35 Best SideQuest VR Games to Play (Ranked + Reviewed)

Best overall: Gorilla Tag for free, endlessly replayable multiplayer chaos.

Best for depth: Battle Talent for physics-based combat that’s still getting real updates.

Best rogue-lite: Ancient Dungeon VR, actively developed and doesn’t require owning a separate PC game first.

See the full breakdown of all 35 picks by genre below.

SideQuest remains the best place to find VR games and experiences that never made it to the official Meta Horizon Store, alongside App Lab titles, some of which have since grown into mainstream hits. In this guide, we’ve picked 35 of the best SideQuest VR games available today, organized by genre so you can jump straight to what you’re after.

Every game on this list was checked for 2027. Since our last update, we added 9 new titles and removed 8 that were abandoned, discontinued, or no longer worked as advertised. See the Newest Changes section below for the full breakdown.

If you’re new to SideQuest, check out our complete guide on how to sideload games onto the Meta Quest before diving in.

If you have a favorite SideQuest VR game we didn’t include, let us know in the comments.

All 35 Best Sidequest VR Games at a Glance

Game	Genre	Price	Best For
Pavlov: Shack	Shooting & Combat	~$20	Best Shooting Game
Doom3Quest	Shooting & Combat	Free (own Doom 3 separately)	Best Doom Port
QuestZDoom	Shooting & Combat	Free (own Doom separately)	Original Doom in VR
Lambda1VR	Shooting & Combat	Free (own Half-Life separately)	Half-Life in Full VR
Return to Castle Wolfenstein VR	Shooting & Combat	Free (own RTCW separately)	RTCW on Quest
Operation Serpens	Shooting & Combat	$19.99	Best Wave Shooter
Gun Raiders	Shooting & Combat	Free-to-play	Best Action Game
Guardians Frontline	Shooting & Combat	$24.99	Shooting + Strategy Hybrid
Hibow	Shooting & Combat	Free	Best Arena Game
Zombies Noir	Shooting & Combat	$9.99	Best Mixed Reality Wave Shooter
War of Wizards	Shooting & Combat	$19.99	Best Spell-Dueling Game
Sport Mode	Physics Sandbox & Rogue-Lite	$9.99	Best Sandbox Game
Battle Talent	Physics Sandbox & Rogue-Lite	$19.99	Best Fighting Game
Ancient Dungeon VR	Physics Sandbox & Rogue-Lite	$19.99	Best Rogue-Lite
UG	Physics Sandbox & Rogue-Lite	Free	Best Free Sandbox Pick
Sail VR	Physics Sandbox & Rogue-Lite	$14.99	Best Pirate Sandbox
Pioneer: Endless Journey	Physics Sandbox & Rogue-Lite	Free	Best Free Roguelite
To The Top	Platformer	$19.99	Best Platform Game
No More Rainbows	Platformer	$19.99	Best Platformer
Cards & Tankards	Multiplayer, Social & Party	Free	Best Strategy/Card Game
Spark (formerly Hangout Games)	Multiplayer, Social & Party	Free	Best Casual Multiplayer
Custom Home Mapper	Multiplayer, Social & Party	$12.99	Best Multi-Room Mini-Games
Banter	Multiplayer, Social & Party	Free	Best Social VR Platform
Gorilla Tag	Multiplayer, Social & Party	Free	Best Viral Multiplayer
Yeeps	Multiplayer, Social & Party	Free	Best Hide-and-Seek
XRWorkout (formerly VRWorkout)	Fitness	Free	Best Workout Game
Punch Fit MR Edition	Fitness	$9.99	Best Exercise Game
Airport Security Guard	Simulation & Comedy	Free	Best Sim-Comedy Pick
I Am Cat	Simulation & Comedy	$19.99	Best Cat Simulator
Escape Legacy	Puzzle & Escape Room	$2.99	Best Escape Room Game
traVRsal	Puzzle & Escape Room	$9.99	Best Room-Scale Game
Tea For God	Sandbox Worlds & Unique	Free	Most Unique SideQuest Game
QuestCraft	Sandbox Worlds & Unique	Free (own Minecraft: Java separately)	Minecraft VR on Quest
PianoVision	Music & Rhythm	Free (Plus unlocks full library)	Best Music Game
ENHANCE	Educational	Free	Best Educational Game

Newest Changes

This guide was fully refreshed in September 2026. Here’s what changed:

Added:

• Gorilla Tag
• Yeeps
• Airport Security Guard
• I Am Cat
• UG
• Sail VR
• Pioneer: Endless Journey
• Banter
• War of Wizards

Removed:

• Hyper Dash (developer announced servers shutting down November 2026)
• Harvest VR (developers officially ended active development)
• Beat Smith (still an unfinished pre-release build after 5+ years)
• Gym Masters (no development activity since 2022)
• Dungeon Train (no development activity since 2022)
• Touring Karts (multiplayer, the whole point of the game, is effectively dead)
• UPENDERS (no evidence of activity since its 2021 alpha)
• Shuttle Maze (never progressed past a demo build)

We also renamed several entries to match current branding: VRWorkout is now XRWorkout, Hangout Games is now Spark, Guardians VR is now Guardians Frontline, and Punch Fit is now Punch Fit MR Edition.

How to Install SideQuest VR Games on the Meta Quest

To install these games, you’ll need to set up SideQuest on your Meta Quest headset first. The process is quick, and after that it’s a one-click install for most games.

Click here to check out our SideQuest VR install guide.

