Things get serious in this week’s roundup for HTC Vive, featuring Serious Sam VR, the virtual release of The Golf Club with over 130,000 courses, and much more. The full collection is highlighted by a whimsical Rescuties! VR that has you saving babies and pets in a series of chaotic scenes, from highway chases to space stations.
In the meantime, if you missed last week, you can see those new releases here. And don’t forget that UploadVR has a Steam community group, complete with a curated list of recommendations so that you don’t have to waste any money finding out what’s good in the world of VR.
We also have a top list of the absolute best HTC Vive games — which is updated every few months with the latest and greatest options.
Fine China, from Fine China Games
Price: $0.99
Slide, shimmy, and duck through antique store with your unnecessarily large backpack as you try not to break all the expensive trinkets or switch to destruction mode and become the bull in the china shop.
Recommendation: Lots of destructive fun with solid visuals for a steal. Get it!
Grav|Lab, from Mark Schramm
Price: $14.99
Get hands on and build your machine in order to dominate the challenges and unlock new areas in this physics and electronic circuit puzzle game, currently in Early Access and adding more content over time.
Recommendation: Keep an eye on it in Early Access, but hold off on dropping the cash for now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAp38yorvp0
Boxing Saga, from VR Prince Technology development Beijing Co. Ltd
Price: $4.99
Put on your gloves and step into the ring and challenge for the gold belt. Boxing is a natural fit for the HTC Vive’s controllers and you get a good workout while playing. Also has an Endless battle mode to really clock your cardio.
Recommendation: Solid effort for the price, but misses the mark with fighters that don’t move around the ring.
Potioneer: The VR Gardening Simulator, from Focus on Fun Games
Price: $0.99
Think you have a green thumb? Want to put that to the test in VR first? Potioneer is your game. Plant and nurture your garden, explore a wooded area for new items, and combine your harvested materials for different types of potions.
Recommendation: Only 99 cents to bring you one step closer to a Hogwarts class.
Plenty: Skyhearth, from Tiny Lions
Price: Free To Play
Test your archery skills by taking out as many birds as you can. This free game is set in a very well designed and serene village, so your friends won’t feel so down when they can’t match your high score.
Recommendation: Give it a shot…heh.
Guardian, from Lily Games
Price: $5.39 (Currently Discounted)
Stand your ground in a dark canyon as your beset upon by various malevolent creatures and even massive golems. You’re armed with a splash damage weapon in your left hand and precision shooter in your right as you defend the sealing ice crystal.
Recommendation: Not quite sure Early Access will help the uninspired design, even with an added story mode. Pass.
https://youtu.be/8FDU-IoKZY4
Arcade Artist, from Groove Jones LLC
Price: $7.19 (Currently Discounted)
Described as “Tilt Brush on Steroids!”, Arcade Artist puts your creativity to the test in a variety of mini-games. Utilize the Laser Light Etcher, Velocity Brush, and Paintball Blaster Prototype #7 (I wonder what went wrong with 1-6) in this casual funhouse.
Recommendation: Price is a bit steep, there are tons of game collections out there already.
https://youtu.be/tGQZVDAdWYg
Head It!: VR Soccer Heading Game
Price: $4.79 (Currently Discounted)
If you’ve ever dreamed of heading a corner kick into a net, your time is now. Match wits with the goalkeeper and rank up as you push for the highest score.
Recommendation: Pass. Copycat based on Headmaster it seems.
Destroyer, from CFlat
Price: $7.99 (Currently Discounted)
In Destroyer, your only mission is to destroy as much as you can with what you have. With a limited number of spiked iron balls, strategically the load-bearing points of structures and take them down.
Recommendation: Not bad for such a simple concept. Get it and blow off the steam.
https://youtu.be/eDU7plkr_O0
The Rise of Captain Longbeard, from Colopl NI
Price: $19.99
Grab your flintlock pistols and sword as you fight with pirates, spiders, and other monsters, solve puzzles, and explore as the young pirate Robert Longfellow.
Recommendation: Looks decently impressive in its current Early Access state. Keep tabs on it.
https://youtu.be/CUtXPVuFMw0
Monster Maze VR, from 4 Fun Studio
Price: $3.99
Right in time for Halloween, insert your ticket and enter this horrific maze and shoot whatever creatures cross your path. You’ll actually have to mimic a walking motion, swinging arms and all, in this roughly 25 minute event.
Recommendation: Pass
Rescuties! VR, from mode of expression, LLC
Price: $11.99 (Currently Discounted)
This low poly treat has you traveling through cities, on the open sea, in the air, and even outer space as you rescue 50+ different babies and pets. Also features a few powerups like the rocket gloves and modifiers to mix things up, like turning into a giant.
