If you have just purchased a Meta Quest, whether you have opted for the Quest 2, Quest 3 or Quest Pro, you may feel a little lost and not knowing where to start. What are the recommended games and applications to start? What video games and apps are really worth it?
If you don't have a friend or family member experienced in virtual reality who can advise you, or if that person is too advanced for your beginners, don't worry. In this article, I recommend the applications and games that you should download and install to start in virtual reality gradually and without dizziness. It's important to start off gently, as a bad initial experience can discourage you from further exploring this exciting world.
For a pleasant introduction, I suggest starting with applications that allow you to familiarize yourself with the controls and the virtual environment. Here you will find both free and paid options. Start by downloading and trying the free ones. These are usually simpler and will help you learn the basics.
Among the applications that I recommend are those that offer immersive and educational experiences, such as virtual visits to museums or historical places. Also, games that allow you to interact with calm and controlled environments, such as puzzles or simulators of daily activities. This will help you gain confidence before moving on to more intense and dynamic experiences.
Remember that the key is gradual progression. Don't rush to try the more advanced or intense games. Spend time adapting to the virtual space and understanding how to interact with it. Over time, you can increase the complexity of the apps and games you try, expanding your VR experience.
The app reviews in the Meta Quest store unfortunately do not offer much help as most users exaggerate their ratings or do not rate or comment on them, they simply encourage you to use their discount code to get them in return money to use in the online store, in this article you will also find links to the apps with which you will get a 30% discount and I will also benefit from a small income in my virtual wallet but nevertheless all applications and reviews are sincere and I hope they are helpful.
First Steps:
This is the first app recommended for getting started with Meta Quest, and it is called precisely that, First Steps. With this application you will learn how to handle remote controls, pick up objects, point, throw and interact with virtual reality without causing dizziness, since it is an application in which you do not need to move from the site; you can play sitting down for comfort. If you enjoy First Steps, two other similar and free options are Oculus First Contact and First Hand, the latter is a demo made by Meta so we can check the possibilities of the "hand tracking" feature, with which we can play and interact with our own hands without using remote controls.
Download First Steps from the Meta Quest Store.
Super Hot:
Super Hot is my favorite and most recommended game to get started in virtual reality. It is a title with simple graphics, white environments without many objects and a clear objective: shoot and avoid being shot. This game allows a little movement around the environment but not too much, so you can also play sitting down, although it is recommended to play standing up and dodge the bullets by ducking and using the furniture of the game scenario as a shield.
The mechanics of the game is a bit unusual at first but very clever and perfect for virtual reality: every time you move, time advances, so if you stay completely still, time stops and you can analyze, visualize the environment and think of a strategy to kill all the enemies. What, in my opinion, makes the virtual reality version better than the PC or console version is that even the movements of your hands or your body will make time advance, in the PC and console version only the steps and shots make time run.
Although this game does not have realistic graphics, after a few minutes, you will feel that you are inside the game and that you can even fall through a hole in the floor, that you can pick up and feel the objects, or that the table that appears in the game is in front of you in real life.
Download Super Hot from the Meta Quest Store.
Red Matter and Red Matter 2:
These two titles are some of the highest and best rated for virtual reality. These games are perfect for getting started and getting used to handling virtual reality glasses, since you will move around the environment using a kind of teleportation and it is not a game that has a lot of action, rather it is a game of investigation and solving puzzles.
Download Red Matter from the Meta Quest Store.
Download Red Matter 2 from the Meta Quest Store.
Eleven Table Tennis:
Eleven Table Tennis, like other table tennis games, is highly recommended to start using Meta Quests, as you will stay fixed in a space in front of the tennis table and you just have to throw and hit the ball like in real table tennis.
Download First Steps from the Meta Quest Store.
Anne Frank House VR:
This is a free immersive experience that takes us to Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam during World War II. We can see both the house and the secret hiding place where Anne Frank and 8 others lived for over two years.
Download Anne Frank House VR from the Meta Quest Store.
Resident Evil 4:
This is a virtual reality adaptation of Resident Evil 4 released in 2005 for Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2, keeping the original graphics, voices and sounds. Whether you played the original GameCube or PlayStation 2 version or, in my case, if you did not get to play this game, you will enjoy it very much. Starting with the easy level, it's a fairly easy game that gets a bit more complicated as it progresses, but without being difficult to play.
Despite being an adaptation of a console game, the adaptation to VR is very good. The handling of the weapons is exceptional, the menus are very easy to use, and the save game method will surprise you. As with most Meta Quest titles, the graphics are not hyper-realistic; they are very similar although better than what you could see on consoles, but in its favor it has that point of nostalgia.
This is a video game that can be played for hours without getting dizzy, as it uses the teleportation method to move around the stage.
Download Resident Evil 4 from the Meta Quest Store.
Wooorld:
This application generates contradictions for me. Although it is the least recommended in this list, it has positive aspects because of its ease, which makes it suitable for beginners in Meta Quest. It doesn't completely abstract you from the real world; there's no fear of enemies or falling off cliffs. However, it promises more than it delivers. It offers the ability to see the world on a 3D map and move around freely, which is true, but the quality of the images is not optimal. It is important to consider that it uses satellite images from Google Maps, and in many cities, these do not have the necessary quality to offer a realistic experience of streets and buildings. In addition, it allows you to interact with other users by placing avatars anywhere on the map, useful for sharing details and interesting places in a city.
All in all it is an interesting application but with little to offer, perhaps in the future they will update it to include better images or more realistic 3D models of cities and maps.
The Climb:
The Climb is a simple but perfect title to get started in virtual reality. Its mechanics are straightforward: you are a climber who must overcome various challenges. You will use the buttons on the controllers to hold on to the protrusions of the virtual walls, climbing progressively to overcome the levels. It was one of the first video games I tried in Meta Quest 2, at a friend's house. Its impact was such that it motivated me to acquire my own virtual reality glasses. It is a simple experience where you feel completely immersed in the virtual world, with the real sensation of risk when falling off a cliff.
