If you're looking to get the most our of your VR headset, you're going to want to give one of the best Meta Quest 2 games a play. We've been playing around with this platform for a few years now, and our pick of the best Quest 2 games are the ones we keep on coming back to – there is, after all, nothing quite like exploring incredible worlds in virtual reality.
If you're still looking for a headset and are using this as an opportunity to scope out what games you should play when you do decide to buy, then you may want to check out our best Quest 2 deals. Otherwise, keep on reading to find our pick of the 15 best Quest 2 games that you can play in 2023.
15. Journey of the Gods
Developer: Turtle Rock Studios
For something a little Zelda-like, Journey of the Gods from Back 4 Blood and Evolve dev Turtle Rock Studios is a fantastic option. It's not only beautiful but has an interesting way of keeping the gameplay feeling fresh. You switch between first-person action, but then there's also a God Mode that let's you move to a top-down view for puzzle solving and more strategic combat options.
14. Microsoft Flight Simulator
Developer: Asobo Studio
Okay, okay it's another game that needs a gaming PC and a link cable, but my goodness is it worth it. The 2020 release of Microsoft Flight Simulator brought the classic sim into the modern day, with intensely high levels of realism and a huge range of planes to get behind the flight stick with. Add in Quest 2 and it might just be the most immersive sim of all time. A mustn't miss for anyone who even vaguely finds Flight Sim relaxing.
13. Job Simulator
Developer: Owlchemy Labs
An oldie but an absolute favorite of ours. Job Simulator sees you taking on classic "human" jobs some 30 years into the future as interpreted by comical robots post-humanity's extinction. Think office worker, mechanic, chef and store clerk and you kinda get the idea. It's silly, brilliantly interactive, and still one of the best Quest 2 games even though it dropped back in 2019. If you want more, there's also Vacation Simulator by the same people too.
12. Until You Fall
Developer: Schell Games
One of the best Quest 2 games purely because of how replayable it is, Until You Fall is a stylish Dark Souls-esque roguelike. With lots of neon, it's a treat for your eyes and quite a world away from the more muted pallets of FromSoftware titles, but just a much of a challenge. You'll dual-wield weapons including swords and maces, and use them to strike, counter, and also dodge incoming enemy attacks. Every time you die, you're put back to the beginning but with more upgrades and a better chance of survival. Utterly moreish and great for short bursts.
11. The Climb 2
Developer: Crytek
If you get weak at the knees at the thought of being up high, The Climb 2 may not be for you, as this free-climbing adventure game is definitely not for the faint-hearted. It's solo-climbing in virtual reality and takes the experience from the first game to entirely new heights - quite literally. You'll have to manage your stamina as you climb a whole variety of locations including skyscrapers, as well as navigating distractions like moving ladders, snakes, and birds. It's an intense experience that is surprisingly good for an accidental workout too, just be prepared to get used to falling... a lot.
10. Half-Life Alyx
Developer: Valve
We know it’s not a native app and you’ll need a Link cable and a gaming PC, but it’s impossible not to mention Half-Life Alyx in a best Quest 2 games list. The fact that Valve’s VR masterpiece happily plays on the headset is an incredible feat and there’s nothing like exploring City 17 to gently reassure you of the future of VR gaming. Joining Alyx Vance on her journey is an oh-so-touchable narrative rollercoaster. Everything can be shot, thrown, prodded, and defused, and there’s a true immersive sense of just existing in the world of Half-Life. As with many VR experiences, you’ll quickly realise how terrifying landing in our favourite gaming universes eyes first can be. Your first encounter with the monsters of Half-Life won’t be pretty but it will definitely be memorable. Clear 12 hours in your calendar. You won’t regret it.
9. The Room VR: A Dark Matter
Developer: Fireproof Games
If you’ve whiled away the hours prodding puzzle boxes and spinning intricate doo-hickeys in the previous Room games on mobile, you’ll know exactly what to expect from A Dark Matter. These magnificent brainteasers expand perfectly into an atmospheric 3D world of intrigue as we find ourselves in early 20th century London investigating the mysterious disappearance of an Egyptologist. Cue racing between intriguing locations and playing with even more fascinating contraptions. Even on mobile, The Room games have always had an unnerving sensation of wondering what’s behind you as you solve each puzzle and in VR, that feeling is only heightened. Fireproof Games has crafted an often gently chilling journey across London and the scale of A Dark Matter has a gleeful giant escape room feel. Ideal for the days when you want to feel like Sherlock Holmes but would prefer to don a Quest 2 than a deerstalker hat.
8. Pistol Whip
Developer: Cloudhead Games Ltd
Pistol Whip sits happily in the middle of the stylish Venn diagram between Beat Saber and John Wick. This is an on-rails first person shooter set to pounding electronic music and it’s a bit like plugging drum beats straight into your brain. Each ultra-stylised level sees you hurtling through an action movie where shots to the beat will earn you points. And if you thought Beat Saber was exhausting, Pistol Whip is basically cardio on bullety steroids as you desperately dodge out of the way of incoming fire and perform those titular pistol whips on those in your direct path. Incredibly too, despite its fast moving nature, Pistol Whip neatly sidesteps any VR sickness fears thanks to constant horizons and a regular momentum, leaving you free to fire with no fear of losing lunch. Your gym regime is about to become a whole lot more exciting than everyone else's.
