The 15 best Meta Quest 3 games to play in 2024

Call it a hot take, but we think the Meta Quest 3 is host to one of the best software libraries in modern gaming — from immersive new takes on Batman and “Star Wars” to innovative mixed-reality experiences that bring zombies into your real-life living room. And now that the Meta Quest 3S is on shelves, diving into the world of mixed-reality gaming has never been more affordable. There’s just one problem: With hundreds of games available on the Meta Store, where do you even start?

Fret not — we’ve spent countless hours with just about every Quest headset strapped to our heads and are here to make finding the right game for you easy. Whether you want to enjoy some simple arcade action, work up a sweat or glide around Gotham from the safety of your home, here are our picks for the best Meta Quest 3 games to play right now.

Batman: Arkham Shadow

Bringing the beloved Batman: Arkham series into VR seemed like a tall order; could the tight combat and satisfying superhero traversal of the console games possibly work in first-person? Thanks to the masterful work of developer Camouflaj, the answer is a firm “yes.” Arkham Shadow brilliantly brings the Batman power fantasy into virtual reality, as you’ll beat up bad guys by performing dizzying combos with your actual fists, squeeze your controller to grapple-hook your way through Gotham and glide your way down by simply spreading your arms. It all feels intuitive and exciting enough that you’ll likely mutter out at least one “I’m Batman” during your quest to take down the Rat King. This is the first true Quest 3/3S exclusive and comes free with the purchase of a new headset, meaning now’s an especially great time to jump on board.

Beat Saber

Beat Saber is to the Meta Quest 3 what Tetris was to the original Game Boy: a true killer app that instantly shows off what makes Meta’s headset special. Anyone can have fun picking up the game’s virtual lightsabers and smashing targets to the beat of an awesome soundtrack, but like any great rhythm game, it takes true skill to climb the leaderboards or beat other players online. This VR mainstay is still getting updates and music packs to this day, with Green Day, Linkin Park and Fall Out Boy being just a few of the big names you’ll be able to swing your sabers to — and get a pretty solid workout in the process.

Pistol Whip

Another Meta Quest essential, Pistol Whip brings the joy of arcade shoot-‘em-up games to virtual reality — and then drenches it in neon and cranks the intensity to 11. Part psychedelic on-rails shooter, part rhythm game, this game tasks you with taking out enemies and dodging bullets like John Wick while rewarding you for blasting bad guys to the beat. Like Beat Saber, Pistol Whip has gotten a steady stream of free new content since launch, and it offers tons of customization options for better accessibility or a higher challenge.

Asgard’s Wrath 2

One of the most critically acclaimed virtual reality games out there, Asgard’s Wrath 2 proves that true triple-A blockbusters can work within the confines of a VR headset. From its satisfying, physics-based combat to its gorgeous, vibrant and freely explorable worlds, every moment of this intense action role-playing game is dripping with the kind of polish you’d expect from a modern console or PC game.

Assassin’s Creed Nexus

Further proof that iconic console games can translate into fun VR experiences, Assassin’s Creed Nexus is built from the ground up to immerse you in Ubisoft’s beloved time-hopping stealth action series. We didn’t think parkouring from one historic landmark to the next would work without giving us motion sickness, but it just does, with the game’s tight platforming offering one of the most unique thrills we’ve experienced in VR. The actual “Assassin’s” part of Assassin’s Creed is likewise pretty satisfying here, as you can sneak past or straight-up brawl with enemies using natural gestures.

Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord

One of the more recent titles to leverage the Meta Quest 3’s mixed-reality capabilities, Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord impressively invades our real world with virtual realm spooks. More specifically, the co-op shooter’s Mini-Puft Mayhem mode tasks you with taking on the iconic marshmallow menace, even as he tears the roof off your house. While dealing with the big bad towering above, your actual surroundings are infiltrated by his adorable minions, which can be humorously weaponized with a specter-slaying slingshot.

This Meta Quest 3-exclusive mode offers a fantastic showcase of the device’s augmented reality feature, but it’s far from the only reason to strap on the virtual proton pack. The base game is also a fun, arcade-flavored blast that arms you with imaginative, upgradeable gear before unleashing you (and up to three ghostbusting buddies) into a spirit-filled San Francisco.

Drop Dead: The Cabin — Home Invasion

Adding a mixed-reality mode to an existing VR title might result in a tacked-on experience lacking the original game’s appeal, but zombie survival shooter Drop Dead: The Cabin felt like a perfect fit for MR long before the Meta Quest 3 made its clever Home Invasion expansion possible. As its name suggests, the world-blurring mode builds on the core game’s horde-surviving action by inviting the undead uglies into your house.

After setting up your environment with virtual windows, doors and furniture, the incredibly immersive challenge literally puts you at the center of the zombie-slaughtering action as you fend off nasty swarms climbing through your windows and breaking down your doors. Don’t get too cocky behind your virtual arsenal of guns and melee weapons, though, as some of the brain-craving creeps bypass these obvious paths in favor of making a more dramatic, er, entrance through your living room wall.

Espire 2: Stealth Operatives

If you love the idea of Meta Quest 3 transforming your literal living space into a virtual battleground but you don’t want to stain your couch with zombie entrails, Espire 2’s new mixed-reality mode might be more your speed. Building on the stealth-action game’s Metal Gear Solid-like encounters and objectives, the MR Missions Update sees you thwarting terrorist threats in the comfort of your own home.

