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The HTC Vive VR Launch Titles

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Ruckus Ridge VR Party

Ruckus Ridge VR Party combines traditional gaming and VR so that you can play it with multiple friends. Up to three players play the game on a TV screen and attempt to win mini-games while the player using the Vive will have to prevent them from winning by shooting them. If you don't have multiple controllers, you can download the developers' free gamepad app.

Orientation support: Seated, standing and room-scaleRoom-scale requirements: Not specifiedController support: Vive motion controllersGameplay viewpoint: First-personGame modes: Local multiplayer

SculptrVR

Unlike Modbox, SculptrVR allows you to build anything you want with a series of colored bricks. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? In a way, it's like Minecraft in VR, but this game allows you to explore other worlds built by other players. During the building process, you can also change the landscape's overall size, so you can build detailed structures, or a massive tree above your creations.

Orientation Support: Seated, standing and room-scaleRoom-scale requirements: Not specifiedController support: Vive motion controllersGameplay viewpoint: First-personGame modes: Single-player, multiplayer

Skeet: VR Target Shooting

For hardcore skeet shooters, you can now play your favorite hobby in VR. Skeet: VR Target Shooting offers multiple shotguns for you to use in the firing range, Quickdraw mode, and Skeet mode. You can also post your high scores so you can see how you fared against your online friends.

Orientation support: Standing and room-scaleRoom-scale requirements: Not specifiedController support: Vive motion controllersGameplay viewpoint: First-personGame modes: Single-player

Space Bit Attack

Think Space Invaders in VR, and that's what you get in Space Bit Attack. You control the ship's guns with the two controllers, and you eventually collect additional power-ups to aid your fight against the alien invasion. The game doesn't have a story, so you just have to survive as many waves as you can to earn a high score.

Orientation support: Seated and standingRoom-scale requirements: Not applicableController support: Vive motion controllers, gamepad, keyboard and mouseGameplay viewpoint: First-personGame modes: Single-player

Space Pirate Trainer

Space Pirate Trainer is similar to Gunjack in that you have to defend your spaceship from hostile forces. However, you can move around the room to dodge incoming fire from the tiny drones. You can use your laser guns, but you can also switch to rail guns for a steady burst of fire, or use shields to deflect shots.

The game will stay in Early Access for 6 to 12 months. This will give developers time to add more guns, improve graphics and implement boss fights. There's even a possibility that the game will support co-op play, so you can take on the drones with a friend.

Orientation support: Room-scaleRoom-scale requirements: 2 x 1.5mController support: Vive motion controllersGameplay viewpoint: First-personGame modes: Single-player

TheBlu

This is your chance to explore what life is like under the ocean. In TheBlu you'll get to see an 80-foot whale up close, watch a migration of fish near a coral reef, and see the mysterious creatures that inhabit the dark ocean floor.

When the HTC Vive was initially revealed last year, the "Whale Encounter" episode was included in the initial wave (no pun intended) of demos to show the immersive power of the Vive HMD. Three episodes are currently available in the game, and there seem to be plans for additional content in the future.

Orientation support: Seated, standing and room-scale.Room-scale requirements: Not specifiedController support: Vive motion controllersGameplay viewpoint: First-personGame modes: Single-player

The Cubicle

At first glance, The Cubicle seems to be a copy of the "Office Worker" level in Job Simulator, but the work you do is more mundane and lacks humor. However, the game's trailer shows that there's something mysterious about your cubicle, and you'll have to explore your little area to find out the secret.

Orientation support: Room-scaleRoom-scale requirements: 2.6 x 2.6mController support: Vive motion controllersGameplay viewpoint: First-personGame modes: Single-player

This adventure game takes you to a mysterious location in pursuit of your twin sister Elsie. In addition to various puzzle-solving scenarios, you'll also have to explore every nook and cranny of each area to find clues about your sister's whereabouts and about an enigmatic machine that contains a mysterious power.

The Gallery features a unique locomotion technology called Blink that's supposed to prevent nausea in VR. By pressing a button on the controller and pointing it at another location in the distance, you can "warp" to the new area.

Orientation support: Standing and room-scaleRoom-scale requirements: Not specifiedController support: Vive motion controllersGameplay viewpoint: First-personGame modes: Single-player

The Lab

With its series of demos, Valve's The Lab is a potential starting point for those new to VR. You'll be able to tour the summit of Washington state's Vesper Peak, defend your castle with a bow and arrow, and throw AI robots with a slingshot deep in the bowels of Aperture Science.

Orientation support: Standing and room-scaleRoom-scale requirements: Not specifiedController support: Vive motion controllersGameplay viewpoint: First-personGame modes: Single-player

The Rose And I

The team at Penrose Studios consider The Rose And I to be more of an animated VR film than a game. You follow an actual rose as it grows and meets a human being. Through the character interactions, you discover a story about love and loss.