Recommendation: Crazy amount of settings and activities make this absolutely worth the purchase.
https://youtu.be/D4iA3oeTjOk
Nature’s Wrath VR, from SDC Ventures
Price: $11.99 (Currently Discounted)
In Nature’s Wrath, dash around your village to set traps and use various weapons to defend against an endless horde.
Recommendation: Pass
Starfighter Arduxim, from Fulby Technologies
Price: $3.19 (Currently Discounted)
Enjoy twelve missions as you climb into your Arduxim space fighter or even test yourself against other VR pilots in multi-player. Includes a survival mode as well.
Recommendation: Not as visually impressive as other available space shooters, probably pass. Here’s our review of the Gear VR version.
Unruly Ghouls, from Machete Games LLC
Price: $8.99 (Currently Discounted)
You’ll develop a new appreciation for the friendly Casper after shooting down the enemies in Unruly Ghosts. This well polished defense shooter even pays homage to the classic Ghostbusters as you weaken the ghosts before sucking them into a vacuum.
Recommendation: Buy it if you can say, with confidence:I ain’t afraid of no ghost!
The Golf Club VR, from HB Studios
Price: $21.24 (Currently Discounted)
Based on the 2014 game The Golf Club, the VR version includes over 130,000 user generated gold courses you can explore and play on. A reworked sound system increases the immersion in virtual reality.
Recommendation: A must have for golf fans and those with even a slight interest.
Accounting, from Crows Crows Crows & Squanchtendo
Price: Free
From the creator of Rick and Morty, Accounting is a short collection of different room based puzzles. According to the backstory of this journey into accounting: “Thousands have died so that we may get to the level of understanding that we have today. Thousands have died.”
Recommendation: Definitely worth the price of entry, but take a look at the UploadVR team playing for a bit.
https://youtu.be/DDaHOSsMBj0
PIRATADO 1, from Ryabov Eduard
Price: $7.99
PIRATADO 1 is a sci-fi space shooter with 22 levels and 24 different spaceships for you to pilot in this space war. Xbox Controller is required.
Recommendation: Not a whole lot of fun. Pass.
The Stanford Ocean Acidification Experience, from Stanford Researchers
Price: Free
This educational experience aims to inform us of how carbon dioxide emissions travel from our cities to our seas and the long term effects it has on our underwater ecosystems. We recently reported on the project and the involved collaborators.
Recommendation: Grab it and learn something new.
Hindenburg VR, from Michal Bárta
Price: $12.99
Explore the faithfully recreated and detailed virtual version of the legendary German passenger airship, the LZ-129 Hindenburg.
Recommendation: If you’re a history or sim buff, worth price of admission — but just barely/maybe.
https://youtu.be/pP2sY_wSSWU
DemonicGuestVR, from Mgsstudio
Price: $1.99
In its current state, DemonicGuestVR is another jump scare experience that you can freak your friends out with. It’s currently in Early Access, but will be adding a degree of gameplay in the future.
Recommendation: A cool VR demo to scare friends with for a low price.
https://youtu.be/JTNE_ovjmSY
A Fear of Heights, and Other Things, from Fulby Technologies
Price: $0.99
A Fear of Heights is a collection of scenes that serve as a tech demo of sorts for those curious about the immersion of VR. One scene that allows you to swing around a city with grappling hooks will make you dream of Spider-man.
Recommendation: Low priced treat to show what VR can do.
CapitalShip VR, from RowlesCorp Studios
Price: $5.27 (Currently Discounted)
In a massive VR space, players manipulate a large-scale conflict as if playing a tabletop war game. Manage your ships and resources as you tackle various challenges.
Recommendation: Grab it. Gives us a good look at what the Real-Time Strategy genre can look like in virtual reality.
Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope, from Croteam VR
Price: $31.99 (Currently Discounted)
Things just got SERIOUS. As if destined for virtual reality, Serious Sam drops you into its incredible, intense, and gory conflicts as you blast away at creatures that reach the size of skyscrapers.
Recommendation: Grab this blast from the past with a VR twist.
Zaccaria Pinball – VR, from Magic Pixel Kft.
Price: $14.99
The original Zaccaria Pinball gets a VR facelift. This game collects 38 classic pinball machines from between 1974 to 1987. There’s one completely free table in the required base game, but all others are on a trial and can be purchased individually.
Recommendation: Pinball fans will freak in this portal to the past. Give it a try.