For each game below, we’ve included pricing, pros, cons, and a gameplay video where available, so you know what you’re getting before you install anything.

Shooting & Combat SideQuest VR Games

Pavlov: Shack (Best SideQuest VR Shooting Game)

Pavlov is a competitive first-person shooter game originally released for wired-VR headsets. It focuses on a realistic experience, with sights and sounds matching real life where possible. You can play in both casual and competitive modes depending on how confident you’re feeling. As well, there is an offline mode if you don’t want the pressure of online play.

Pavlov: Shack is a stripped down version of the Steam game developed for the Oculus Quest. Some graphics had to be scaled down for the Quest, but the game is still a blast to play, and crossplay is not supported between the two versions. What started as an App Lab release has grown into a full paid title on the official Meta Quest Store, where it graduated to general release in November 2023.

Pavlov: Shack is also expanding beyond Quest, with a standalone version now in the works for Steam Frame.

Pricing

Pavlov: Shack is a paid release on the Meta Quest Store priced at around $20. It is no longer a free beta.

Pros

• Realistic sights and sounds for an authentic shooter feel
• Casual, competitive, and offline modes to match your mood
• Actively updated and still a top seller on the Meta Quest Store
• Expanding to Steam Frame as a standalone release

Cons

• Some graphics were scaled down from the original Steam version
• Crossplay isn’t supported between the Quest and Steam versions
• No longer free, so budget-conscious players will need to pay upfront

Doom3Quest (Best SideQuest Doom Port)

Doom3Quest is a release from Team Beef, who takes classic first person games and remasters them for the Oculus Quest. In Doom 3, a research mishap on the planet Mars has opened up a gateway portal to hell. This results in a catastrophic invasion of the Mars base by demons. You control a space marine who fights through the base to stop the demons attacking Mars and reaching Earth.

The game features 27 levels and is over 12 hours long, making Doom3Quest one of the longest games ever released for the Oculus Quest. Doom 3 was a commercial success when it originally released in 2005, and it still looks gorgeous here in VR, with all movement, weapons, and interaction taking place in virtual reality. Team Beef continues to actively develop the port.

Pricing

Doom3Quest is a free fan-made tool, but you’ll need to own the original Doom 3 separately to use it.

Pros

• 27 levels and over 12 hours of content, one of the longest Quest games available
• Full VR movement, weapon handling, and interaction
• Actively maintained by Team Beef, with regular updates
• Now supports a unified OpenXR build across Pico and Quest

Cons

• Requires purchasing the original Doom 3 separately
• Setup involves extra steps beyond a simple SideQuest install

QuestZDoom (Best SideQuest Classic Doom Port)

QuestZDoom is a port of the original Doom game for PC. It has been adapted for the Oculus Quest with full 6DoF motion. In QuestZDoom, you blast your way through the original Doom, Doom 2, TNT, Plutonia, Heretic, Hexen, Chex and more. With smooth frame rates and amazingly smooth controls, this is the way Doom was meant to be played.

Be aware that Doom will not play on its own: the QuestZDoom application on SideQuest alters the original Doom game to support full virtual reality. You need a copy of the original Doom game, which you can download from Steam, and you also need to download Baggyg’s QuestZDoom Launcher to play. QuestZDoom is a mature, stable project at this point. Its last GitHub release, v1.5.0, added dual-wield support.

Pricing

QuestZDoom is a free tool, but it requires owning the original Doom on Steam (sold separately) plus the companion QuestZDoom Launcher.

Pros

• Supports Doom, Doom 2, TNT, Plutonia, Heretic, Hexen, Chex, and more
• Full 6DoF motion and smooth controls
• Feature-complete and stable even without recent updates

Cons

• Requires owning the original Doom on Steam separately
• Needs the extra Baggyg’s QuestZDoom Launcher to run

Lambda1VR (Best SideQuest Half-Life Port)

Lambda1VR brings Half-Life to the Oculus Quest. From the same makers as QuestZDoom, Lambda1VR is a mod for the original Half-Life which adds full locomotion and 6DoF motion. Lambda1VR only acts as an engine to run Half-Life in VR on your Quest, so you need to own the original Half-Life to use this mod, which you can buy on Steam.

In Half-Life you play Dr. Gordon Freeman, who is assigned to inspect a mysterious alien artifact. Soon, things go very wrong when the artifact opens a destructive and unstable portal to the world of Xen. What ensues is an action, adventure, and horror game like never before. Lambda1VR is still actively maintained. Latest updates mention fixing Quest 2 camera and IPD issues, a crash-on-new-game bug, menu cursor problems, and roomscale issues.

Pricing

Lambda1VR is a free tool, but it requires owning the original Half-Life on Steam (sold separately).

Pros

• Full locomotion and 6DoF motion for classic Half-Life
• Actively maintained with recent bug fixes
• Faithful recreation of one of gaming’s most influential stories

Cons

• Requires owning the original Half-Life on Steam separately
• Some Quest 2 tracking and comfort issues have needed ongoing patches

Return to Castle Wolfenstein (Best SideQuest WW2 Shooter Port)

Return to Castle Wolfenstein VR is a full 6 degrees of freedom implementation of the classic game. In RTCW, you have to perform retrieval missions, sabotages or assassinations. Players can be armed with typical WW2 weaponry and can even use some fictional ones such as a German-made minigun or Tesla gun. Players can also use stealth to eliminate enemies, and some missions even force using it.

The port is actively maintained by Team Beef. That steady release cadence makes this one of the more reliably updated classic shooter ports on SideQuest.

