We are officially in the post-Touch phase of Oculus Rift, meaning that releases are going back down to their usual consistency. A bunch of stuff will hit Steam each week and Home will get a few things here and there to pad out libraries. Let’s take a look!
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!
https://youtu.be/1yUk_pRDDU0
Thread Studio, from Shopify
Price: Free (Rift)
Create t-shirts and model them on fully poseable mannequins. Take pictures of your products to share and get the shirts printed/delivered or sell them through Shopify.
Recommendation: Grab this free, responsive tool and see what you can put together.
Counter Fight, from Tricol Co. Ltd.
Price: $7.99 (Rift)
In Counter Fight, you run the ramen shop and prepare various dishes for customers. You score points for each positively impacted customer, but you must beware the robber that randomly appears.
Recommendation: Lot’s of fun with occasionally spotty physics that will likely be fixed.
ROM: Extraction, from First Contact Entertainment
Price: $14.99 (Rift, Currently Discounted)
This arcade wave shooter lets you occasionally slow down time while shooting and throwing orbs at the enemy robots, adding a degree of originality to the experience.
Recommendation: Great mechanics and visually striking. Multiplayer will be added for free, but only get it if you’re not tired of wave shooters yet.
https://youtu.be/_nBbjJkt9ug
House of Meditation, from Cerevrum
Price: $4.99 (Gear)
Another challenger to the throne of Guided Meditation, House of Meditation has eight different environments with six different meditation sessions to help you relax inside Gear VR. It looks well produced, though we’ve seen a lot of these now.
Recommendation: If you haven’t already gone with another meditation app, this one looks good.
Magic Table Chess, from Experiment 7
Price: Free (Rift and Gear)
It’s been a while since we’ve seen a game launch on both the Rift and Gear VR in the same week, but Magic Table Chess has done it. This is a single player preview of a new take on VR chess, with multiplayer support to come.
Recommendation: Free Chess is better than premium Chess, no?
Dark Days, from Parallel Studio
Price: $7.99 (Rift)
Dark Days is a fully 3D adventure with a fully fleshed out story complete with voice acting. In other words, it’s a scale of game not often seen on Gear VR. We were quite fond of it in our review, though those that don’t like jump scares might want to keep away. Now it’s on Rift.
Recommendation: If you haven’t got Touch yet then this is a nice bone to chew on until you pick them up.
Siege Hammer, from MyDream Interactive, Inc.
Price: $12.99 (Rift)
As the tiny, armor-clad protagonist Blip, players engage in an intimate game of tower defense. You’re able to set up your turrets and react as invaders maneuver through a maze you explore on its outer rim. The game is 100% gaze-based gameplay.
Recommendation: Still on the fence with this one. There are better games in this genre out already.
Sanctuary VR, from Newgrange Games
Price: $2.99 (Rift)
In this first-person atmospheric puzzle-solving adventure game you’ll search a lost spaceship for signs of life. Through the narrative, you’ll uncover what happened to a traveling group of refugees. Only episode 1 is available now, but at least 2 more are planned to complete the narrative.
Recommendation: It’s short, but it’s fully voice acted and has more overall polish than most in this price range.
inVR, from inVR, Inc.
Price: Free (Rift)
inVR is a platform where creators can publish and display their many 3D art installations. The app claims to currently has work from over 200,000 members of the community — it works outside of VR too according to the Steam page.
Recommendation: Cool look into 3D art in a virtual space. For exactly zero dollars.
Cosmos Crash VR, from Viriver Network Technology Co., Ltd.
Price: $4.99 (Rift, Currently Discounted)
Cosmos Crash VR brings a sci-fi feel to the casual match-three genre. Quickly match the colors in 10 different areas that require different strategies to clear the marbles.
Recommendation: Simple, but good fun if you’re a big puzzle game fan. Not a terribly inventive use of VR.
Old Friend, from Tyler Hurd
Price: $2.99 (Rift)
Old Friend is a quirky, vibrant, and psychedelic dance party where you essentially participate in the music video with various dance routines.
Recommendation: Snatch this up and dance with no shame.
Holiday Simulator: Wacky Sleigh Ride, from Hyperator VR Innovation Labs
Price: $2.99 (Rift)
Wacky Sleigh Ride is a Christmas theme on-rails shooter where you toss presents from your sleigh into houses. Do as much as you can before the sun comes up and work up the leaderboards.
