Oculus Quest 2: The Best Games

In terms of sheer wish-fulfilment, VR doesn't come much better than this. Split across three distinct chapters, Vader Immortal puts you in the boots of a smuggler captain drawn into Darth Vader's web on Mustafar, the last key he needs to find an ancient power that could grant the Sith Lord his deepest desire. With incredibly tactile ways to interact with the world, plenty of Star Wars gadgets and, importantly, lightsaber combat, it's a gripping escape adventure brought to life with breathtaking environments, stunning music, and great voice work, including Maya Rudolph as droid ally ZOE3. Best of all, each Episode features a lightsaber dojo, where you can hone your jedi skills against remotes, droids and even hapless stormtroopers.

This beat-matching rhythm action game challenges you to swipe lightsaber-style batons through red or blue blocks flying at you from an infinite void, all in time with the music. Immediately understandable – slash the blocks in the direction of the arrow on them – and with surprising physicality calling for you to dodge around or duck under oncoming walls, Beat Saber also delights with an incredible soundtrack – pirate-themed "Rum n' Bass" is an unexpected banger — and features downloadable music packs from Green Day, Linkin Park, Imagine Dragons and more. After a few songs, you'll be a saber-weilding virtuoso, desperate for one more go. Without doubt, the most addictive VR experience bar none.

The creepy, Lovecraftian puzzle boxes of the much-loved Room games make a triumphant shift to the VR space here, allowing you to interact with the series' tactile brain-teasers more directly than ever . Placing you inside the British Institute of Archaeology, the game has you peeling back the layers of puzzle after puzzle as you try to find out what happened to a missing archaeologist. Rather than a recreation of the touchscreen versions, A Dark Matter is clearly conceived entirely around VR, with devilish trials conceived to make the most of the virtual environment. Immersive, atmospheric and frequently chilling.

A first-person shooter set in a dystopian corporate-owned future, Robo Recall has you taking to the streets to single-handedly oppose an uprising of defective, human-hating robots. With almost dauntingly vertical environments rooting you in the universe, you'll not only have an array of weapons to take on the 'bots with, but also be able to tear them to pieces with your own hands, or use them as shields. A fast-paced and incredibly visceral experience, with a brilliant blend of shooting and melee action.

A beautiful fairy tale adventure with clear Studio Ghibli influences, Moss has you guiding the courageous mouse Quill, exploring lush forest worlds and mousekind's ruins in a quest to save her village – and kidnapped uncle – from the fire-breathing snake demon Sarffog. A testament of the versatility of VR, with you observing from an overhead perspective, this PlayStation VR port remains an early classic of the medium on its new home.

Superhot throws you into a minimalist all-white void, where blank-faced polygonal red enemies attack. At a glance, it seems like something out of TRON but the gameplay is pure Matrix. The killer hook though is that time only moves when you do – a mechanic that works brilliantly with Quest's cordless freedom to move around in real space. Dodging bullets in slow motion feels incredible, and the dexterity of the Touch controllers lets you punch, grab and throw static objects, and even snatch guns out of enemies' hands. Better yet, each level doubles as a sort of puzzle, challenging you to figure out the best order to take opponents out in, before they reach you. An incredible game, elevated by VR.

While you could easily write this off as a canoe simulator, Phantom is so much more than a game about impressive oarsmanship. While the one-man vessel is your soldier's main form of transportation, the game itself is a stealth/action adventure that sees you paddling behind enemy lines to infiltrate, assassinate and generally sow mayhem with pistol, sniper rifle or submachine gun. The story is over-egged aspionage bunkum but with gameplay this engaging, you'll be having far too much fun paddling your way through reams of enemies to care.

Another puzzle game but one with a mind-bending twist as you take the role of a lonely fisherman solving puzzles in your lighthouse. Except within the structure is a small model of the same lighthouse, with a miniature you alongside it. And within that lighthouse is an even smaller one. And an even smaller you. It may feel like your grasp of reality is leaking out of your ears while playing this, but A Fisherman's Tale is a charming little adventure where you enlist the help of yourself to overcome the game's various obstacles.

If Superhot is VR's answer to The Matrix then Pistol Whip is 100% John Wick. Part rhythm game, part shooter, this neon-accented experience sees you advancing on rails to the tune of thumping techno or grinding rock, all the while gunning down assailants and dodging incoming fire. It's a simple enough concept but the execution is flawless, presenting an unlikely marriage of gun-fu and dance action that's as hypnotic as it is addictive.

Less a game than an all-out war simulator, Onward is a title that PC gamers will likely be very familiar with. While it loses some of the visual gloss on the Quest, being able to lie prone, shoot from under cars and peer around corners adds and entirely new dimension to this tactical online shooter. The learning curve here can be steep but the rush the first time you take down a squad of other players by rolling a grenade through a doorway, springing from cover and gunning down the survivors is a VR experience like no other.

A whimsical puzzle adventure taking you between worlds, Coatsink Games' Shadow Point at times feels like a modern day take on point-and-click classic Myst. As Alex Burkett, you follow a mysterious journal to an isolated laboratory, where strange experiments urge you to uncover what happened to a girl missing for over a decade. Environmental puzzles playing with light, shadow, and gravity will keep you scratching your head, while the story draws you deeper into a mystery spanning realities. Oh, and it's all narrated by Patrick Stewart, too – what more could you ask for?

A masterful showcase of the Quest's spatial tracking and the accuracy of the Touch controllers, this has players gaining social cred by dancing their way through a nightclub, taking on regulars and helping stop the club's closure – a subtle dig at gentrification? – over the course of a loose story. The real action is the dancing itself though, which eases you in and slowly trains you up to bust some proper moves. The best gaming workout since Dance Dance Revolution.

Sometimes, the simplest ideas are the best. Wander is, at its core, a glorified Google Street View, using the search giant's open data to let you explore the world. However, just by being in VR and seeing locations with your own eyes – and being able to conveniently navigate with the Touch controllers, teleporting around the world as easily as walking down the street – it becomes far more immersive. Whether it's walking down your own road or standing in Icelandic glaciers, Wander brings the world to you.