Pricing

Return to Castle Wolfenstein VR is a free tool, but it requires owning the original Return to Castle Wolfenstein (sold separately).

Pros

• Full 6DoF implementation of a classic WW2 shooter
• Stealth options alongside straightforward combat
• Regularly updated by Team Beef, including hardware support like bHaptics and Cybershoes

Cons

• Requires owning the original game separately
• Setup requires installing a mod on top of that base game

Operation Serpens (Best SideQuest Wave Shooter)

Operation Serpens is a wave shooting game. You join an elite squad that is formed to dismantle the evil Snakes Organization. There is no locomotion in the game so it’s very comfortable. Each level presents a new challenge and scenario in a slightly different style.

This is a non-stop action game, and you will need to constantly duck and hide to dodge bullets and eliminate hostiles in a very short time. Operation Serpens is still actively supported: it expanded to PS VR2 in February 2024, and now supports co-op for up to 4 players across both the campaign and a zombie survival mode.

Pricing

$19.99

Pros

• Comfortable, locomotion-free wave shooter
• Level variety keeps each stage feeling different
• Co-op support for up to 4 players across campaign and zombie survival modes
• Expanded to PS VR2, showing ongoing platform support

Cons

• No locomotion may feel limiting if you want more movement freedom
• Non-stop pace can feel repetitive over long sessions

Gun Raiders (Best SideQuest Action Shooter)

Gun Raiders is a first-person shooter game where players gather in one place to shoot each other using a wide range of weapons. The game does a good job teaching you the mechanics before diving into matches. Once you’re confident in your shooting abilities, you can join other players in an arena to fight as a lone wolf or as a team. You can score points for your team by protecting your base and raiding your opponent’s base.

Gun Raiders has interesting dynamics, like the ability to climb and use a jetpack in player vs player mode. The game is now actively live-serviced, with a “Season 15: Beyond” battle pass, a dedicated Battle Royale mode, and mobile cross-play. It’s primarily distributed through the official Meta Quest Store these days, though it’s still listed on SideQuest as well.

Pricing

Gun Raiders is free-to-play, with a battle pass and in-app purchases available.

Pros

• Solid onboarding that teaches mechanics before real matches
• Team-based objectives alongside straightforward deathmatch play
• Jetpack and climbing mechanics add verticality to fights
• Actively live-serviced with seasonal content and a Battle Royale mode

Cons

• Free-to-play model means battle pass and IAP pressure
• Mobile cross-play can create uneven matchups against phone and tablet players

Guardians Frontline (Best SideQuest Shooting and Strategy Game)

Guardians Frontline is a relaunch of Guardians VR, a first-person shooter game that combines both FPS and real-time strategy (RTS) genres in a single package. In Guardians, you are among the team nominated to protect the federation. In their attempt to fight invading armies, the team discovers a mysterious energy source and tries to extract it.

You are armed with a powerful arsenal to fight off enemies, and you can summon defensive structures to assist you, but you must harvest resources to purchase defensive structures or troops. Guardians supports both multiplayer and single player modes.

Pricing

$24.99

Pros

• Combines FPS combat with RTS base-building and resource management
• Supports both single player and multiplayer
• Actively developed under the new Guardians Frontline name

Cons

• The FPS/RTS hybrid learning curve won’t suit players who want pure shooting
• Name change and relaunch history may confuse players searching for the original

Hibow (Best SideQuest Arena Game)

Hibow is a competitive multiplayer SideQuest VR game with fierce arrow shooting and a refreshing flying experience. In Hibow, you play on a team of archers and your goal is to eliminate the other team. You have to fly through the arena and shoot your enemies with arrows.

Creative features for bows and arrows allow sniping, scattering, explosion, and even blinding, and the game’s unique flying system feels a bit similar to Echo Arena in a more casual way. Hibow has grown well past its early days: it’s now a fully released, seasonally-updated title with 7 bows, 6 arrow types, and Battle Royale, Brawl, and Arcade modes, holding a 4.5-star rating with 89% positive reviews.

Pricing

Free

Pros

• Unique flying combat system with genuine mobility
• 7 bows and 6 arrow types for varied playstyles
• Battle Royale, Brawl, and Arcade modes keep matches fresh
• Strong 4.5-star rating with 89% positive reviews

Cons

• Team-based PvP means match quality depends on your teammates
• Learning the flying and aiming system takes practice before you’re competitive

Zombies Noir (Best SideQuest Wave Shooter)

Zombies Noir is a VR wave shooter game. It is a zombie survival game that uses Quest 2’s passthrough feature to elevate your playing experience. The game is about protecting your home against zombies using different weapons. You select your case file and construct a doorway to the noir in your house.

As zombies make their way through, you place your weapons and fend off waves of zombies, collecting cards to boost your strength and upgrade your weapons along the way. You can buy and sell weapons between waves, and surviving all the waves completes your case file and unlocks weapon skins and ability badges.

Pricing

$9.99

Pros

• Clever use of passthrough to blend your real room into the game
• Weapon upgrade and card system adds progression between runs
• Technical issues from launch have been patched

Cons

• Requires decent play space for the passthrough setup to work well
• Some players and headsets may still hit lingering room-setup or tracking quirks

War of Wizards (Best SideQuest Spellcasting Combat Game)

War of Wizards is a fast-paced spell dueling game built around motion-based magic combat. Instead of pulling a trigger, you physically cast spells with hand motions and positioning, which makes every duel feel more like a martial art than a typical shooting gallery.

