Posted 21 November 2023
Free VR games and demos for Meta Quest 2/3, Steam, Epic and Xbox Game Pass for PC
best rated free gamesThis list is in three parts:
1) Meta Quest 2/3 games and demos - for when your PC isn't with you
2) Steam/Epic/Game Pass for PC VR games and demos - Steam has some free games and more numerous demos than the Quest store
3) WebXR for all headsets - a few freebies to try out (including Moon Rider)
1) Meta Quest 2/3 games and demos
Demos for Meta Quest 2/3:
Google is perhaps the best way to search for demos on Meta's Quest Store. Meta's search lists 6 indefinite demos on the Meta Quest Store (click the 'App lab' button for more) and a search for "free" shows apps that are mostly free (demos and with in-app purchases).
Beat Saber Demo
Oculus demos: First Steps ; First Contact ; First Touch
Superhot VR Demo
Via the App Lab (less verified):
1976: Back to Midway Demo
Battle Talent Demo
Crazy Kung Fu Demo
Grimlord Demo
Racket: Nx Demo
Republique VR
Synth Riders Demo
Tea for God Demo
X-Fitness Demo
Zephyrus Prelude Demo
Superhot VR and Beat Saber often feature in lists of Best VR Games (I link to some lists from this discussion).
Lists of Free Quest 2/3 Games to Download:
Free games include:
Roblox and Meta Horizon Worlds
RoadToVR have their list of free Quest 2 games to download first.
They also have a list of the best rated free games (as of August 2023).
Allvirtualreality.com's list
LifeWire's list
TheGamer's list.
You can also try games in Meta's "Try before You buy" section (make sure you cancel if you don't use!)
Shareware/freeware Games for Meta Quest 2/3 (no PC needed during play):
The Team Beef Sidequest VR mods are free (using shareware/freeware levels):
Questzdoom (Classic Doom), QuakeQuest (Quake), Quake2Quest (Quake 2), Quake3Quest (Quake 3), Return-to-castle-wolfenstein-vr, Prey-vr (Prey).
No free demos: Doom3Quest (Doom 3), Lambda1vr-half-life-in-vr (Half-Life 1)
Meta Quest and VR in General
You may also like 's "My top tips for Oculus Quest owners (and VR in general)" discussion thread:
hotukdeals.com/dis…769
2) Steam/Epic/Game Pass for PC VR games and demos
These can be used to test how well your PC works with your VR headset (Meta Quest 2/3/Valve Index etc.). There's a VRMark demo if you like that kind of thing.
Game requirements vary. Steam often specifies a GTX 970 (1060/1650) or above as a minimum graphics card for games (tomshardware.com/rev…tml). Meta suggests a GTX 1650 Super or 1060 6GB
Free Steam Games (I have also listed Quest versions):
Accounting (Legacy)
Dagon (Lovecraft)
Google Earth VR (and Other Google content including Open Brush)
Half-Life: VR Mod (if you have Half-Life, recently free), the Half-Life 2:VR Mod, Half-Life 2 Episode 1 and Half-Life 2 Episode 2 (thanks )
Valve's The Lab
Locomancer
The Red Stare (thanks )
Republique VR (free Quest version too)
Star Wars: Droid Repair Bay
Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine
Found by searching Steam for free games and demos with VR support (or search for the VR tag)
The most notable Steam demos (some have Quest versions):
Automobilista 2
Grimlord (Quest version)
Hitman 3
Paper Beast
Racket:Nx (Quest version)
Ragnarock
Vertigo 2
Found by searching for VR demos (ordered by daily active users) or VR-only demos by date. (demos with VR support).
Other Steam demos:
1976 - Back to Midway / 2076 - Midway Multiverse (1976 Quest version)
Antiprism
Boiling Steel (and Preface)
Carly and the Reaperman
Compound
Eye of the Temple
Gunjam VR
Guns'n'Stories (and Preface)
Operation Warcade VR (Quest version)
Peaky Blinders
Prison Boss VR
RUINSMAGUS
Scanner Sombre
Space Pirates and Zombies 2
Stargaze
Tea for God (Quest version)
Vengeful Rites
Zephyrus Prelude (Quest version)
Free Steam Multiplayer VR games:
Blaston (Quest version)
Hyper Dash (Quest free to play)
Propagation VR
Rec Room (Quest free to play)
War Thunder
In multiplayer, some consider the players the product being sold.
