The 25 Best Free VR Games

Playable on Oculus Quest or PS VR2, Cactus Cowboy - Plants at War is one of the best free VR games to offer a more cartoony take on your average first-person shooter experience. An invasion of bugs comes upon "Cacti Island" and forces you into combat mode to decimate them alongside your battlefield ally Emilio. This World War II-themed FPS lets you tear up all those bugs with firearms inspired by the era this game is inspired by.

Made by veteran mountain climbers, Adventure Climb VR is a room-scale experience that’s ideal for those just getting into virtual reality. While it's a pretty short experience overall, using your body to scale a wall and looking down to see a massive drop where you are is incredibly immersive. It's one of the best free VR games for folks looking for an easier way to face their fears of heights or for gamers that just want to replicate the feel of perilous rock climbing sessions.

If you’re looking for something competitive in the VR space, try out Blaston, a game that pits you and one other player against each other as you shoot slow-motion bullets at each other, simultaneously trying to hit the other player and dodge their bullets.

For those that like tabletop games and the community that playing with other players brings, Cards & Tankards is one of the better offerings recreating that feeling on VR right now. The great thing about this is you can also play it on PC and you can practice against AI too.

One of the genres that are enhanced the most by virtual reality is without a doubt, horror. Dagon is a horror that puts you in the shoes of a sailor who washes up on the shores of "Eldritch Island." It’s only a 30-minute experience, but for that entire time, it’s visually enthralling and genuinely scary.

DCS World is one of the best flight simulators on VR right now. Sitting in a cockpit with dozens of controls at your fingertips is exciting and the ability to fire missiles, drop bombs, make evasive maneuvers, and more, all from the comfort of your couch.

Developed by Meta, Echo VR lets you play a team game where the goal is to steal a disc from your opponents and throw it into their goal. That already sounds good, but the game also takes place in zero gravity, which means you need to use thrusters to get around, adding a lot of fun to things.

If you thought those POV roller coaster videos on YouTube were immersive, you’ll love Epic Roller Coasters. This game also ups the stakes, letting you experience coasters that leap off of platforms and do other things that couldn’t possibly pass a health and safety check in real life.

Developed independently by Kerestell Smith, Gorilla Tag became one of the biggest VR games out there, with over five million players late last year. The game turns you and the other players in it into a bunch of gorillas, either playing tag with each other or in "Infection" mode. Getting this one on the Oculus Rift is the way to go if you're looking to check out the free-to-play version.

It was inevitable that battle royales were going to be popular in VR as a reflection of how popular they are in regular gaming. What Hibow does is take advantage of how fun using a bow and arrow is in virtual reality and make it the central point of the game. 

At the end of the day, VR is an escape for many and Academic Quarter is aware of that, providing that for users in their Horizon Beyond game. It puts you on a flying ship and lets you sail the skies, in a great, relaxing VR experience.

As the name suggests, this is a shooter that puts emphasis on being agile and rapid with your movement. It puts teams of five against each other and the high pace that the gameplay demands makes for an exhilarating experience. This had a $20 price point before becoming free-to-play last year, so you’re getting quality too.

For a shooter that’s a little more realistic, try out Pavlov Shack. Some consider it sort of like Counter-Strike meets virtual reality and that should give you a decent idea of what to expect from it. For a free title, this offers a great amount of content too.

Survival horror meeting a wave shooter in virtual reality is a gamer’s dream… or nightmare, depending on how you like at it. Propagation VR pits players against swarms of scary enemies like zombies, giant spiders, and mutants and lets the adrenaline, fear, and pressure take over. For a challenging experience, try out Propagation VR.

If you want to experience the social aspect that VR can do well, look no further than Rec Room, a game where you’ll feel part of a community. The game offers numerous activities to take part in, as well as the ability to use your imagination and create them for yourself.

This is a unique stealth game where instead of actually playing as the protagonist, you act as a sort of invisible friend to them, opening doors, completing puzzles, etc. If that sounds a little strange to you, don’t be too put off because the storyline is great and the gameplay will still keep you engaged.

This isn’t a fully fleshed-out Star Wars game, although the idea of one in VR is very exciting. Here, you’ll need to repair BB-8 and his "astromech" droid friends so that they continue in the battle. Perhaps it’s something that big Star Wars fans will be able to appreciate the most, but it’s a cool VR experience either way.

If you don’t think performing life-saving surgery in virtual reality sounds appealing, Surgeon Simulator begs to differ. Meet The Medic is essentially a free demo for the full game that captures the fun, goofiness, and overall chaos of these games that have been popular outside of VR for years already.

Perhaps the best choice on this list for someone first getting into their VR headset, The Lab is a collection of a bunch of mini-games that Valve made specifically to demonstrate the capabilities of virtual reality. You can check out space, play fetch and check out half a dozen other games that are a fun way to introduce yourself to this new realm.

Another great way to immerse yourself in the magic of VR right away is with The Playroom. This is a PlayStation-exclusive mini-game collection that lets players use their PS4 controller to navigate things. The great thing is this is multiplayer too, so it’s a way for friends and family to get in on the fun.

This game is set in one room, but in VR, that’s not always bad news. You’re a spy in the USA during the 1950s and are tasked with watching and analyzing your neighbors out of a window with the aim of finding out who is the communist spy. It’s a solid example of how a game that could be boring to play while staring at a TV or monitor is enhanced so much with VR.

Developed by Resolution Games, ULTIMECHS is a game that puts you and other players in control of mechs and have you playing a game where you must use your rocket fists to get a ball into the opponent’s goal. Think Rocket League with giant robots. The game leads to as many fun and wacky moments as you’d expect.

eSports has been the way that gaming has gone at the elite level for a while now, so it’s only natural that that would eventually be the case with VR too. Vertical Shift is a game that aims to get ahead of that and calls itself a VR eSport. You and a bunch of other players are geared up with grappling hooks, jet packs, and more to assist you in the various game modes that are available.

It’s a wonder that VRChat is not only free but still in early access. The game offers a bunch of games that you and others can play together, but the real gem here is meeting new people and escaping real life. Think of this as a little preview of what the metaverse could be.

Last but not least, War Thunder boasts being one of the biggest and best vehicular combat games out there, despite being completely free. If you prefer arcade kind of gameplay and fights, there’s a mode for that, but also a sim mode too. Whether you’re in a tank, aircraft, or any of the other thousands of vehicles available, this is a game you’ll be excited to play in VR and maybe even in general.