Matches are quick and skill-based, and there’s real satisfaction in getting your casting precision down over multiple rounds. It’s a good pick if you want VR action and movement without falling back on traditional shooter mechanics, and it carries the genuinely indie, SideQuest and App Lab spirit of a small passion project rather than a mainstream official-store release.

Pricing

$19.99

Pros

• Physical, motion-based spellcasting instead of trigger-pull combat
• Quick matches that reward improving your casting precision
• Genuine indie spirit rather than a polished mainstream shooter

Cons

• Match quality depends heavily on how many players are online at a given time
• Smaller player base means matchmaking can be inconsistent

Physics Sandbox & Rogue-Lite

Sport Mode (Best SideQuest Sandbox Game)

Sport Mode is an action sandbox game that uses realistic and accurate physics. Designed and developed by Virtuaport, it’s a follow-up to Physics Playground, and it shows: you can spawn different weapons including katanas, crowbars, and firearms, then put them to use across two modes. Arena mode has you fighting enemies to earn the highest score, while creative mode lets you spawn and manipulate weapons, props, and NPCs in an open sandbox.

Sport Mode supports a 120Hz mode and embraces VR physics very well, and it includes multiplayer so you can play with friends. You can customize the game extensively, including adjusting oil splatter, dismemberment, and an optional super strength setting, which makes it easy to tune the chaos level to your taste.

Pricing

$9.99

Pros

• Realistic, dialed-in physics that make combat and prop interaction feel satisfying
• Two distinct modes: competitive arena scoring and an open creative sandbox
• Full multiplayer support so you can play with friends
• Deep customization options, including oil splatter, dismemberment, and super strength toggles

Cons

• Best experienced with a play space that allows full arm swings, tight rooms will limit the physical combat
• Creative mode’s open-ended design means you’re building your own fun rather than following set objectives

Battle Talent (Best SideQuest Fighting Game)

Battle Talent is a combat simulator game. For those who have been waiting for a good Blade and Sorcery alternative for the Quest, this is it. Battle Talent contains advanced physics: accurate collision, climbing, sounds, weapons, and enemies. You move through each level with your arsenal of weapons and attack enemies with real satisfaction, and many of those weapons carry special skills, like lightning or ice you can control.

Battle Talent is largely an open sandbox, but there are also procedurally-generated dungeons that create enemies and room events as you progress. You earn coins along the way that can be spent upgrading your weapons and unlocking new abilities.

What really sets it apart is how actively it’s still being developed: an April 2026 update added new weapons and items, and the game’s 3rd Anniversary Update layered on aerial combos, a creator program, a new 3v3 PvP map, and a LIV selfie camera feature. Three+ years in, this remains one of the most actively maintained games on this whole list.

Pricing

$19.99

Pros

• Advanced physics covering collision, climbing, sound, weapons, and enemy reactions
• Wide weapon variety, including special elemental skills like lightning and ice
• Procedurally-generated dungeons keep runs from feeling repetitive
• New update with aerial combos, a creator program, a new 3v3 PvP map, and a LIV selfie camera

Cons

• Physical melee combat demands real arm swings and room to move, which can tire out or motion-sick some players
• The open sandbox structure means less hand-holding for players who want a guided story

Ancient Dungeon VR (Best SideQuest Rogue-Lite Game)

Ancient Dungeon VR is a rogue-lite dungeon crawler game where every level is procedurally generated, so it’s unique every time you play, filled with traps and secrets. You fight through monsters with your sword and throwing knife while collecting powerups to improve your skills. Along the way you can buy and sell different upgrades and perks, and you’ll have to challenge and defeat powerful bosses too.

Ancient Dungeon VR is one of the most polished and fun games in the SideQuest store, and it hasn’t slowed down. The developer has been in Early Access for over five years now, but a recent major Steam update added new floors, relics, and a crit-damage system.

Pricing

$19.99

Pros

• Procedurally-generated levels keep every run different
• Buy and sell upgrade and perk system adds strategy between runs
• Challenging boss fights test what you’ve built

Cons

• Still technically in Early Access, so balance and content can still shift
• Core weapon variety is limited to a sword and throwing knife

UG (Best SideQuest Highest-Rated Sandbox Game)

UG is a physics sandbox from small studio ContinuumXR, set in a caveman-and-dinosaur world where physics-driven chaos is the whole point. It’s tagged action, adventure, and sandbox, and that mix shows up quickly: this is a game about smashing, throwing, and improvising your way through a prehistoric playground rather than following a set path.

What stands out most is the reception. UG currently sits at 4.8 stars across more than 362,400 ratings on SideQuest’s own listings sorted by rating, which puts it among the very highest-rated titles on the entire platform. It’s still a niche indie release with a smaller following than the bigger names on this list, but that rating volume says a lot of players are having a good time with it, and it’s completely free, so there’s no real barrier to trying it yourself.

Pricing

Free.

Pros

• Completely free
• Exceptionally well-rated: 4.8 stars across more than 362,400 ratings on SideQuest
• Distinct caveman-and-dinosaur physics sandbox setting
• Blends action, adventure, and sandbox play rather than sticking to one lane

Cons

• As a smaller indie release, there isn’t much official documentation or marketing detail beyond the SideQuest listing itself
• Niche following means less community content and fewer guides than the bigger names on this list

Sail VR (Best SideQuest Sailing Sandbox Game)

Sail VR is an Early Access open-world pirate sailing sandbox from developer Red Team 19, and it leans hard into hands-on sailing: you’re actually working the ship rather than watching a cutscene handle it, while naval combat adds real stakes to every voyage.

