go each run. Along the way you’ll find interesting new enemies and weapons that put your skills to the test.
16. I Expect You to Die (trilogy) – $25 each
Available on:
I Expect You to Die 1: Quest 1, 2, 3, & Pro | PC VR
I Expect You to Die 2: Quest 1, 2, 3, & Pro | PC VR
I Expect You to Die 3: Quest 2, 3, & Pro | PC VR
Like #10, this is technically three games, but the good news is that if you like one of them, you’ve got two more where that came from. I Expect You to Die is Quest’s most recognized ‘escape room’ style game series where you’ll find yourself in increasingly zany situations styled after a retro spy thriller. As the title suggests, you can expect to die when you fail, but with trial and error you’ll start to understand the puzzles placed before you. The whole series is known for its creative puzzles that give you just the right amount of struggle to elicit that ‘ah ha!’ feeling.
17. Fujii – $10
Available on: Quest 1, 2, 3, & Pro | PC VR
If you want a VR game that’s pure relaxation to play, Fujii is it. In Fujii there’s no monsters, bad guys, or even any ways to die. It’s just you exploring a fantastical botanical world and solving simple puzzles to bring light to the land and its adorable inhabitants. As you explore the world you’ll find new seeds across the land which you can bring home to plant in your own personal garden to grow over time. Fujii is a great game for ‘non-gamers’ thanks to its casual pace, but even as a hardcore gamer I found myself wanting to return to Fujii’s calming world to keep exploring.
18. Racket: Nx – $20
Available on: Quest 1, 2, 3, & Pro | PC VR
Racket: Nx is like a mashup of Breakout and racquetball that plays like a futuristic sport. You’ll smack a glowing ball around a 360 degree arena as you try to smash targets before the time runs out. A combination of sharp visuals and thumping beats to backdrop the action makes this a great VR game for when you’re in the mood for some high energy play. Racket: Nx is incredibly easy to play because pretty much the only thing you need to be able to do is swing your virtual racket. And something that I personally love—Racket: Nx can be played with up to two people total, and you and your friend can play cooperatively or competitively.
19. Moss: Book 1 & Book 2 – $20 each
Available on:
Moss Book I: Quest 1, 2, 3, & Pro | PSVR 2
Moss Book II: Quest 2, 3, & Pro | PSVR 2
Yes I know, here’s another place where I’m cramming a series of games into just one item on the list—but hey, more bang for your buck! Moss: Book 1 and Moss: Book 2 are unique among the games on this list because they are played from a third-person perspective. You’ll control Quill, an adorable little mouse that runs around on beautifully crafted fantasy stages before you. Both games are played from a relaxing seated position and for the most part you’ll use your VR controllers more like a gamepad to direct Quill through combat and light puzzling. But occasionally you’ll have need to reach into the experience yourself to interact with the environment or help Quill defeat enemies that she can’t beat on her own.
20. Iron Man VR – $30
Available on: Quest 2, 3, & Pro
Iron Man VR really does a great job of making you feel like the iconic superhero. And more than any other game in this list, it’ll make you feel like you’re flying with incredible speed and agility—all while still being comfortable for most players. This is definitely a ‘gamers game’ as you’ll get to customize your Iron Man suit with various weapons that allow for differing playstyles and progress through a linear narrative.
21. Until You Fall – $25
Available on: Quest 1, 2, 3, & Pro | PC VR | PSVR 2
If Blade & Sorcery: Nomad is Quest’s go-to physics-based melee game, Until You Fall is its opposite. This melee-based roguelite has its own take on melee combat that you could call more ‘arcadey’ but it delivers the feeling of becoming a powerful swordfighter. As you progress through the game you’ll unlock different weapons which have unique stats and abilities. And because you can wield one weapon in each hand, you can mix and match weapons to experiment with different playstyles and ‘builds’. Until You Fall gives me that essential ‘one more run’ feeling more than any other VR roguelite.
Did we miss any of your favorites? Let us know in the comments below!
Other Great Resources for Quest 2 & Quest 3
Free Games
If you’re looking to explore VR without investing money right out of the gate, definitely check out our list of the Best Free Quest Games for a bunch of fun options that won’t cost you a dime up front.
Essential Tips, Tricks, and Settings
If you’re just diving into VR as a new Quest owner, you should absolutely check out our Quest Tips & Tricks Guide for a heap of useful tricks and settings you’ll want to know about.
Fitness and Fun
For fitness in VR that’s as fun as it is physical, check out our suggestion for a VR Workout Routine.
Zone Out and Escape
Are you less of a competitive gamer and more interested in how you can use VR to chill out? We have a great list of VR Games for Relaxation and Meditation.
Find Your Expression
And last but not least, if you’re a creative type looking to express yourself in VR, our list of Tools for Painting, Modeling, Designing & Animating in VR offers a huge range of artful activities, with something for everyone from fiddlers to professionals.