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[Septimius]

I'm considering Oculus Rift or HTC Vive. I think the real value of VR lies in simulation experiences like Flight Simulator, Elite Dangerous, DCS World, Project Cars, Assetto Corsa and things like that. Especially in flying a helicopter, the spatial awareness is absolutely amazing.

However, I'm looking at room scale games to try and persuade me on the Vive. The controllers are great, and it has the lighthouses, so it is absolutely superior for that experience. However, I'm not sold that that's what VR is for me, at this time. I've tried looking at good room scale games, but I just can't find anything that doesn't seem gimmicky or tedious. I'm not after the Wii Sport of VR. I'm after a great game that doesn't just have VR tacked on, and I'm looking for good videos showcasing those games.

So, what are room scale games you find really interesting?

 

[Chairmanchuck]

There will be the Oculus Connect 3 today, so there might be some new cool roomscale games coming.

From what I heard Audioshield and Job Simulator seem to be great as well as Budget Cuts.

 

[AwesomeMeat]

There are quite a few that are really impressive.

Onward is amazing if you care at all about multiplayer fps games.

The gallery call of starseed, water bears, budget cuts, rec room, hhh. Honestly there are a ton and I can't imagine having vr without room scale though I also enjoy sim and controller based vr as well.

 

[samred]

Rec Room times a million.

Budget Cuts, hopefully out by 2017.

Tilt Brush.

The Blu if your folks test it out.

SPT all day.

 

[bj00rn_]

Budget Cuts is still my favorite demo. theBlu (on a fast computer..) and The Lab for first experience demos to family and friends. Space Pirate Trainer is also great.

 

[Hellsing321]

Raw Data is one of the best Shooters I've played in VR. Great use of the teleportation mechanic too.

 

[taoofjord]

I'm considering Oculus Rift or HTC Vive. I think the real value of VR lies in simulation experiences like Flight Simulator, Elite Dangerous, DCS World, Project Cars, Assetto Corsa and things like that. Especially in flying a helicopter, the spatial awareness is absolutely amazing.

However, I'm looking at room scale games to try and persuade me on the Vive. The controllers are great, and it has the lighthouses, so it is absolutely superior for that experience. However, I'm not sold that that's what VR is for me, at this time. I've tried looking at good room scale games, but I just can't find anything that doesn't seem gimmicky or tedious. I'm not after the Wii Sport of VR. I'm after a great game that doesn't just have VR tacked on, and I'm looking for good videos showcasing those games.

So, what are room scale games you find really interesting?

If you're able to set up a reasonably sized space for room-scale and willing to spend the money for a Rift why not just pick up the Vive? If you're looking for really deep games you're not going to find too many on any of the three platforms but there are still some great experiences out there. For the most part, though, get in now if you're passionate about the tech and are the type of person that likes backing games or playing stuff in early access.

For me, VR is far less interesting with a normal game controller (except when it fits the game, such as flight/space sims). At that point, as neat as it is, I'd still rather play on a large 4K HDR TV with far superior picture quality (even when you scale up the resolution in VR). So yeah, my opinion is room-scale or bust for this gen of headsets.

Here's some of the best room-scale games I've played:

A Chair in a Room: Greenwater
Audioshield
Battle Dome
Budget Cuts
Cosmic Trip
Destinations
Dig 4 Destruction
The Gallery
Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades
Irrational Exuberance: Prologue
Job Simulator
Onward
Out of Ammo
Paddle Up
Pierhead Arcade
Raw Data
Rec Room
SoundStage
Space Pirate Trainer
The Night Cafe
The Lab
theBlu
Tilt Brush
Unseen Diplomacy
Waltz of the Wizard

 

[d00d3n]

The Lab is still the best experience imo.

 

[MattKeil]

Raw Data is one of the best Shooters I've played in VR. Great use of the teleportation mechanic too.

This and The Lab are what I use to hook people new to VR. And if they're Star Wars fans, Lightblade VR.

I play roomscale stuff way, way more than the sitdown games. I didn't expect that would be the case, but it's just a much more compelling use of the hardware.

 

[Septimius]

If you're able to set up a reasonably sized space for room-scale and willing to spend the money for a Rift why not just pick up the Vive? If you're looking for really deep games you're not going to find too many on any of the three platforms but there are still some great experiences out there. For the most part, though, get in now if you're passionate about the tech and are the type of person that likes backing games or playing stuff in early access.

I've gotten a Skylake i5, 16GB, GTX 1080 computer, so I'm on the deep end. However, I don't really have the space for room-scale, I guess I could make it work though. The rift seems better for me since I'm focused on the seated experiences, and that the headset itself is better than the Vive, which is the primary focus I have. With the Oculus Touch coming out, too, I could move into that with a Rift. Given my limited space, it seems like a better fit, all in all.

But I am open to being persuaded to the Vive, but I need something that shows me there's an actual value in room-scale games.

Thanks for all the contributions, people. I'll look at every single one, and report back with what my conclusion is!

