With headsets ranging from a few hundred to well over a thousand dollars and even more on a computer or console to run it them. By the time you get to your VR store and you’re asked to fork out another 25 bucks for a 4 hour puzzle game, you might be thinking VR is an expensive hobby and cheap VR games don’t exist.
In this article we explore 6 tips on how to get the most bang for your buck when building out your VR Library that will keep you entertained for years.
Table of Contents
1) VR Game Library
First is to pick which game library you’re going to use. There are pros and cons for each one. I personally use a combination of SteamVR and the Pico Store.
SteamVR
As a regular gamer who still plays flatscreen games, SteamVR is a very convenient platform. Having all of your games in one place makes it easy to manage and access them whenever you want to. In addition to that, SteamVR works with almost every headset available in the market. This means that if you ever upgrade your headset in the future, there won’t be any compatibility issues.
One of the biggest benefits of Steam is the discounts they offer on games. They have the biggest sales and you can pick up extremely cheap VR games throughout the year, especially the older ones. This allows you to expand your game collection without burning a hole in your pocket.
Using Steam also provides you with the increased power from of your PC. However, the obvious downside is that you need to be in the vicinity of my computer to run the games.
Oculus
Oculus has the benefit that Meta is funding it, so there is plenty of good content and exclusives available. It’s by far the most popular headset available and they have captured market share, so multiplayer games are fantastic. Often when you buy games from the oculus store you will get both the rift and the quest version so you still can use a PC for increased peformance. But then you also have freedom of the quest as it is a standalone and can play anywhere.
Pico Store
Pico for me still seems like a bit of a gamble right now. It’s hard to recommend in its current state and that’s because the amount of games are lacking, the games aren’t always well optimised and it’s more expensive. Even though this is my primary headset because it’s nice and light, it has upgraded specs compared to the Quest 2, and it is a cost effective way to experience wireless PCVR. If I doubled down on my pico store purchases, but then decide to move to another headset in the future then it’s a complete waste of money. My personal strategy is to pick up a few titles and exlusives to test here and there like Les Mills body combat so I can take a workout on the road.
Vive
Vive is a bit of an interesting one and it feels like it’s been a bit forgotten over the years. You can use it if you have one of the vive standalone headsets or for PCVR gaming but what’s interesting about Vive is they offers a subscription service called Vive Infinity. Anyone with access to PCVR gaming should try it at least once.
2) Viveport Infinity Trial
For 15 dollars a month you can get access to over 1200 titles, they also have a free 14 day trial so you can sign up and cancel immediately to get access to all of these. You can use this in two ways.
First is to complete the highly polished puzzle, adventure and single player story games that only really take about 4 hours to complete. This is your Moss, The Last Clock Winder, and a Dark Space. While these games are fantastic, once you finish them once there’s really no need to play them again. So if in one month you knock out four or five of these, then you probably saved yourself $100.
The other way is to use it to other way to use it is to trial the high replayability games. These are multiplayer, shooting, boxing and rhythm games. This is a fantastic strategy to test two similar games, for example Audio Trip and Synth Riders. You are able to access full game you can even try mods to help make your decision.
3) Build a VR Wishlist
The next step is to start building up a wishlist. From games you tried on viveport infinity, from friend recommendations, or online reviews. Once added, items on your wish-list you will be emailed when they go on sale. Earlier this year Dance collider was 85% off and I picked it up for less than 3 dollars.
Two times a year something magical happens, which is the Steam summer and winter sales. During these sales, you can find some of the biggest titles for a fraction of the original price. By adding the games you like to your library throughout the year, you can build a large collection of Cheap VR games without spending too much money.
4) Oculus Referral Program
The Oculus referral program is a great way to save money on your VR games. By using a referral code from your friends, you can get 25% off your Oculus purchase and your friend will receive some store credit. It’s a great way to save money and support your friends at the same time. If you’re a weirdo and don’t have friends like me then just check out the comment section of any game and normally someone has posted their code there.
5) Modded VR Games
Mods are a great way to get more content out of your existing games and add some extra replay value. For example with a game like Audio Trip which has 28 songs and no paid DLCs, you can extend your library to 500 songs popular for free with a few clicks. SkryrimVR is another classic game which which can be modded to for a more immersive experience.
One of the big criticisms with VR gaming is that there isn’t a lot of AAA titles. We have half life alyx and…… yeah. But maybe we don’t have to wait for developers to make new games and ports. There’s a bunch of super smart people that have already done this.
Did you know that there’s already a fully supported VR mod for Halflife 2, Basically all of the Resident Evils, you can play the intro to the Witcher, and if you don’t mind using a game pad then you can even experience CyberPunk in VR. Check out some of our favourite mods from 2022.
6) Free VR games
Finally, there are a number of free games available for VR. These can be a great way to try out the technology and build up your library without spending any money. This is good to bide time while waiting for your wishlist titles to go on sale. It is important to note that some of these games may not be of the same quality or they might be trying to get money from in another way though in game purchase like cosmetics, DLCs or subscriptions. One of our personal favourite games to pick up is Blaston.
Finding cheap VR games and building up an extensive game library is possible with a bit of research and savvy shopping. By taking advantage of subscription services, sales, referral programs, modding, and free games, you can build up a large collection of VR titles without overspending.