Best PSVR games: The 15 best PS4 VR games you really have to play

Editors Note: Eurogamer is continuing to relaunch its series of 'best games' features, and today we're refreshing an existing list - the best PSVR games that Ian wrote for us last year, with various new additions since March 2018. You'll continue to see more platform lists appearing on the home page in the coming weeks - we've covered the best Xbox One games, best PS4 games and best Switch games so far - with the aim to update them several times a year as new releases supplant a given system's existing library.

PSVR is an ideal entry-point to one of the most exciting things going on in games at the moment. It's relatively cheap compared to the alternatives, and while it can be a nightmare to wire up for the first few times, it tends to work well with small play-spaces.

More importantly, it's backed by a platform holder that has made some wonderful games, whether it's the disarmingly charming Cockney gunplay of Blood and Tears or the glorious platforming gauntlets of Astro Bot Rescue Mission.

Given the limited size of PSVR's catalogue, it's been surprisingly tricky to pick just 15 best PSVR games. But we have had a go. What do you reckon?

How we've arranged our best PlayStation VR games list

We've broken down the following list into three parts: beginner, intermediate and experienced. Suggestions for beginners are mainly static affairs, whilst intermediate and experienced games provide increasing levels of motion that may cause discomfort to those new to VR.

All the games on this list can be enjoyed whatever your level of VR experience though, so don't discount them just because you don't think you fall into the right category.

Oh, and of course, this isn't a definitive rundown. I've not been able to sample every single PSVR game out there, so if you think I've missed something wonderful, please do share your suggestions!

Best PSVR games for beginners

Getting started with VR? Here's some more relaxed - but absolutely brilliant - PSVR game recommendations to ease you in.

Astro Bot Rescue Mission

Astro Bot himself may not smack of ready character in the screenshots, but his adventures turn out to be far more than an elegant suite of platforming gauntlets: they're genuinely memorable and even rather lovable.

The trick here is that the player is an acknowledged presence in the game world: you often sit in the centre of a map as the tiny robot you control scampers up and down, around you and overhead.

A suite of power-ups, meanwhile, send grappling hooks and water jets out of your DualShock, which also opens up to collect any doodads you come across.

Energetic, tightly-packed level design combines with spectacular bosses in a game that almost - almost! - competes on Nintendo's level.

Want to read more? See our full Astro Bot Rescue Mission review.

Tetris Effect

Tetsuya Mizaguchi's reworking of the greatest game of all time is pretty special without VR, of course, folding light and sound into the mixture alongside falling blocks and brisk rule-changes.

But with VR it becomes something entirely surprising: a strange, deeply emotional experience as you move through darkness and colour searching for the perfect score. Beads ripple on the wind, whales coalesce out of sparks and mankind travels from desert caravans to the surface of the moon: Tetris Effect's real trick is to bring positivity, wholesomeness and a total absence of guile to the purest puzzler imaginable.

Want to read more? See our full Tetris Effect review.

Moss

Moss is easily one of the best titles available for the PSVR at the moment. The game is set in a stunningly realised storybook world that's brought to life by the kind of polish that can only be achieved when creators have poured their hearts and souls into a project.

Our plucky heroine Quill is the highlight, of course, exquisitely animated and full of personality despite her tiny size, but she's not the only star of the show.

Moss makes you a part of the game too by casting you as your very own character called The Reader. As this ghostly presence you not only have direct control over Quill, but you can also reach into the game world to push, pull and interact with objects. Or you could just stare lovingly at your own reflection in babbling brooks.

These interactions give you a believable connection with the game world and help you form a bond with Quill in a way that just isn't possible with traditional video games.

Moss is best played from a seated position but it encourages you to lean forward and explore the environment, as if you were inspecting a magical model village. Whether you're a complete beginner or video gaming veteran, Moss needs to be in your VR library.

Want to read more? See our full Moss review.

Statik

Statik is a puzzle game like no other. Not only is it incredibly immersive, but it also nails the balancing of its puzzles, making them tricky but not unfair. Its crowning glory, however, is the ingenious way it uses the Dualshock 4 controller to ground you in its virtual world.

You play a test subject whose hands are trapped inside a series of increasingly complex puzzle boxes and as you grip your controller in real life, your virtual arms mimic your real world movements.

The only way to remove the puzzle boxes is to tinker with your controller until you find the right combination of button presses to help move the puzzle on. Sometimes you may get stuck for a long time, twisting and turning the controller in your hands.

Fiddle around with the buttons and thumbsticks for long enough, though, and after a while, something will click - and when it does finding that solution is unbelievably satisfying.

Statik may be one of the least physically taxing PSVR games out there, but that doesn't stop it from delivering a truly memorable - and physical! - experience.

Beat Saber

To watch Beat Saber in action even for a second is to know how to play it. There's a scrolling runway of coloured beats. There's a coloured lightsaber in each of your hands.

Give into the chug and drive of the soundtrack and rhythm-match until all the energy in you is completely drained.

Beat Saber is a shirt-drenching, furniture wrecking treat, and one of the most kinetic and engaging VR games out there.

Best PSVR games for intermediate users

Looking for something a little more advanced? The following PSVR games might be of interest!

Ultrawings

Ultrawings isn't the most exciting of flight sims but it's certainly one of the best you'll find on PSVR.

Hidden behind the rather basic graphics is a relaxing and immersive game that really nails the sensation of flight, complete with sudden lurches in your stomach if you decide to pull off some of the more extreme maneuvers.

Played out almost like a VR version of PilotWings, you take to the skies above a group of tiny islands in a series of small, single seater airplanes and must complete short challenges in order to earn enough cash to upgrade your way to new planes and landing strips.