EDIT: Follow-up! How restrictive is it to do stand-up games with a Rift compared to the Vive?

 

[Business]

The Lab and Budget Cuts for me.

 

[The_Spaniard]

Most of what I'd mention has already been said, but I'll toss a nod to Vanishing Realms myself as a fun first person VR dungeon crawler.

 

[tokkun]

I'm considering Oculus Rift or HTC Vive. I think the real value of VR lies in simulation experiences like Flight Simulator, Elite Dangerous, DCS World, Project Cars, Assetto Corsa and things like that. Especially in flying a helicopter, the spatial awareness is absolutely amazing.

However, I'm looking at room scale games to try and persuade me on the Vive. The controllers are great, and it has the lighthouses, so it is absolutely superior for that experience. However, I'm not sold that that's what VR is for me, at this time. I've tried looking at good room scale games, but I just can't find anything that doesn't seem gimmicky or tedious. I'm not after the Wii Sport of VR. I'm after a great game that doesn't just have VR tacked on, and I'm looking for good videos showcasing those games.

So, what are room scale games you find really interesting?

This is a tricky question. Because on one hand, I don't think there really are any roomscale games that are remotely comparable to the titles you listed in terms of feeling like a fully realized game. They mostly feel more like minigames or tech demos.

On the other hand, roomscale is just so much more of a captivating experience than stationary VR, even with just tech demos. Roomscale is what makes me feel like a kid again, with the capacity to be totally surprised and amazed by an experience. But...there is just not enough depth in any of the available stuff to make me want to come back to it frequently.

The way I look at it, roomscale now is like a demo to give you an idea of what an amazing game will be like in 5 years. If you are looking to experience cutting edge technology, it is the way to go. On the other hand, if you are looking for something you will sink serious time into, it probably isn't it. You could just as well wait a couple years for more content to come out and for the hardware experience to get better (e.g. wireless, lighter headsets, more advanced input methods).

 

[taoofjord]

I've gotten a Skylake i5, 16GB, GTX 1080 computer, so I'm on the deep end. However, I don't really have the space for room-scale, I guess I could make it work though. The rift seems better for me since I'm focused on the seated experiences, and that the headset itself is better than the Vive, which is the primary focus I have. With the Oculus Touch coming out, too, I could move into that with a Rift. Given my limited space, it seems like a better fit, all in all.

But I am open to being persuaded to the Vive, but I need something that shows me there's an actual value in room-scale games.

Thanks for all the contributions, people. I'll look at every single one, and report back with what my conclusion is!

EDIT: Follow-up! How restrictive is it to do stand-up games with a Rift compared to the Vive?

Unfortunately, you're never going to really "get" the value of room-scale experiences until you try it yourself. I was sold on the Vive over the Rift (which I had been following for a couple years) when I randomly happened upon a Vive promotional bus tour in D.C. It was a monumental experience for me and I couldn't stop talking about it to my friends and family.

That said, the Rift will apparently offer a limited room-scale experience that could be good enough (vs whatever the price difference is) but I haven't tried it. I just know that if I hadn't tried the Vive and I was going in on new tech that's similarly priced, I wouldn't want to limit my options.

 

[Noogy]

No VR title has had more hours put into it here than Job Simulator. It's honestly the perfect room-scale game.

 

[Makai]

Job Simulator

 

[Zalusithix]

No VR title has had more hours put into it here than Job Simulator. It's honestly the perfect room-scale game.

Job Simulator is a good screw around game for first time VR goers to show interaction possibilities, or for when there's a group of people over for some stupid fun. That said, I don't see why anybody would go back to it on a regular basis to rack up so many hours. It just doesn't have the gameplay hook or skill feedback loop that many of the other contenders do.

 

[Soi-Fong]

Job Simulator and Tiltbrush. These two I've shown over and over and it really just bring a smile to people's faces... Then it goes to a frown after I tell them how much my PC and the Vive cost. But that's another thing altogether.

 

[Durante]

In my opinion, at this point in time, Raw Data is the most fully realized 100% room-scale/360° game available.

I've posted some more details about why recently:

After thinking about this, I came to the conclusion that I'm actually at this point in time looking forward to the major content updates to Raw Data more than any single release in VR. It's a known quantity, but also one I really love.

For me, it ticks all the right boxes:

• Designed from the ground up for 360° tracked gameplay (which unlike the OP I find continually exhilarating)
• Full co-op support (I love coop in normal games, I love it even more in VR)
• Truly challenging and difficult to master gameplay, where you really feel like you are improving your skills across sessions (That's a point I'm currently missing with a whole lot of VR games)
• A higher-end graphical presentation than most other VR games is also nice, though not essential

Whenever a new content update for Raw Data is released we basically play it within a day or two.

 

[Prat]

Just tried The Gallery Starseed... Jesus Christ, what a time to be alive.

 

[collige]

The Lab
Audioshield
Accounting
Serious Sam
Budget Cuts Demo
Tilt Brush
The Blu
Job Siumlator
Vanishing Realms
The Brookhaven Experiment
Pool Nation