Best VR Games 2023

As VR experiences continue to evolve and branch out to different genres, so too do the platforms and digital storefronts that support them.

For many, the go-to is still Steam, which makes a lot of sense considering the diversity of games, supported hardware, and community features it has to offer.

So after much research, we created this list to highlight the best VR games on Steam in 2023 and share it with you.

We plan to update this list regularly with new releases, so make sure to check back from time to time and let us know if we missed any of your favorite VR games!

Related:Best Upcoming VR Games 2023 (And Beyond)Best Upcoming PSVR Games 2023 (And Beyond)

Demeo is a VR dungeon crawler RPG designed for cooperative cross-platform play for up to four players.

In it, you and your friends embark on magical adventures to battle the forces of evil reminiscent of tabletop D&D games.

Assuming control of either a hunter, sorcerer, assassin, or guardian, each player will roll their dice to move their miniatures and advance the story as they go.

The game supports crossplay between most VR devices and PC and also includes a social space where players can meet and swap stories, play mini-games, and learn tips.

Designed from the ground up for VR, Wanderer has you taking on the role of an unlikely hero who finds himself on a time-bending journey that will reshape history.

After discovering a mysterious wristwatch in his grandfather’s lost apartment, Asher is sent back in time to uncover secrets of the past and prevent humanity’s eventual downfall.

Gameplay is a mix of escape room-style puzzles, tactile interactions, and arcade-inspired action sequences that greatly benefit from the VR format.

Considering how rare it is to see narrative-driven VR experiences, Wanderer is definitely a game you’ll want to check out to get the most from your headset.

Song in the Smoke is one of the most robust, technically impressive VR survival experiences on the market.

It sees you entering a dangerous world beyond our reality where you’ll have to gather resources to craft weapons and clothing to protect yourself.

Out in the wild there are lethal creatures who aren’t too kind to your presence and will try to stalk and hunt you unless you beat them to it.

This is done by tracking their scent, following footprints, and planning your strike from a distance using your bow and arrow or up close with your club.

Since there hasn’t been much in the way of MMO VR games, headset owners are understandably impressed by Ramen VR’s game Zenith: The Last City.

Described as an “infinite universe with countless players,” it sees you joining a party and aligning yourself with a guild as you head off into the unknown.

One of Zenith’s coolest features is its robust combat system that allows you to parry enemy attacks and perform your own devastating combos.

Together, you and your allies will fight epic bosses, explore mysterious dungeons, and carve out a new life for yourselves in a fully realized VR world.

While it may not be the full-fledged Half-Life 3 fans have been begging for, Half-Life: Alyx is no doubt a return to form for the iconic sci-fi series.

Bridging the story between the original Half-Life and Half-Life 2, it sees you fighting an impossible battle against a vicious alien race known as the Combine.

Taking control of Alyx Vance, players will fulfill their duty as humanity’s only chance for survival by pushing back against the Combine’s forces with help from Dr. Eli Vance.

Designed solely for VR, the game allows you to immersive yourself in deep environmental interactions as you solve puzzles, explore the world, and fight aliens.

Any VR gamers who enjoy chopping up zombies will get a kick out of Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners.

In it, players are tasked with scavenging through the flooded ruins of New Orleans as they meet survivors and make tough choices that affect their survival.

The game also throws in crafting, free roam exploration, and visceral combat with undead enemies for a 15+ hour experience.

It’s almost like living through The Walking Dead’s dark drama firsthand, minus the commercials or waiting a week for a new episode.

Next up is Boneworks, a narrative VR action adventure sandbox that uses advanced experimental physics mechanics.

This allows players to explore dynamic environments, engage in physics-heavy combat, and devise creative solutions to puzzles.

The game provides you with more than enough tools to do so, including a wide variety of melee weapons, firearms, physics traps, and environmental objects.

Last but not least, Boneworks implements technically-accurate full IK body systems to achieve realistic looking bodies with maximum immersion.

Taking inspiration from high-energy films such as John Wick and Equilibrium, Pistol Whip is a dynamic combination of rhythm and first-person shooter gameplay.

In it, players journey through a cinematic bullet hell fueled by breakneck beats and over 30 hand-crafted scenes.

These range from high-stakes bank heists to android uprisings, and more, each uniquely designed to incorporate rhythm mechanics and visceral combat.

Additionally, the game features five distinct weapon types, an ever-growing selection of gameplay modifiers, and player leaderboards.

A Fisherman’s Tale is a mind-bending VR puzzle adventure game about a tiny fisherman pupper who lives alone in a cabin oblivious to the outside world.

That is, until a radio broadcast alerts you of an incoming storm that kicks off a bizarre adventure with physics-defying consequences.

Build from the ground up for VR, A Fisherman’s Tale allows players to use their hands to pick up, throw, combine, and use an assortment of objects and tools.

It’s an absolute must-play for anyone who likes mind-bending VR experiences wrapped up in mystery and intrigue.

Although Tetris hasn’t really changed much in the 30+ years it’s been around, developers constantly find new ways to iterate on the iconic puzzler.

The two that come to mind more recently are the Nintendo-exclusive Tetris 99 and the immersive VR puzzler Tetris Effect: Connected.

The game utilizes different visual and auditory cues that correspond to your tetrominoes’ movement and placement in relation to music tracks that play in the background.

As you progress through challenges, so does the background music, evolving in tempo and rhythm as you reach tense moments where blocks rapidly descend onto your screen.

