The food coma is fast approaching, but you probably still have some fellow Americans to entertain on this holiest of holy feasts. What better way to liven up the post Turkey Day frivolities than popping your brand-new VR headset on a noggin or three?
Keep in mind: some of the best results we’ve had over the years tend to be with very noob-friendly games and apps. Your Thanksgiving Day guests probably won’t have enough time (or inclination) to learn complex mechanics, and keeping things quick and simple is usually the right way to go to make sure everyone not only gets involved, but doesn’t have to wait around a bunch either.
Above all, one of the best ways of getting everyone gawking is by making sure you can see the action on a TV screen or monitor, which you can do easily with any headset out there. It’s fairly straight forward on SteamVR and PSVR 2 since you already have a monitor/TV hooked up. For Quest, you can mirror your view to your Meta App-connected phone, or cast to a smart TV.
Now, let the arm flailing and requisite safety briefing begin!
Beat Saber
- What: This incredibly addictive and easy to pick-up game is one of the best entry points for VR firstimers, but has enough depth to appeal to anyone along their way on the pro VR gamer skill tree.
- Who: Everyone will want to get up at least for a song to slice blocks to the beat. Thankfully there’s plenty of difficulty settings to satisfy even the most musically disinclined.
- How long: 5 – 15 minutes per person
- Why: Most songs last around five minutes, but you’re bound to encounter failures along the way, and also family members that just can’t help themselves for a second go at another song.
- Platforms: Quest 2/3/Pro, PSVR/2, PC VR
Store links: Meta Store (Quest, Rift), PlayStation Store, Steam
Pistol Whip
- What: Like Beat Saber in addictiveness, but instead of slicing blocks to the beat, you’re shooting dudes John Wick-style. It’s all very stylized, so there probably won’t be much, if any pearl-clutching.
- Who: Older kids, teens and adults of all ages.
- How long: 5 – 10 minutes per person
- Why: Like Beat Saber, most songs (called ‘scenes’) last around five minutes. Remember to lower the difficult to easy mode so most anyone will get to the end of the level.
- Platforms: Quest 2/3/Pro, PSVR/2, PC VR
Store links: Meta Store (Quest, Rift), PlayStation Store, Steam
CREED: Rise to Glory
- What: CREED: Rise to Glory (2018) is a highly polished arcade boxing game that puts you in the shoes of Adonis Creed, the protagonist of CREED (2016) and CREED II (2018). Punch, punch, punch, block and dodge.
- Who: Everyone with some caveats. Make sure your family member is physically fit enough to go the distance for a full match, and kids may have problems hitting their much taller targets.
- How long: 5 – 10 minutes
- Why: Freeplay matches against AI can last anywhere from 2 – 5 minutes, but depending on how much fun everyone is having, this might be a good opportunity to let your family members really flaunt their dodging and punching prowess for a few sessions.
- Platforms: Quest 2/3/Pro, PSVR/2, PC VR
Store Links: Meta Store (Quest, Rift), PlayStation Store, Steam
Blaston
- What: This room-scale is a free-to-play shooter that puts you in a ring to go 1v1, giving you multiple weapons to shoot and dodge around. While online matches are great for seasoned players, pop into single player mode for some quicker and easier human vs. AI action. Also, if you have two headsets, you could set up 1v1 duels!
- Who: Everyone will want a turn, as they see you grabbing guns and Matrix-diving out of the way of oncoming bullets.
- How long: 5 – 10 minutes
- Why: Individual matches can be shorter than 5 minutes, although you may want to dedicate more time to each player, as they quickly build expertise with the game’s various weapons.
- Platforms: Quest 2/3/Pro, PC VR
Store Links: Meta Store, Steam
Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs
- What: This VR version of the hit mobile game Angry Birds is exactly what it says on the tin, putting the slingshot in your hand to take the fight to the evil piggies, who hide in increasingly elaborate wooden structures.
- Who: Everyone should find this one an easy choice; it’s dead simple and super fun to smash blocks and knock down stuff. Serious name brand recognition should also perk up an ear or two with the older crowd.
- How long: under 5 minutes
- Why: It’s easy to get lost in this one, as you trudge ahead to harder levels, or continuously retry a level to get the best score. Pass this one around the room quickly and keep the masses snacking.
- Platforms: Quest 2/3/Pro, PSVR/2, PC VR
Store links: Meta Store (Quest, Rift), PlayStation Store, Steam
Puzzling Places
- What: Puzzling Places brings relaxing and wholesome 3D jigsaw puzzling to VR, letting you put together hyper-realistic miniatures of beautiful places from around the globe.
- Who: Everyone. While it doesn’t have a ton of crowd-pleasing wow factor, this is great for quieter moments where you want to show off how ‘neat’ VR can be, especially to older family members.