The open world is built for exploration, and Sail VR supports co-op play so you can crew a ship with friends instead of sailing solo. It’s a genuinely indie, SideQuest-spirit title, and being Early Access, it’s still finding its footing.

Pricing

$14.99

Pros

• Hands-on sailing mechanics that put you in direct control of the ship
• Naval combat adds real stakes to exploration
• Co-op support lets you crew a ship with friends
• Open world built for exploration

Cons

• Early Access: SideQuest’s own 2026 editorial coverage notes that some systems feel unfinished
• Content and balance are still likely to change before a full release

Pioneer: Endless Journey (Best SideQuest Crafting Rogue-Lite Game)

Pioneer: Endless Journey is a free roguelite crafting game distributed on SideQuest by bHaptics, and weapon crafting is where it shines: building and assembling gear feels tactile and hands-on rather than menu-driven, which is exactly what you want from a VR crafting loop.

Runs are procedural, and character builds evolve as you go, so no two sessions play out quite the same. It’s best suited to solo players who enjoy the classic roguelite loop of dying, learning, and coming back stronger. The visuals are simple, so don’t expect a AAA-polish showcase. What you get instead is a free, replayable crafting-and-combat loop that doesn’t ask much of your headset or your wallet.

Pricing

Free.

Pros

• Completely free
• Weapon crafting feels tactile and hands-on rather than menu-driven
• Procedural runs and evolving character builds add replayability
• Good fit for solo players who like a classic roguelite loop

Cons

• Simple visuals rather than a graphically polished experience
• Built more for solo play, so it’s a lighter pick if you’re after multiplayer

Platformer

To The Top (Best SideQuest Platform Game)

In To The Top, you play a human-animal-robot hybrid, running, leaping, and climbing around obstacles in virtual reality. The best way to describe it is Spiderman crossed with Sonic the Hedgehog: momentum and verticality are the whole game. The environments look nice, and there are over 35 levels to work through.

To The Top was already popular on SteamVR before it was ported to work on the Quest, rather than being developed independently for SideQuest. It’s also a complete, finished product at this point, with 87% positive reviews on Steam, rather than a live-service title chasing constant updates.

Pricing

$19.99

Pros

• Distinctive movement, described as Spiderman crossed with Sonic the Hedgehog
• Over 35 levels to work through
• Nice-looking environments
• A complete, polished, finished product, with 87% positive reviews on Steam

Cons

• Fast movement can cause motion sickness, not recommended for beginner VR players

No More Rainbows (Best SideQuest Platformer Game)

No More Rainbows is a unique VR platformer where all the game mechanics have been built for virtual reality. You play as the beast, a warden of the underworld who wakes up and has to reclaim their home world by passing through a variety of levels. Locomotion is arm-based, similar to Gorilla Tag: you flail your arms to navigate through each level, and it’s a mechanic that rewards getting good at it.

There is a speed run mode with a global leaderboard for players who want to optimize their routes, plus epic boss levels that raise the stakes. The game has also grown a lot since its early SideQuest days: it now supports hand tracking, LIV camera integration, four worlds spread across 28 levels, and a 3v3 multiplayer mode. It’s expanded well beyond App Lab and SideQuest too, with full ports now available on the official Meta Quest Store, PSVR2, and Steam.

Pricing

$19.99

Pros

• Unique arm-based locomotion built specifically for VR
• Speed run mode with a global leaderboard
• Expanded significantly: now 4 worlds across 28 levels, with hand tracking and LIV camera integration
• Available beyond SideQuest, with full ports to the Meta Quest Store, PSVR2, and Steam, plus a 3v3 multiplayer mode

Cons

• Arm-flailing locomotion has a learning curve and can tire out or motion-sick some players

Multiplayer, Social & Party

Cards & Tankards (Best SideQuest Strategy Game)

Cards & Tankards is a strategy card game built for full virtual reality, blending traditional tabletop card gaming with VR presence. What started as a two-faction deck builder has grown into four factions with 200+ cards to collect and customize, giving you a lot more room to build a deck that actually fits your playstyle.

It supports full multiplayer so you can battle other VR gamers, or practice against AI in single player first if you’re still learning the ropes. Teleport and free-movement options are both available, and the animated cards come to life on the table as you play, keeping matches visually interesting even during a slower strategic turn. The game is still actively played years after launch, with cross-platform support.

Pricing

FREE

Pros

• Full multiplayer with an AI single-player option to practice against
• Large, customizable card pool: 200+ cards across 4 factions
• Animated cards and a physical tabletop feel add presence to a card game
• Still actively updated and played, with a genuine community behind it

Cons

• Deckbuilding strategy games take time to learn if you’re new to tabletop card mechanics
• Pure strategy pacing won’t satisfy players looking for fast, high-action VR gameplay

Spark (Best SideQuest Casual Multiplayer Game)

Spark is a collection of party games built for VR multiplayer fans, letting you socialize with friends and family in VR. It’s the same app formerly known as Hangout Games, now under a new name and a bit of a facelift, so if you played it years ago under the old title, this is the same core experience, just rebranded.

The lineup rotates through games like Copy Cat, a drawing game where you and your friends take turns sketching creatures and guessing each other’s doodles, Formation, a card game where you race to correctly form a sequence of at least two cards, and Clue Cove, a beach-set word game where you try to guess the words being rolled out by the spymasters. Each game category supports up to 8 players, so it’s built to hold a full group rather than just one friend.