But while silently taking out ski mask-wearing mercenaries in your kitchen is worth the price of admission, the update also leverages many of the sneaking genre’s other satisfying staples. You’ll find yourself taking cover behind real-world furniture, dragging fresh corpses across your floor and maybe even looking out your window to discover a military chopper bombarding your fortress/apartment with homing missiles.

Samba de Amigo: Virtual Party

Meta Quest 3’s mixed-reality capabilities can significantly up the immersion of your favorite action games, cranking up the tension of up-close combat encounters and life-or-death survival scenarios. But as proven by the smile-inducing Samba de Amigo: Virtual Party, MR isn’t solely focused on turning your home into a virtual stage for gunfights and monster frights.

Thanks to its vibrant presentation, colorful cast of characters, captivating gameplay and incredibly catchy tunes, this rhythm-action entry had us hooked long before a maraca-shaking money appeared on our coffee table. But the MR features further this appeal, elevating the fun with world-blending effects capable of turning the most boring room in your house into an eye-popping party zone. Toss in multiple modes — including co-op and competitive challenges — as well as the promise of post-launch music packs, and Samba de Amigo easily earns a place in your regular VR rotation.

Dungeons of Eternity

Loot, level up and lay waste to dungeon-dwelling beasties in this hack-and-slash adventure that’s as close as you’ll come to a virtual reality version of Diablo. Featuring satisfying physics-fueled combat, Dungeons of Eternity puts you behind melee, ranged and magic-based weapons as you not only thwart threats of the horned, fanged and clawed variety but also evade deadly traps, solve clever conundrums and complete randomized runs alongside up to two other dungeon-diving pals.

On the subject of co-op play, the game also runs on the Meta Quest 2, so those who’ve upgraded to the latest hardware can leverage their last-gen goggles to put together a two-player monster-slaying party. But regardless of whether you bring a buddy or brave it alone, Dungeons of Eternity — which also benefits from graphical and performance boosts on Meta Quest 3 — is one of the best reasons to strap on the new headset.

Red Matter 2

When Red Matter 2 released late this summer, it quickly rose to the top of our favorite Quest 2 games. Now upgraded and enhanced for the new headset, the dystopian adventure has fully cemented its spot among the best VR games. Sporting a stunning, richly realized world, complete with console-quality textures, details and lighting effects, it fully immerses you in its fictional world just moments after you lower the headset.

But while you’re a stranger in its unsettling, lunar world, you’re no sightseeing tourist. Once you’ve scooped your jaw from the floor, you’ll find yourself participating in a variety of compelling gameplay scenarios — from puzzle-solving and combat to platforming and exploration — all wrapped in a gripping sci-fi, Cold War-inspired story you won’t be able to shake once you return to the real world.

Demeo Battles

Featuring tactical, turn-based combat and a focus on cooperative play, the original Demeo impressively brought Dungeons & Dragons-inspired tabletop gaming into the virtual world. Its spin-off, Demeo Battles, builds on this solid foundation, pivoting to player-versus-player melees and doubling down on the mixed-reality support its predecessor dabbled in.

The result is immersive, deeply strategic matches that blend both the virtual and real worlds with stunning, high fantasy-themed visuals and slick effects that could see your virtual, 12-sided die rolling onto your actual living room floor. The detailed presentation and deep gameplay also get a boost from “The Burn,” a deadly sea of lava that slowly sweeps across the board, ensuring you don’t take too long deciding your next move.

The 7th Guest VR

Remakes and reimaginings have become incredibly popular, with recent do-overs like Dead Space and Resident Evil 4 garnering as much attention as original titles. But while the console and PC landscapes have seen no shortage of these fresh takes on familiar classics, few make the leap into virtual reality. The 7th Guest remedies this, morphing the ’90s horror classic into a full-on murder mystery staged in a haunted house.

And thanks to its ambitious VR makeover, its spook-filled manor is fully explorable from behind the Meta Quest 3’s goggles. But more than just granting the opportunity to navigate every nook and cranny of a home occupied by spectral squatters, the hardware ups the spine-tingling ante with volumetric technology that brings the game’s apparitions to life (death?) with incredible realism. Beyond its ethereal encounters, The 7th Guest delivers an absorbing mystery, clever puzzles and a nice dose of nostalgia crossed with cutting-edge tech.

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners

Already established as a visual stunner on the Meta Quest 2, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners sees some significant graphical enhancements on the next-gen headset. Crisper environmental details, updated character models, higher-resolution textures and a peppier frame rate put you in its undead apocalypse like never before. But it’s the updated lighting work that impresses most. Dynamic shadows and other realism-rivaling illumination effects breathe fresh life into the rotting corpses threatening to consume your brain.

Speaking of those flesh-eating foes, Saints & Sinners also delivers a frightening, first-person action-adventure that’ll have little trouble securing a spot in your regular nightmare rotation. Complemented by gripping gameplay — combining visceral combat, resource scavenging and survival elements — the console-like presentation ensures this one will keep brave players under the headset well into the wee hours.

Cubism

Combining a Zen-like vibe with challenging conundrums, this engrossing 3D puzzle game previously provided one of our favorite excuses for visiting the virtual world for extended stretches. But its Meta Quest 3 mixed-reality update only cements our affection for an experience that somehow simultaneously bends our brains and soothes our souls.

Tackling Cubism’s nearly 100 puzzles in the new update offers unmatched immersion, allowing you to carefully assemble its virtual blocks on real-world surfaces like a desk, counter or coffee table. Of course, its easy-to-learn, hard-to-master concept also feels a bit less daunting when you can actually look past the colorful bricks for a moment and see a friendly face or family pet via the headset’s full-color passthrough camera.