- How long: under 5 minutes
- Why: Keep difficulty low to get people through fast enough
- Platforms: Quest 2/3/Pro, PSVR/2
Store links: Meta Store, PlayStation Store
Wooorld [Quest]
- What: It’s like Google Earth for Quest. Browse an immersive, 360 Street View photospheres, or look down at a tinker toy map of 3D cities. It’s social, but you can also do private single-player sessions so people don’t have to deal with multiplayer.
- Who: Everyone. We’ve all had places from our past that we either haven’t or physically can’t return to. This gives you and your loved ones a trip down memory lane that is sure to set off some long conversations and stories.
- How long: 10 – 20 minutes per person
- Why: You can easily spend hours alone revisting places, but make sure to set the expectation early on that not everyone can hog the headset. Ask someone to show you their childhood home, or favorite vacation spot and move on to the next person.
- Platforms: Quest 2/3/Pro
Store links: Meta Store
SUPERHOT VR [No PSVR 2 Support]
- What: Insanely stylish, easy to pick up and play, Superhot VR (2017) tosses a little time-bending cartoon violence your family’s way that shouldn’t receive too many odd glances from the older generation.
- Who: Younger, more game-savvy players are sure to love the concept, letting them live out their dreams of being an action hero. The concept is simple and slow enough to get anyone in the mood to punch some red crystal dudes in the face.
- How long: 5 – 10 minutes
- Why: A single stage can go by pretty quickly. It may be best to do a round-robin style match that lets everyone have a go when one player fails a level, or relegate a person to two to three of the smaller sections a piece.
- Platforms: Quest 2/3/Pro, PSVR (no PSVR 2), PC VR
Store links: Meta Store (Quest, Rift), PlayStation Store, Steam
Richie’s Plank Experience [No PSVR 2]
- What: Walk the plank! Literally! Get a wooden board from your garage and line it up with the game’s virtual plank to really scare the bejesus out of people as they teeter over perilous heights.
- Who: Everyone, with a few caveats. Make sure the person is healthy enough to take a self-induced tumble. Tell kids they can’t jump off the ledge and skydive, because… floor.
- How long: 5 minutes per person
- Why: This is a classic experience that will have everyone watching and wanting to take a go themselves, putting your VR headset at the center of attention.
- Platforms: Quest 2/3/Pro, PSVR/2, PC VR
Store links: Meta Store (Quest, Rift), PlayStation Store, Steam
Gran Turismo [PSVR 2]
- What: Drive fast in cars you can’t afford.
- Who: Older kids, teens, and adults. Although speeds can be excessive, the driving experience is comfortable enough for most anyone.
- How long: 5 minutes per person
- Why: You can easily put someone in the corner with this one, as they progress to more difficult tracks, although it’s an easy game to pass around as people get the immersive feel of driving faster than they ever have in real life.
- Platforms: PSVR 2
Store Links: PlayStation Store
Don’t Miss
- Quest Intro Apps – Oculus First Contact, First Steps, and First Encounters (Quest 3) are great ways to ease in newbies if they’re looking to learn more about the headset and common control schemes. Not a ton of crowd wow factor, but it might be just the thing for a smaller gathering with more dedicated neophytes.
- Space Pirate Trainer – Pew pew pew. It’s fundamentally just a wave shooter, but it’s by far one of the best looking and best feeling out there. Find it on Meta Store (Quest, Rift), Steam, PlayStation Store.
- Half-Life: Alyx – It’s not going to be the easiest to show off, since you’ll need to have a specific safe state in mind to drop players into, but it’s tough to beat if you’re looking to wow anyone with the best-looking VR games out there. Find it on Steam.
- Red Matter or Red Matter 2 – Again, story-based stuff with a ton of tutorial-worthy VR control mechanics won’t be the easiest to show off, but if you happen to have a good save state, it can’t hurt to pop a non-believer into this extremely polished adventure game. Find both on Steam, PlayStation Store, Quest, and Rift.
- Moss or Moss 2 – Try plopping the kids down into this family-friendly puzzle platformer that will have you awwwing to nearly the same degree as Astro Bot. Find both on Steam, PlayStation Store, Quest, and Rift.
- Google Earth VR – This PC VR-only app is a good replacement for Wooorld. Giving a loved one the opportunity to travel, especially if they aren’t physically able, is going to really be a special moment. Travel the sights and revisit distant places you never thought you’d see again in the flesh. Find it on Steam and Rift.
- ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission – Maybe not great for the crowd-pleasing wow factor, but after you show off some of the fan favorites above you might park a few more of your curious family members in a chair and let them experience the best platformer PSVR has to offer. Find it on PlayStation Store (No PSVR 2).
- The Lab – Valve’s PC VR-only collection of mini-games and photogrammetry scenes isn’t really the “future” of VR anymore, but kids and adults alike will love the app’s snackable mini-games Longbow, Core Calibration, and Xortex. Find it on Steam.