Pricing

Spark is free to play.

Pros

• Free to play
• Supports up to 8 players per game category, good for a full group
• Variety of casual minigames spanning drawing, cards, and word guessing
• Easy to pick up with friends and family who don’t play VR regularly

Cons

• A fairly simple, casual experience by design, not deep gameplay
• Built around groups, so it’s less compelling solo

Custom Home Mapper (Best SideQuest Multi-Room Game)

Custom Home Mapper is one of the most unique SideQuest VR games available, built around mapping your real living space into the game itself. It originally started as a demo for creating a multi-room guardian on the Oculus Quest, and in Custom Home Mapper you can map out every room in your home, including hallways and closets, so obstacles like your couch and kitchen table become part of the game boundary instead of something you have to work around.

The app has grown up since its early SideQuest days. It migrated to the official Meta Quest Store around April 2025. The mini-game roster has also expanded significantly, now sitting at roughly a dozen titles built around your mapped home rather than the small handful it launched with.

Pricing

$12.99

Pros

• Turns your actual home layout into the game world
• Guardian setup is now automatic thanks to the Scene API update
• Roughly a dozen mini-games now, up from the original small handful
• Available on both SideQuest and the official Meta Quest Store

Cons

• Mapping your rooms first is an extra setup step other party games skip
• Value depends on having enough real-world space to map into interesting boundaries

Banter (Best SideQuest Social VR Platform)

Banter is a free social VR platform built by a small indie team and distributed through App Lab and SideQuest rather than Meta’s main storefront. It’s less a game with objectives to complete and more an open social space, built around expressive avatars and creator tools that let the community shape what actually happens inside it.

Instead of a fixed game loop, Banter runs on events and active communities, so what you get out of it depends a lot on when you show up and who’s hosting that day. That’s a distinctly SideQuest kind of app: small-team, community-driven, and still finding its audience outside Meta’s spotlight, which is exactly the kind of project this platform is good at surfacing.

Pricing

Banter is free.

Pros

• Free to use
• Expressive avatars and real creator tools to build your own content
• Genuine indie, community-driven spirit rather than a Meta-marketed product

Cons

• No traditional game goals or objectives, so it won’t appeal to players wanting structured gameplay over an open social space
• As a small early-access project, the experience depends heavily on when events and active users are online

Gorilla Tag (Best SideQuest Breakout Hit)

Gorilla Tag launched via App Lab and SideQuest in early 2021 as a one-person project from developer Another Axiom, and it’s since become one of the biggest success stories to come out of sideloaded VR. The whole game is built around arm-based locomotion: you flail your arms to swing, climb, and chase other players instead of using a thumbstick, which sounds gimmicky until you’re actually out of breath ten minutes in.

That movement system turned into a viral hit with an extremely active community, and the game is free to play with optional cosmetic in-app purchases, a model that’s generated Gorilla Tag more than $100 million in revenue. It later graduated to the official Meta Quest Store in December 2022, but its identity and community are still rooted in its App Lab and SideQuest origins, which is exactly why it belongs on this list.

Pricing

Free, with optional cosmetic in-app purchases.

Pros

• Free to play
• Genuinely unique arm-based locomotion you won’t find copied elsewhere
• Massive, extremely active community
• A proven indie-to-mainstream success story with real staying power

Cons

• Public multiplayer lobbies can get loud and chaotic
• The arm-swinging locomotion is a genuine workout, so it won’t suit everyone looking for a relaxed session

Yeeps: Hide and Seek (Best SideQuest Hide and Seek Game)

Yeeps: Hide and Seek is a free multiplayer arcade game built around exactly what the name says: hide from the seekers, or hunt down everyone else before time runs out. It started life on App Lab, grew organically popular through TikTok rather than any big marketing push, and has since graduated to the main Meta Quest Store as well.

The numbers back up the hype: Yeeps currently holds a 4.8-star rating across more than 86,800 ratings on SideQuest, sorted by rating, making it one of the higher-rated free titles on the whole platform right now. For a game built on such a simple arcade concept, that kind of consistency is a genuine sign it has staying power rather than being a short-lived trend.

Pricing

Yeeps is free to play.

Pros

• Free to play
• Extremely high rating: 4.8 stars across 86,800+ ratings on SideQuest
• Simple, pick-up-and-play concept that’s easy to teach new players
• Organically popular with a proven, active community

Cons

• The gameplay loop is simple by design, so players wanting more strategic depth may burn through the appeal quickly

Fitness

XRWorkout (Best SideQuest Workout Game)

XRWorkout, formerly known as VRWorkout, is one of the most intense fitness experiences on the Quest. It’s the same app under a new name after the developer’s rebrand and store listing migration, so returning users are getting the same core workout with an updated label. You’ll need plenty of open space to give it a real try.

It uses hand-tracking instead of controllers, meaning no buttons to lean on and a noticeably more draining workout as a result. You work through 7 different exercises, including a Beat Saber-like segment where you punch different orbs, with point multipliers for running in place to keep your heart rate up. Where other workout games charge a fixed price or a monthly fee, XRWorkout is completely free, and it’s worth seeing how it compares to the subscription-based competition in our Supernatural vs XRWorkout comparison.

Pricing

XRWorkout is free.

