Oculus Quest – Best Games for the Motion Sick

This year, I finally took the leap and purchased an Oculus Quest VR headset. I was hesitant to add this system to my collection for two reasons. Firstly, the cost (approx $500 – $600 USD for the 64 GB version) and secondly, I am remarkably prone to motion sickness. However, that makes me the best VR guinea pig to guide you through the Oculus Quest’s best games for the motion sick. Don’t waste your money and time on games that will make you want to barf. Instead, check out one of these fun, affordable, and most comfortable games to play on the Oculus Quest. 

Remember: The Oculus Quest store has a 14-day refund policy (with a  2-hour play time limit). If you are on the fence about any game, my advice is to buy it, try it, and if you don’t like it, refund it.  

1. Arizona Sunshine

Despite being a fast-paced zombie shooter, Arizona Sunshine is incredibly easy to traverse. It’s teleportation locomotion system is smooth, quick, and simple to use. If you love the zombie genre and FPS games, then Arizona Sunshine is one of the best Oculus Quest games you can buy. 

It is one of the only zombie VR games that offers a full, albeit short, campaign mode which lasts 4 – 6 hours. The story isn’t very deep, but the voice acting is superb and comedic. With a multiplayer campaign mode and a multiplayer horde mode, the game offers virtually endless hours of zombie fun. The shooting mechanics are incredibly accurate and realistic.

One thing to note is that compared to the HTC Vive version of the game, the graphics for the Oculus Quest version of the game have been considerably scaled-down. It is not surprising, given the mobile hardware that the Quest runs on. However, as a result, the performance of the game is superb. It has never once crashed on me during the campaign mode, despite dozens of zombie NPCs running toward me. 

Arizona Sunshine is one of the best games on the Oculus Quest for both zombie fans and those prone to motion sickness. The full campaign mode is something all VR games should strive more to do.

2. The Thrill of the Fight

Without a doubt, The Thrill of the Fight is the most physically-demanding game available on the Oculus Quest, but in a good way. It is by far the best and most realistic boxing simulator I’ve ever played both in VR and on regular gaming consoles. 

The game uses real-world movement in place of teleportation or thumbstick locomotion. Despite being a fast-paced game where you must dodge and find good angles, I never once felt motion sick playing The Thrill of the Fight. One of the smartest features in the game is the AI. The AI opponents will automatically position themselves in the center of your guardian. By doing this, the game ensures that you are always punching toward the open space in the center of the playable area. Therefore, you won’t break the walls or your hands throughout the playing of this game.

Furthermore, you can adjust the game to match whatever intensity you wish to play at. You can choose the strength of your opponents, the length of the matches and how much of a power advantage you want to play with. The game uses the Oculus cameras to track the velocity of the controller movements. That speed is used to determine the strength of your punches. 

Don’t be fooled. While this is a video game on the surface, a few rounds of The Thrill of the Fight at high intensity could prove to be one of the hardest workouts you’ve ever done in your life. 

3. Last Labyrinth

Definitely one of the most unique games available in VR, Last Labyrinth is often described as Saw meets escape-the-room puzzle games. In the game, you either solve the puzzle and escape the room or die a very painful death. 

In Last Labyrinth, you wake up in a strange room within a booby-trapped building. Next to you is a girl who speaks an indiscernible language. To make matters worse, for unknown reasons, you are strapped and locked to a wheelchair. Thus, gameplay mechanics are very simple. You have only the ability to move your head and select objects using a laser pointer strapped to your head. In a similar fashion to The Last Guardian you must communicate without words, controlling the girl’s movement with the laser pointer. Your goal is to escape while protecting the girl from harm.

If you love puzzle games and artistic games, then Last Labyrinth is the game for you. Not only are there mind-numbingly difficult puzzles to solve, but the presentation of the game and the images it uses will also have you scratching your head at the meaning of it all. 

The only criticism I have for the game is that the image quality isn’t very good. For a simple game without much dynamic movement and fast-paced action, I expected the graphics to be crisper. For long play sessions, I sometimes felt the need to take the headset off just to give my eyes a break. However, I definitely wouldn’t let that deter you from trying out the game. 

4. Superhot

Often used as one of the introduction games to VR, Superhot is an incredibly simple, yet ingenious use of virtual reality as a video game medium. Within the game, you must complete numerous mini-levels which can be completed in usually 5 – 30 seconds. In each level, enemies attack you in various scenarios. You have everything you can see at your disposal: guns, throwing stars, wine bottles, coffee mugs, and even your own two fists. However, there is one catch: time only moves when you do.

Each level starts with time paused. When you turn your head to gauge the situation, enemies take a step towards you. If you point your gun, they point theirs. This is the one Oculus Quest game that will make you feel like you’re Neo in The Matrix. Best of all, since you control time and the speed of your enemies, there’s almost zero chance that anyone could get motion sick playing this game. 

5.  Crisis Vrigade

Crisis Vrigade is by far one of the best games on the Oculus Quest. The crazy part is, it’s a 100% free game that isn’t even officially on the Oculus Store yet.* 

A play on the words “VR” and “Crisis Brigade”, Crisis Vrigade is a game where you and a group of police officers and SWAT team members are called in to take down bank robbers and terrorists. From ejecting the magazine to cocking the pistol, the shooting mechanics are the most realistic I’ve experienced so far on the Oculus Quest. While you are free to move around within your guardian, this game is best described as an on-rails FPS shooter, inspired by games like the classic Time Crisis.

If you’re a fan of shooters or always wanted to know what it felt like to be in a shootout, definitely give Crisis Vrigade a try.

*Crisis Vrigade is not on the Oculus Store. It is available on SideQuest.

Oculus Quest’s Best Games Are Risk-free 

To end off, I’d like to reiterate again that if any of these games give you motion sickness, you can refund them within 14 days of purchase (as long as you play for less than 2 hours). The reason for the refund policy on the Oculus Store is at least partly to help people prone to motion sickness dive into VR without worry. Of course, there is likely a limit. If you are buying and refunding every game after 13 days, that would be very suspect. 

Oculus made a very kind and great decision to allow refunds, so I encourage you to try all of these games without worrying about the risk of getting motion sick. 

What do you think are the Oculus Quest’s Best Games for the motion sick? Let us and our readers know in the comments below.