Recommendation: Casual fun but nothing amazing. Lacks staying power.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syyBhJ37vDY
Brian’s High Velocity Research Center, from Zach Tsiakalis-Brown and Raul Bravo
Price: Free to Play (Rift)
Brian’s High Velocity Research Center drops you into various maps as you fly, jet, and trick your way around the environment.
Recommendation: Lots of fun but be careful if you’re easily susceptible to motion sickness.
TacoFace, from KLNK Inc.
Price: $0.99 (Rift)
This pixelated casual shooter gives you rocket launchers for arms and lasers for eyes as you take down waves of flying objects while eating as many tacos as you can. Climb the leaderboards in Survival or Time Attack modes.
Recommendation: A steal for the price. It’s Taco Tuesday every day with this one.
Quizality – Christmas!, from UV Games Ltd
Price: $3.49 (Rift, Currently Discounted)
This Christmas themed game presents festive trivia set across 3 rounds in a winter wonderland.
Recommendation: Inexpensive themed grab. If you’re not compelled just yet, see if more content is added in Early Access after the holidays.
Chunky Orbits, from Don Whitaker
Price: $1.33 (Rift, Currently Discounted)
Chunky Orbits is a sandbox where players can experiment with gravity in their own section of space. Fill your area with boulders, stars, comets, and more.
Recommendation: Cheap pick-up-and-play distraction to come back to on occasion.
Serious Sam VR: The First Encounter, from Croteam VR
Price: $35.99 (Rift, Currently Discounted)
After the impressive debut of Serious Sam on VR, the dev team surprised everyone with a VR remake of Sam’s original encounter with full locomotion.
Recommendation: We recently reported on this title and even in Early Access it’s worth your money if you can handle it.
SwingStar VR, from Computer Lunch and Zero Eden Games
Price: $7.19 (Rift, Currently Discounted)
In SwingStar players user a sticky hand to grappel and swing around the cartoon word. Includes 24 levels, mysterious doors to secret levels, and 72 stars to collect to unlock a new world.
Recommendation: Reminds of classic platformers at times. We recommend picking this one up if you don’t get motion sick.
Drone Hunter VR, from VR VISIO
Price: $8.99 (Rift, Currently Discounted)
It’s time for someone to defend the world against an alien invasion. Your reflexes will be pushed to the limits as you embrace the role of a robot and take down waves of drones as you prove you’re worthy of the task.
Recommendation: A fun wave shooter if you have room for another.
Spacecats with Lasers VR, from Bitten Toast Games Inc., Guilherme Cunha, Daniel Snd, Thiago Adamo
Price: $7.99 (Rift)
In this game your VR controllers are spacecats firing lasers as you dodge and take on waves of enemies in outer space.
Recommendation: If you need another reason other than there being cats with lasers, it’s pretty fun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e0d0rbdZ_s
QuiVr, from Blueteak
Price: $15.99 (Rift, Currently Discounted)
Even in Early Access, the developers of QuiVR are trying to produce the definitive VR archery experience. Finally releasing outside of the free demo, the game features drop in/out multiplayer, customizable gear, spectator mode, and more.
Recommendation: Great physics and lots of fun. Definitely a must have.
Deisim, from Myron Software
Price: $6.79 (Rift, Currently Discounted)
Play as the god of this virtual world and reign over your AI villagers as they build a society…or destroy everything with natural disasters. Totally your call.
Recommendation: Perfect genre to take advantage of the VR perspective. Keep an eye on it in Early Access.
Binary Trigger, from One Lives Left
Price: $7.64 (Rift, Currently Discounted)
Binary Trigger is a wave shooter with precise controls where you utilize your hand-eye coordination and quick reflexes to boost your high score to its peak.
Recommendation: See how it evolves while in Early Access before purchasing. Pass for now.
Mass Exodus, from Polymerse
Price: $6.29 (Rift, Currently Discounted)
Mass Exodus adopts a similar multiplayer experience utilized in games like Dead by Daylight and Friday the 13th, tasking a PC user with shutting down four generators to escape the factory while the VR user seeks them out.
Recommendation: Great 1v1 multiplayer experience. Grab it.
Random Journey, from Nova Dimension
Price: $5.99 (Rift, Currently Discounted)
In Random Journey, players fight against more than 40 characters by choosing from mysterious plates.
Recommendations: Not very fun considering every single decision is luck based. It’s also keyboard/mouse only.