Compound is a retro-inspired VR shooter with free-roaming environments, randomized elements, and rogue-lite progression.

In it players, must duck and doge around enemy fire as they navigate randomly-generated environments to reach the heart of a sinister corporation.

This is a fun shake-up from the usual wave-based formula implemented by most VR shooters and features room-scale immersive environments.

The only downside is some players, particularly those still coming to grips with VR locomotion, may have a tough time playing Compound without feeling sick.

If you’re looking for a fun sports simulator VR game, look no further than Eleven Table Tennis.

In it, you compete against players from around the world or AI opponents in realistic VR table tennis matches with physics.

The game is well-supported with updates from developer For Fun Labs and continually improving.

What’s more, it already has a thriving community of table tennis fanatics that coordinate through Discord to setup matches and tournaments.

Vacation Simulator is a fun casual and comedic VR game that serves as a follow-up to Job Simulator from developer Owlchemy Labs.

Much like its predecessor, the game sees you tackling various mini-games designed to mimic human activities as perceived by cute robots.

Each one plays off of the idea of a relaxing getaway, and as such includes tasks like building a sandbox or hanging out in hot tub.

There’s a lot of charm to the mini-games and robots that accompany you, resulting in some fun low-key VR fun that anyone can get into.

Next up is Blade and Sorcery, a medieval fantasy sandbox game designed from the ground up for VR that’s structured around melee combat.

Players are tasked with holding off waves of enemies in creatively gruesome ways using a mix of swords, axes, bows, and magic spells.

It features three character classes: Warrior, Ranger, and Sorcerer, each with unique skills tailored for different playstyles.

Furthermore, the game incorporates a stance system to help you deal with certain challenges and enemy types.

Beat Saber is a sword-slashing rhythm game where players use dual-wield sabers to slice through red and blue-colored cubes in time with the music.

Landing consecutive hits builds up a score multiplier that’s maintained by dodging incoming obstacles that appear in the lanes in front of you.

The game’s dual-blade control scheme feels natural and makes great use of most VR device setups.

Overall, Beat Saber is a solid recommendation for anyone who enjoys playing rhythm games or getting in a good workout in VR.

Best described as a collection of arcade VR experiences, Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades is a nice sampling of what the medium has to offer.

There’s a big emphasis on combat, with many challenges and modes revolving around firing guns at walking hot dogs.

Our personal favorite is ‘Take and Hold,’ where players must infiltrate guarded rooms, loot them dry, and stand their ground for a set amount of time.

Despite being a few years old now, the game is still regarded as one of the best VR experiences for showcasing realistic physics and weapon handling.

Sprint Vector is an arcade racing VR game that uses gesture controls to affect your character’s movement.

In it, players face off in fast-paced rollerblading races that incorporate freerunning techniques against both AI and human opponents.

Speed is gained by swinging your arms, turns by braking with a designated arm, and wall climbing by reaching up over your head.

While the presence of power-ups keep the game from ever feeling too serious, some techniques have a steep learning curve, so expect to put in a lot of practice.

I Expect You to Die is an action-puzzle game that drops you in harrowing situations as an international spy tasked with bringing down an evil corporation.

Relying on your spy instincts, you’ll analyze scenarios and pick out useful objects in the environment that can be leveraged to help you survive.

Situations range from bomb defusals to escaping a sinking boat to crafting weapons using volatile chemicals.

Like Sprint Vector, it can take some time to master the game’s controls and fine-tune things to your liking.

Our next recommendations is Gorn, a VR gladiator fighting game from developer Free Lives, best known for games like Broforce and Genital Jousting.

In it, players enter arenas where they’ll have to fight for their lives against waves of fierce and formidable warriors using swords, maces, bows, nunchucks, and more.

The combat is satisfying and visceral, particularly the manner in which you execute enemies and send blood and guts flying all over the place.

Everything is physics-driven and controls just as well as one would hope from a combat-intensive VR game.

Pavlov VR is a multiplayer military shooter that shares a lot of similarities with tactical games like CS: GO.

The main mode of play is Search and Destroy, which sees two squads competing to locate and destroy a target or prevent the enemy team from doing the same.

The gunplay is surprisingly realistic and fast-paced, especially for an online shooter designed for VR.

In addition, Pavlov VR is well supported with content updates, new features, and has a very active playerbase.

Supporting both traditional gamepad controls and VR headsets, Rez Infinite is a fantastic PC port of the Dreamcast/PS2 rhythm-based rail shooter.

Part remake, part sequel, the game features fully remastered versions of Areas 1-5 from the original Rez along with a brand-new experimental stage called Area X.

Additionally, improvements have been made in regards to graphics and audio, with Rez Infinite supporting higher resolutions and 3D audio.

Aside from belonging to the limited “rhythm shooter” subgenre, Rez has always stood out for its bombastic techno soundtrack that twists and warps levels.

Moss has you take on the role of ‘The Reader,’ a silent figure that guides the game’s mouse protagonist Quill on a fairy tale adventure.

By working together, the two of you will solve puzzles, maneuver through platforming challenges, and defeat your enemies.

While its playtime is relatively short, even when compared to other VR experiences, Moss does a great job at establishing its world and characters.

This is particularly true of the mouse hero Quill, who becomes quite fond of the player and ends up forming a tight bond throughout your epic journey together.