Pros

• Completely free, unlike fixed-price or subscription competitors
• Hand-tracking removes controllers for a more natural, draining workout
• Full-body intensity that pushes harder than most fitness apps
• 7 exercises for variety, including a rhythm-punching segment

Cons

• Requires plenty of open physical space to use safely
• Hand-tracking only, so there’s no controller option for players who prefer one

Punch Fit MR Edition (Best SideQuest Boxing Fitness Game)

Punch Fit MR Edition is a private gym built for anyone who wants to exercise in virtual reality while actually enjoying it. The original Punch Fit was a Steam-only release from developer The Strippers Co., Ltd., but that version has since been discontinued in favor of this Quest-exclusive Mixed Reality edition, so this is the version worth checking out now.

It keeps things fresh with combinations to work through, teaching rushes, dodges, and punches as you go, all set to background music that matches the physical activity. The game is now up to 100+ workouts, with daily missions and a leaderboard to keep you coming back, and it continues to receive updates as the MR Edition rather than sitting stagnant the way the old Steam version did.

Pricing

$9.99

Pros

• 100+ workouts for genuine variety
• Daily missions and a leaderboard add replayability
• Combines fitness with boxing-style combat training (rushes, dodges, punches)
• Actively updated as the Mixed Reality edition

Cons

• Now Quest-exclusive, so the original Steam version is no longer an option
• Pricing isn’t listed upfront, so check the current store listing before committing

Simulation & Comedy

Airport Security Guard (Best SideQuest Comedy Sim)

Airport Security Guard puts you behind the checkpoint, screening passengers under time pressure while the line keeps growing. It’s part of a small mini series of workplace comedy sims from the same indie studio (Night Club Security Guard is another), and it leans on the same idea: simple, physical interactions that get funnier the more chaotic the scenarios get. Sessions are short and escalate quickly, so it’s easy to pick up for ten minutes at a time.

It’s currently sitting at 4.8 stars with over 87,000 ratings on SideQuest, which puts it among the highest rated titles on the whole platform right now. That kind of rating volume for a free, low commitment game says a lot about how consistently it lands with people who just want to laugh for a bit in VR.

Pricing

FREE.

Pros

• Free, with an extremely high rating (4.8 stars, 87,400+ ratings) backing it up.
• Short sessions make it easy to jump in for a quick laugh.
• Humor and interactions are simple enough to land immediately, no learning curve.

Cons

• Gameplay depth is limited, and repetition sets in once you’ve seen most of the scenarios.
• It’s built for short bursts, not a long play session.

I Am Cat (Best SideQuest Cat Sim)

I Am Cat, from developer Altlab VR, does exactly what it says: it puts you in control of a cat and lets you explore and interact with the world from a cat’s eye view. It’s currently in early access, tagged as an adventure and casual title, and the appeal is straightforward: prowling around environments, knocking things over, and generally causing the kind of low stakes chaos cats are known for, but from the inside.

It’s built up a strong following for an early access title, currently rated 4.8 stars with over 83,000 ratings on SideQuest. That puts it right alongside the platform’s best reviewed games, which is a solid sign for a game that’s still being actively developed.

Pricing

$19.99.

Pros

• A genuinely unique premise, not another shooter or puzzle game.
• Very high rating (4.8 stars, 83,500+ ratings) for an early access title.
• Casual, low pressure pacing makes it easy to relax into.

Cons

• Still in early access, so content and polish may change before a full release.
• At $19.99, it’s a bigger ask than most casual sim games on SideQuest.

Puzzle & Escape Room

Escape Legacy (Best SideQuest Escape Room Game)

Escape Legacy is for lovers of puzzle games. You take control of Erica, an archaeologist who follows the adventurous steps of her grandfather, solving puzzles, exploring escape rooms, and searching for items with the goal of escaping each level before time runs out. If you’ve been to a real world escape room, this will feel familiar, right down to the mix of environmental clues and locked doors.

It also lets you compete with other players worldwide through a unique scoring system and global scoreboards, and it’s built with real scale in mind: 10 levels spread across more than 80 rooms to explore. It’s still listed and available on SideQuest with no signs of abandonment, so it holds up as one of the more substantial puzzle offerings on the platform.

Pricing

$2.99 on SideQuest.

Pros

• Ten levels and more than 80 rooms give it real staying power for a puzzle game.
• Global scoreboards add a competitive layer most VR escape room games skip.
• Familiar escape room logic makes it approachable, even if you’re new to the genre.

Cons

• The linear structure means less replay value once you’ve solved everything.
• Some puzzles rely on trial and error, which can slow the pacing down.

traVRsal (Best SideQuest Room Scale Game)

traVRsal is a full room scale experience for people who want to experience virtual reality in a unique way. The game procedurally generates content based on the size of your room, so no two sessions look quite the same. There are four different mini games included, plus a sandbox world builder for players who want to design their own spaces.

The developer now also promotes traVRsal’s “Build Your Own” World Builder and Unity SDK, and reports figures of over 100,000 players, more than 11 worlds, and a 4.6 out of 5 rating on Meta. Those numbers come from the official traVRsal site rather than an independent source, so treat them as the developer’s own reported figures rather than verified statistics, but they do suggest the room scale format has found a real audience.

Pricing

$9.99

Pros

• Room scale generation adapts to your actual play space instead of a fixed area.
• Four mini games plus a world builder give it more than one reason to open it up.
• Developer-reported numbers (100K+ players, 4.6/5 on Meta) point to a sizable, active player base.

Cons

• Player and rating figures are self-reported by the developer, not independently verified.
• Room scale gameplay needs a genuinely clear, larger play space to shine, which not everyone has.