7. Robo Recall: Unplugged
Developer: Drifter Entertainment / Epic Games
Robo Recall was released on the original Oculus Rift back in 2017 but given the smaller user base, few people could shout about Epic’s frankly incredible first person robo-shooter. Thankfully, the Unplugged version for Quest 2 means everyone can experience the joys and hilarity of bringing back the nefarious products of the RoboReady Corporation. Robo Recall is all about making you feel as deadly and ludicrously powerful as possible, with weapons holstered over your shoulders for easy access. Yet while blasting away with your shotgun is a satisfying delight, enemy machinery can also be grabbed if you’re within reach and you can physically pull them to pieces. It turns out that, helpfully, the RoboReady Corporation doesn’t mind what shape the androids come back in. Add in being able to catch bullets and other projectiles mid air, and this feels like an action god simulator as much as an FPS.
6. Moss
Developer: Polyarc
The adventures of the adorable Quill are thankfully far more than just an exercise in cute. This is a beautifully crafted fantasy adventure of both puzzles and combat as we aid Quill on her journey to save her uncle from evil clutches. The conceit here is that we play as The Reader, who as well as steering Quill through a land of threats can also use our perspective as a lumbering human to manipulate the environment for further progression. It’s a perfect combination that makes the most of our ability to peer around each lush environment in full 3D to find a way through. Puzzles mean interacting with the environments at the same time as steering Quill and things can become enjoyably manic. There’s also a lovely feeling of connection with the little mouse, making this feel almost like a two-player journey, even if there’s only one human.
5. The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
Developer: Skydance Interactive
First things first. The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners is an intense experience. It’s the kind of undead apocalypse simulator that will test every single one of your judgements of the Walking Dead characters as you quickly realise that you’d probably just hide under a bed in this situation. Combat here is what can best be described as crunchy. As much as you’d like long distance weaponry, most of what you’ll initially find means getting up close and personal with the slavering undead as you embed bottles in flesh, knives into skulls, and desperately slash at clutching limbs. This is no hands off House of the Dead experience, instead relying on endless crafting of home made shanks and hoping you’ll survive another day in a bleak overrun version of New Orleans. If you want to physically wrap yourself with bandages to heal and actually feel like every day might be your last, you don’t want to miss this.
4. I Expect You To Die 2
Developer: Schell Games
Escape rooms are perfect VR fodder. Enclosed environments to experience either seated or standing and clues to solve in order to stave off an early demise. I Expect You To Die 2 elevates this to an exquisite art form, improving on the already excellent original with a variety of nefarious spy traps and puzzles that would make a Bond villain green with envy that they didn’t come up with it first. All six missions take place across a sprawling cinematic narrative with a classic brilliant spy thriller story and entertaining characters. But truthfully, before we can even mention success, this experience is all about the ways you’re going to expire. Whether that’s via grenades, poisonous gas, or an irresistibly placed explosive cigar, your experience fighting against the title will seem fruitless at first. Keep going though and this is a wickedly inventive puzzler. Rest in pieces.
3. Superhot VR
Developer: SUPERHOT
By this point it’s not even possible to write a list of VR games that doesn’t include Superhot VR but that’s because this game of deadly living statues just works so well on the platform. Especially wire free on the Quest 2. Just, set your boundaries please. Which is good general life advice anyway. Like Beat Saber, it’s the simplicity that draws you in here. Your enemies only move when you do, so how hard can it be? Part of the attraction here is that everything in Superhot’s minimalist world is yours to manipulate. Bullets in mid air to dodge like you’re Neo in the Matrix… bottles to hurl… pistols to worry about reaching in time… Superhot is a perfect action game but also a puzzler. Everything could happen in the blink of an eye or you can take it second by second. And, don’t worry, it’s OK if you find these faceless wonders terrifying. At least you can punch them, eh?
2. Resident Evil 4
Developer: Armature Studio
No, come back! This is no mere lazy port of a survival horror game that, let’s face it, by this point has been on more platforms than any of us would like to show our age by admitting to playing. Armature Studio clearly adores Resident Evil 4, constructing a first-person experience that genuinely feels like Leon S. Kennedy’s worst ever day. And switching up that iconic third-person perspective to a first-person one comes with all kinds of benefits as well as fresh terror. Leon’s gear is helpfully positioned on your body so you can just grab what you need, shooting feels just desperate but powerful enough, and all of Resi 4’s puzzles can now be grabbed and manipulated. If the opening hours terrified you back in 2005 on your CRT TV, there’s no denying that the Resident Evil 4 VR experience will up your heart rate but dodge that first chainsaw and there’s a genuinely brilliant full horror experience here.
1. Beat Saber
Developer: Beat Games
In a market now heaving sweatily with VR workout games, Beat Saber still manages to expertly slice through the competition. In perfect rhythm, of course. Part of this is down to its apparent beautiful simplicity - see block, cut block in time with the music, continue - but another is that Beat Games has never stopped adding to the core experience. New music packs, shout out to Lady Gaga, have been released consistently since launch, and you can now play in full 360 degrees thanks to the wire free nature of the Quest 2. The true joy of the Beat Saber experience though is progressing through the difficulty levels like a Jedi in training. Each track has multiple variables to help you improve your speed with your trusty lightsabers and, before you know it, you’re expertly slicing away in pursuit of the elusive SS rank. Just don’t blame us when you’re listening to the tracks outside of Beat Saber and your arms start twitching.
