It’s not the biggest week for either Rift or Gear this week, but there are a handful of worthwhile apps, including a return from our friends at WEVR and Felix and Paul Studios. If you’re looking for great games then you’re out of luck, though.
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.
Plus — check out our list of the best Oculus Rift games and best Gear VR games for more suggestions!
GoalkeepVR, from DigitalBadger
Price: $3.59 (Rift, Currently Discounted)
GoalkeepVR is a soccer goalie sim with 8 different modes to challenge your coordination and reflexes as you knock down a constant barrage of soccer balls with different rules.
Recommendation: Fluid with enough challenges to make this a really solid buy. Grab it.
Perch, from Douglas Liang
Price: $4.79 (Rift, Currently Discounted)
In a war between a believer of the world being round and an assailant who declares the world if flat, stand upon your Perch and take down an army of naysayers.
Recommendation: Keep an eye on this game to see if the premise and gameplay expand in Early Access. Could be a solid buy.
Mesh Maker VR, from CreateThis.com
Price: $14.99 (Rift)
Mesh Maker is a 3D modeling tool based on vertices. Intuitive VR controls and interface lessen the learning curve, allowing you to create freely.
Recommendation: Keep an eye on this as it evolves in Early Access. It may eventually stand up to similar tools.
Manastorm: Champions of G’nar, from DaGGsSoft
Price: $4.99 (Rift)
This game takes traditional card games and brings the creatures to life. You also have a room scale lab to create new spells and enchantment to help in combat.
Recommendation: Must have. There’s a lot of potential here to further VR card and board game genre.
Dreams of “O”, from Felix and Paul Studios
Price: Free (Gear)
This is the latest edition to Felix and Paul’s Cirque Du Soleil series. This installment features aquatic acrobats, high-flying stunts and the usual array of eyebrow raising visuals. You can’t argue with free, either.
Recommendation: You should absolutely get this.
Kygo “Carry Me” VR Experience, from Sony Music
Price: $1.99 (Rift)
You read that correctly: this VR music app is coming directly from Sony Music Entertainment and it’s actually quite mesmerizing. It’s sort of like going inside of the psychedelic trappings of a VR music video to the tune of Kygo’s Carry Me feat. Julia Michaels. Very well done.
Recommendation: Paying money to watch a short VR experience like this is off-putting, but it’s certainly well done if you’re a fan of the song.
Old Friend, from WEVR
Price: $2.99 (Rift)
From the guy that made the profoundly odd Butts VR experience comes another eclectic piece, this time under WEVR’s banner. Party in a psychedelic world that doesn’t stop surprising with its strangeness.
Recommendation: If you like the more surreal VR experiences, don’t miss this.
Deepak Chorpa Finding Your True Self, from WEVR
Price: $8.99 (Gear)
Guided meditation is becoming a popular use case for VR. Apparently, people coming out of 2016 tend to be just a bit stressed. This frazzled populist is looking for any way to maintain their sanity and who better to help them on that quest then multi-hyphenate meditation expert, Deepak Chopra. The app features “evocative works by acclaimed artist Abhishek Singh and an ambient score by award winning composer Brian Riordan.”
Recommendation: Who couldn’t use a bit of relaxation these days? Chopra is certainly the most qualified name we’ve seen attached to a meditation VR experience yet so if this sort of thing sounds like the breath of fresh air you need; go ahead and give it a whirl.
In.block
Price: Free (Rift)
Minecraft is popular. VR is popular. Why not put them together? That’s the basic concept behind In.Block: cube-based creation through the power of Oculus Touch.
Recommendation: In.Block is designed to be easy to use so if you’re a less than stellar artist (like myself) this might be a great beginning VR art platform for you to start out with. There’s no cost for the app so we can all feel free to fail. Which I will, a lot.