Orientation support: Seated, standing and room-scaleRoom-scale requirements: Not specifiedController support: Vive motion controllersGameplay viewpoint: Third-personGame modes: Single-player

11 Comments Comment from the forums
  • jimmysmitty 04 April 2016 21:09
    I will say what everyone is thinking. The Lab is just the start of Aperture Science Perpetual Testing Initiative. VALVe is just their way into gamers who would excel better at problem solving. J.K Simmons is really Cave Johnson and he has been acting so we get used to his melodic voice so that when we wake up to it after being kidnapped while playing The Lab we are more at ease and trusting. I mean who wouldn't trust Cave Johnson with that voice?

    Next thing we know ships will disappear, robots will go crazy and kill everyone and the Combine will take over our planet in a mere 7 days. Half Life and Portal are not games, they are history being told to try and help us prevent the end of the world.....
    Reply
  • clonazepam 04 April 2016 23:07
    I would absolutely love to see years worth of data from the entire gaming community broken down while at the same time advocating privacy. It's a strange world.

    77% of the observed population solves it this way. 20% do this. There's a few crazy ******** that do THIS on their first encounter. It's a treasure trove of interesting facts.

    Revolutionizing driver's education, peace officer training... hell just educating the general public about the million different things that can happen during a traffic stop, how quickly it all happens, and how previous experiences can effect you, could go a long way. I see a lot of potential for sensitivity training in a lot of areas.

    So you want to be a beat cop in L.A.? Maybe monitor a section of Highway 101 near a quiet town in wine country? Maybe you want to delve into inter-office politics in the accounts receivable department of the most recognized manufacturer of long haulers in America? What's it like to be on the maintenance crew at the busiest airport in the free world?

    Sorry, getting a little excited about VR and the potential of less talked about possibilities. ;)
    Reply
  • Histoire 05 April 2016 00:05
    HTC vive hardware seems superior to the oculus, but all of their games are mini-games. There's nothing close to triple A game here. It might be fun for the first week, but better games are required for long term use.

    Chronos, EVE Valkyrie are closer to the kind of game i am looking for...

    A better tracking system and the possibility to move the lenses forward/backward seems to be major hardware feature compared to the oculus.

    I want to buy either oculus or HTC vive. The decision is hard. i don't want to be stuck with crappy game or the VR with the lesser hardware.
    Reply
  • beetlejuicegr 05 April 2016 01:16
    But shouldnt it be the other way? Making games to support both or more of the vr hardware emerging? I think this is going the wrong way.

    Reply
  • hixbot 05 April 2016 01:48
    Why can't their be cohesive VR standards so devs can create for both platforms? I like competition in the hardware but their shoudn't be fragmentation in the software.
    Reply
  • ninjustin 05 April 2016 12:26
    I'm not going to be happy until there is a good way to play older fps with these headsets. I know Oculus has VorpX but I'd like to see an official implementation.
    Reply
  • Sakkura 05 April 2016 14:25
    17767670 said:
    But shouldnt it be the other way? Making games to support both or more of the vr hardware emerging? I think this is going the wrong way.
    There are plenty of games on the way with support for both games. There are also some games that are launching for the Vive first, and then porting to the Rift once its motion tracked controllers arrive.

    17767799 said:
    Why can't their be cohesive VR standards so devs can create for both platforms? I like competition in the hardware but their shoudn't be fragmentation in the software.
    There are standards, just different takes on what the standards should include. It's like monitors having both HDMI, Displayport and DVI. Oculus' SDK includes asynchronous timewarp, for example, because they think that's a good way to deal with performance dips. Valve's more interested in scaling the visual quality of the game up and down.

    17769380 said:
    I'm not going to be happy until there is a good way to play older fps with these headsets. I know Oculus has VorpX but I'd like to see an official implementation.
    Older FPS games are a poor fit for VR. Motion sickness is an issue, and these kinds of games just don't take full advantage of VR.
    Reply
  • clonazepam 05 April 2016 16:07
    Why can't their be cohesive VR standards so devs can create for both platforms? I like competition in the hardware but their shoudn't be fragmentation in the software.

    One issue with standards is too much compromising. Nobody exactly knows yet what the best way is for interacting within VR. They are worried about aiming too low (like controllers) and someone else comes up with something vastly better. There's a good video of someone interviewing Palmer Luckey where he talks about that. "Standards" basically gives you a xbox one controller to use for VR (initially). That's the general idea.
    Reply
  • hardarse7 05 April 2016 17:53
    Im still trying to understand the concept of a 3rd-person VR game. #platformfail
    Reply
  • Zapin 08 April 2016 16:59
    Im still trying to understand the concept of a 3rd-person VR game. #platformfail

    Understanding the concept is easy... understanding the point of doing a 3rd person VR game... not so easy.
    Reply