Epic Games giveaways, Xbox Game Pass for PC and Itch.io games with VR:
Epic Games has given away a number of games with VR support, namely: Alien: Isolation, Elite Dangerous, GNOG, No Man's Sky, Obduction, Payday 2, Redout Enhanced Edition, Star Wars: Squadrons and Subnautica (not sure all have VR support on Epic).
Games on Xbox Game Pass for PC: F1 22, Hitman: World of Assassination, Microsoft Flight Simulator, No Man's Sky and Star Wars: Squadrons.
Itch.io has a limited number of free VR games and demos. The older version of this discussion has further recommendations.
Connecting your PC to your Quest 2/3:
There are two hardware options to connect the headset and PC:
1) You can connect via a USB cable (tethered): Quest Link
2) For more freedom, connect to the headset by WiFi (it is best to connect the PC to the router by network cable and use a WiFi 5+ router). You can use one of three software methods to connect your Quest 2/3 to your PC:
a) Steam Link app for Quest (the easiest method?)
b) Meta's Air Link
c) Virtual Desktop
A couple of how-to's on Air Link:
Dexerto.com - how-to-run-steam-games-on-oculus-quest-2
UploadVR - how-to-play-pc-vr-oculus-quest-2
3) WebXR for all headsets
Moonrider.xyz - free music visualization and rhythm game website (open it in your headset's browser)
Itchio's games tagged WebXR
github.com/Pic…mes - curated list of WebXR experiences and games
1) Meta Quest 2/3 games and demos - for when your PC isn't with you
2) Steam/Epic/Game Pass for PC VR games and demos - Steam has some free games and more numerous demos than the Quest store
3) WebXR for all headsets - a few freebies to try out (including Moon Rider)
1) Meta Quest 2/3 games and demos
Demos for Meta Quest 2/3:
Google is perhaps the best way to search for demos on Meta's Quest Store. Meta's search lists 6 indefinite demos on the Meta Quest Store (click the 'App lab' button for more) and a search for "free" shows apps that are mostly free (demos and with in-app purchases).
Beat Saber Demo
Oculus demos: First Steps ; First Contact ; First Touch
Superhot VR Demo
Via the App Lab (less verified):
1976: Back to Midway Demo
Battle Talent Demo
Crazy Kung Fu Demo
Grimlord Demo
Racket: Nx Demo
Republique VR
Synth Riders Demo
Tea for God Demo
X-Fitness Demo
Zephyrus Prelude Demo
Superhot VR and Beat Saber often feature in lists of Best VR Games (I link to some lists from this discussion).
Lists of Free Quest 2/3 Games to Download:
Free games include:
Roblox and Meta Horizon Worlds
RoadToVR have their list of free Quest 2 games to download first.
They also have a list of the best rated free games (as of August 2023).
Allvirtualreality.com's list
LifeWire's list
TheGamer's list.
You can also try games in Meta's "Try before You buy" section (make sure you cancel if you don't use!)
Shareware/freeware Games for Meta Quest 2/3 (no PC needed during play):
The Team Beef Sidequest VR mods are free (using shareware/freeware levels):
Questzdoom (Classic Doom), QuakeQuest (Quake), Quake2Quest (Quake 2), Quake3Quest (Quake 3), Return-to-castle-wolfenstein-vr, Prey-vr (Prey).
No free demos: Doom3Quest (Doom 3), Lambda1vr-half-life-in-vr (Half-Life 1)
Meta Quest and VR in General
You may also like 's "My top tips for Oculus Quest owners (and VR in general)" discussion thread:
hotukdeals.com/dis…769
2) Steam/Epic/Game Pass for PC VR games and demos
These can be used to test how well your PC works with your VR headset (Meta Quest 2/3/Valve Index etc.). There's a VRMark demo if you like that kind of thing.
