For some reason, several of our top Oculus picks this week have a sort of alternate western flavor – but whether it’s gun-slinging or the comparatively peaceful pursuit of seeking your fortune down in the mines, we’ve got you covered:
Cave Digger
from Mekiwi
From pickaxes to nukes, select your tools, plunge into subterranean depths and try and get that big score. Cave Digger brings the addictive mining action from the likes of Minecraft, Terraria and Steamworld Dig into VR, and while the initial tools are primitive, the more veins you mine, the fancier gear you can obtain (and yes, we did say “nukes”).
Not sure if you’d really “dig” mining (pun intended)? Not to worry, as this offering from Mekiwi is totally free.
Oculus Rift | 400 MB | FREE from Steam
The ArcSlinger
from Big Red Button Entertainment
Another game with quasi-Western themes, The ArcSlinger eschews the recently trendy “Weird West” tropes of ghosts and gunslingers in favor of a more science fiction approach. A story-driven shooter featuring voice acting from Nolan North and Jessica DiCicco, this was originally released for Google Daydream before being upgraded for Oculus Rift and Gear VR.
Oculus Rift | 3 GB | $17.99 from Oculus or from Steam
Oculus Go | 78 MB | $7.99 from Oculus
Gear VR | 78 MB | $7.99 from Oculus
Wheelchair Simulator VR
from ViRa Games
Narrated by Dmytro Schebetyuk and based on his own experiences as a wheelchair user, Wheelchair Simulator VR is at once an entertaining game, an unexpected work-out and a wry and sarcastic exploration of disability. Plus, proceeds go toward the Dostupno UA initiative, which supports accessibility initiatives in Schebetyuk’s native Ukraine.
Oculus Rift | 2 GB | $9.99 from Oculus or from Steam
Escape First
from OnSkull Games
Building on the studio’s experience designing multi-player escape rooms for VR (OnSkull Games released the free Tales of Escape last year), Escape First features three new scenarios for up to six players. Tense and challenging, this one also has a “versus” mode for a more competitive experience, though we prefer the shared sense of panic that comes from the standard cooperative mode.
Oculus Rift | 4 GB | $5.99 from Steam
Reficul
from MadAboutGamesStudios
Gloriously over-the-top survival horror in the classic mode, Reficul pulls out all the stops while using several mechanical innovations – like a menu-free visual inventory system – to bring the flavor of the early Resident Evil and Alone in the Dark games into the VR space.
Oculus Rift | 13 GB | $14.99 from Steam