While your first take-off and flight may feel a little intense, the majority of your time in the sky will be quite comfortable, and there are plenty of options available to help you feel more settled.

Crucially the cartoony visuals hide some excellent in-air physics that, when combined with the audio of wind rushing past your ears, provide the illusion of flight in a way that no other PSVR game can.

For the ultimate in relaxing VR experiences, turn off the in-game music, stick on a Spotify playlist and enjoy the freedom of soaring over the ocean to your favourite tunes - it's magical.

Rez Infinite

Long before VR, Tetsuya Mizuguchi made a game of light and fury so overwhelming in its impact that emerging from each play session felt a little bit like pulling your head out of the drum of a washing machine.

With VR, Rez is better than ever: a simple shooter enlivened by an ingenious paint-and-release mechanic in which you rush through forests and temples and canyons of data purifying the machine. Absolutely stunning.

Want to read more? See our full Rez Infinite review.

Polybius

Jeff Minter tinkering with VR is enough of a pitch by itself, even before you chuck in Polybius, the name of one of gaming's oldest and strangest urban legends.

Regardless, this is still an absolute rush of a game that dazzles even if you know what you're in for. Racing forward and blasting everything in your path is the wonderfully simple basis for an arcade shooter that delights in surprising you with twists and kinks every few levels.

If you're after psychedelic score-chasing, LLamasoft has you covered, and with no motion sickness pretty much guaranteed.

Want to read more? See our full Polybius review.

Blood and Truth

Blood and Truth drops you into Oi Guvnor London Tahn for a Richie-'em-up that departs from the formula in that it has charm and an easy wit.

You're an ex-soldier brought back to the family firm when a bunch of numpties start mowing too close to your lawn. Know what we mean?

Anyway: lovely gunplay, glorious production values and a real knack for silly moments of interactivity make this a surprisingly engaging treat. Sold!

Want to read more? See our full Blood and Truth review.

Superhot

Superhot still feels like a rush. Time, right, only moves when you do. So when you control your movements, reaching for weapons, throwing broken bottles, chambering a fresh round, you also control the pace at which the panoramic violence erupts around you.

It's astonishing really that a game whose short levels and breathless pace already thrust you right into the heart of the action manages to feel even more immersive in VR.

On top of that, the game's white-box environments and shattering crystal bodies look wonderful in the private theatre of a headset.

Want to read more? See our full Superhot review.

Red Matter

Out there in the wilds of the Solar System, a one-step-removed Soviet society has left some worrying mysteries for you.

This is the scene-setting for Red Matter, a sci-fi exploration puzzler that makes up for its short running time with spectacle, a real sense of heft to your interactions and some properly ingenious puzzle design.

Red Matter has solved so many of the control issues that can plague ambitious VR games that it should probably be a set text somewhere. But that makes it sound like it isn't any fun, and it really is.

Want to read more? See our full Red Matter impressions on the site.

Best PSVR games for experienced players

And finally, a list of games for the more experienced PSVR user...

Sairento

Oh, but the heads you'll lop! The walls you'll run! The assassins' frozen stances you'll slide around before dispensing justice with bullets, swords, all kinds of sharp and glinting horrors.

Sairento is The Matrix and John Wick transported to futuristic Japan and delivered with that thrill of immediacy that VR is so good at conjuring. A violent wonder and a game with a rare sense of style.

Want to read more? See our full Sairento impressions on the site.

Skyrim VR

What does it take to make one of gaming's most well-travelled worlds feel fresh again? It turns out that VR will do the trick, bringing a new sense of scale and immediacy to an RPG that's already bursting with magic and violence.

Trees loom overhead, caves beckon you down into the darkness and there's a real shock in store when you first come across that bear in the game's opening few minutes.

Skyrim VR is the perfect excuse to venture back into one of the most storied of game landscapes, and it's a decent way to wait out the years before a sequel finally appears.

Want to read more? See our Skyrim VR impressions.

Resident Evil 7

For a horror game with a real sense of focus and purpose, it's brilliant to see Resident Evil 7 embracing VR as an option for those who can afford the kit and handle the occasional bouts of nausea.

The end result is surprisingly effective. You might feel a little unwell if you race around Capcom's haunted world too quickly, but the jump scares have never been more effective.

A series that trades in atmosphere has lost none of its horrible magic in the transition to the PSVR headset.

Want to read more? See our full Resident Evil 7 review.

Firewall Zero Hour

Perhaps the cleverest thing that Firewall Zero Hour does is to opt for the slower, more tactical gunplay of games like Rainbow Six over its twitchier brethren.

This makes this multiplayer shooter a perfect fit for VR, while excellent controls and level design come together with one of online gamings' most pleasant communities to create a bit of a treat.

Forget the bland name, then - and absolutely do not get it confused with Bravo Team, which is a bit of a stinker - and forgive some awkward lobbies. This is the real thing.

Want to read more? See our full Firewall Zero Hour review.

What was previously on the best PSVR games list?

As we continuously update this best PSVR games list with new releases, games have to be removed to make room - but are still absolutely worth your time.

The games removed from the March 2018 list are:

• Beginners: The Lost Bear, Rec Room, Job Simulator
• Intermediate: Farpoint, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, Thumper, Star Trek Bridge Crew
• Advanced: Doom VFR, Raw Data, Sprint Vector

As well as this, here's a round-up of some hidden gems worth looking at if you're after even more best PSVR game suggestions:

Looking for more 'best of' lists by the staff of Eurogamer? You can read our best Xbox One games, best PS4 games, best PSVR games and best Switch games lists.