Game requirements vary. Steam often specifies a GTX 970 (1060/1650) or above as a minimum graphics card for games (tomshardware.com/rev…tml). Meta suggests a GTX 1650 Super or 1060 6GB
Free Steam Games (I have also listed Quest versions):
Accounting (Legacy)
Dagon (Lovecraft)
Google Earth VR (and Other Google content including Open Brush)
Half-Life: VR Mod (if you have Half-Life, recently free), the Half-Life 2:VR Mod, Half-Life 2 Episode 1 and Half-Life 2 Episode 2 (thanks )
Valve's The Lab
Locomancer
The Red Stare (thanks )
Republique VR (free Quest version too)
Star Wars: Droid Repair Bay
Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine
Found by searching Steam for free games and demos with VR support (or search for the VR tag)
The most notable Steam demos (some have Quest versions):
Automobilista 2
Grimlord (Quest version)
Hitman 3
Paper Beast
Racket:Nx (Quest version)
Ragnarock
Vertigo 2
Found by searching for VR demos (ordered by daily active users) or VR-only demos by date. (demos with VR support).
Other Steam demos:
1976 - Back to Midway / 2076 - Midway Multiverse (1976 Quest version)
Antiprism
Boiling Steel (and Preface)
Carly and the Reaperman
Compound
Eye of the Temple
Gunjam VR
Guns'n'Stories (and Preface)
Operation Warcade VR (Quest version)
Peaky Blinders
Prison Boss VR
RUINSMAGUS
Scanner Sombre
Space Pirates and Zombies 2
Stargaze
Tea for God (Quest version)
Vengeful Rites
Zephyrus Prelude (Quest version)
Free Steam Multiplayer VR games:
Blaston (Quest version)
Hyper Dash (Quest free to play)
Propagation VR
Rec Room (Quest free to play)
War Thunder
In multiplayer, some consider the players the product being sold.
Epic Games giveaways, Xbox Game Pass for PC and Itch.io games with VR:
Epic Games has given away a number of games with VR support, namely: Alien: Isolation, Elite Dangerous, GNOG, No Man's Sky, Obduction, Payday 2, Redout Enhanced Edition, Star Wars: Squadrons and Subnautica (not sure all have VR support on Epic).
Games on Xbox Game Pass for PC: F1 22, Hitman: World of Assassination, Microsoft Flight Simulator, No Man's Sky and Star Wars: Squadrons.
Itch.io has a limited number of free VR games and demos. The older version of this discussion has further recommendations.
Connecting your PC to your Quest 2/3:
There are two hardware options to connect the headset and PC:
1) You can connect via a USB cable (tethered): Quest Link
2) For more freedom, connect to the headset by WiFi (it is best to connect the PC to the router by network cable and use a WiFi 5+ router). You can use one of three software methods to connect your Quest 2/3 to your PC:
a) Steam Link app for Quest (the easiest method?)
b) Meta's Air Link
c) Virtual Desktop
A couple of how-to's on Air Link:
Dexerto.com - how-to-run-steam-games-on-oculus-quest-2
UploadVR - how-to-play-pc-vr-oculus-quest-2
3) WebXR for all headsets
Moonrider.xyz - free music visualization and rhythm game website (open it in your headset's browser)
Itchio's games tagged WebXR
github.com/Pic…mes - curated list of WebXR experiences and games
Community Updates
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Current deal for Half Life games for pennies (edited)
Can search Quest, Applab, SteamVR, Rift
And you can set a max price of 0 and filter by 'quality' via number of reviews and review score (edited)
Now to get some kind of computational device to run Half Life Alyx. I'll be set till March then.
You can bring the software with you.
You don't need to buy and lug around a PC and a router or cable
Meta limitations
You can't share it as easily with your friends
It tends to be more expensive (though there's periodic discounts on the store and a 25% referral discount)
Less software than on Steam
Sold on fewer store (bundle sales less frequent on sites like Fanatical)
Steam/Epic PC VR benefits:
Cheaper software (free on Epic)
More software (and demos) from a variety of sources (e.g. Epic freebies and Humble Bundle)
You can use Steam family sharing to share the software with a few other friends and family members
Steam/Epic PC VR limitations:
You need to buy and lug around a PC and a router or cable
Exclusives
Both Meta and PC VR have 'exclusives' such as The Climb series (Meta) or Half-Life Alyx (Steam).
If you are happy to be limited by needing the presence of a PC for the game, then PCVR may be the way to go.