Sandbox Worlds & Unique

Tea For God (Best SideQuest Unique Experience)

Tea For God is one of the most unique SideQuest VR games available. It’s a stealth shooter that uses your room scale to generate one-of-a-kind maps every time a level loads, so you end up endlessly walking and creeping around a virtual version of your own house without ever stepping outside your play space. You really need to install it to appreciate the design, and it’s completely free.

The game has moved well past its early access roots into a full release, and it’s still actively available on App Lab and SideQuest, now optimized for Quest 3 and Quest 3S with a mixed reality mode. It comes with multiple difficulty levels and options for customizing and upgrading your gear, and some players have reported using a garage or a nearby basketball court to generate noticeably larger maps.

Pricing

FREE.

Pros

• Procedurally generated maps based on your real room mean genuinely replayable levels.
• Mixed reality mode on Quest 3/3S blends the stealth gameplay with your actual surroundings.
• Completely free, so there’s no barrier to trying it.

Cons

• Small play spaces generate smaller, more cramped maps than a garage or larger room would.
• The premise takes some getting used to since it depends heavily on your real world layout.

QuestCraft (Best SideQuest Minecraft VR Experience)

QuestCraft is a standalone port that lets you play Minecraft: Java Edition on Oculus and Meta Quest headsets in VR. Minecraft VR was never natively available on Quest without a PC connection through Oculus Link or Air Link, and QuestCraft fills that gap by acting as a wrapper that launches Minecraft Java directly on the headset.

One important change since this was first written: official Mojang and Microsoft support for Minecraft VR ended in March 2025, so QuestCraft is now an unofficial, community-maintained workaround rather than a Microsoft-backed feature. It’s still actively maintained through a community fork called QuestCraftPlusPlus on GitHub, with a companion site at questcraft.org. Go in understanding this is fan-supported, not an officially blessed integration.

Pricing

Free tool, though it requires owning Minecraft: Java Edition separately.

Pros

• Brings genuine Minecraft Java VR support to Quest headsets.
• Actively maintained by the community through the QuestCraftPlusPlus fork.
• No PC or Link cable required to play.

Cons

• No longer officially supported by Microsoft or Mojang as of March 2025, so it’s a fan-maintained workaround, not a guaranteed long-term feature.
• Requires purchasing Minecraft: Java Edition separately, on top of the tool itself.
• As an unofficial project, setup and updates can be more involved than a standard app store install.

Music & Rhythm

PianoVision (Best SideQuest Music Game)

PianoVision is the best version of a piano app on Quest, a music-based game built for learning to play piano quickly. It uses hand tracking and passthrough to overlay notes onto a real world piano and responds to your playing when you connect a MIDI-enabled keyboard. It teaches songs by displaying notes that line up with the keys in front of you, and after you connect your headset to a piano or MIDI keyboard, it tells you the exact notes you’re playing, stopping the sequence if you hit a wrong one until you correct yourself.

The app has grown well beyond its original scope. It now includes an AI piano tutor called Ludwig that can guide you through practice sessions, and the song library has expanded to more than 10,000 licensed tracks, including artists like the Beatles, Disney soundtracks, and Ed Sheeran, available through a Plus subscription. Hand tracking has also improved since the original release, making the note overlay feel more reliable in daily use.

Pricing

Free to start, with a Plus subscription required to unlock the full 10,000+ song library.

Pros

• The Ludwig AI tutor adds guided practice on top of the standard note overlay system.
• A large, growing song library with recognizable artists, not just generic MIDI files.
• Works with real pianos and MIDI keyboards, so you’re learning on real hardware.

Cons

• The full song library sits behind a Plus subscription, so free access is limited.
• Requires owning a MIDI-enabled keyboard or piano to get the full experience.

Educational

ENHANCE (Best SideQuest Educational Game)

ENHANCE is a brain training app for virtual reality. It’s not a run-of-the-mill puzzle game, but rather a set of tools that test your attention and concentration across different cognitive skills. It comes with various mini games, like React, where you test your focus and attention by hitting colored cubes in a specific order.

Data from the game feeds into ongoing research on brain training and mental health, which gives it a purpose beyond entertainment. It’s still actively listed and sold on both the Meta Quest Store and Steam by developer Virtuleap as of 2026, so it remains a live, supported title rather than an abandoned experiment.

Pricing

Free now! ENHANCE was $7.99 previously.

Pros

• Backed by real cognitive research rather than being a generic puzzle app.
• Multiple mini games target different cognitive skills instead of just one.
• Still actively sold on the Meta Quest Store and Steam, so it’s a maintained, live product.

Cons

• Update cadence isn’t clearly published, so don’t expect a predictable content schedule.
• The research and training focus means it can feel more clinical than a typical VR game.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Verdict

After going through all 35 of these, a few stand out. If you only try one thing, make it Gorilla Tag. It’s free, endlessly replayable, and probably the single biggest success story to ever come out of App Lab and SideQuest. For more depth, Battle Talent is the best physics combat sandbox on the platform right now, and it’s still getting real updates years after launch. And if you want something polished that doesn’t require owning a separate PC game first, Ancient Dungeon VR is a well-supported, actively developed rogue-lite worth your time.

Beyond those three, this list covers shooters, fitness games, puzzle games, and more, all genuinely available through SideQuest or App Lab rather than the mainstream Meta Horizon Store. Got a favorite that didn’t make the cut? Let us know in the comments.