As 2025 draws to a close, it’s been a year of exploring many new places through VR and mixed reality. Today I’d like to share with you some of my favorites.
Just like last year, we’ll be publishing the best titles of 2025 as chosen by the UploadVR editorial team, divided into three articles. For our first edition, we’ll be highlighting the best games across four platforms: Apple Vision Pro, PC VR, PlayStation VR2, and Meta Quest. We also discuss the best immersive entertainment experiences beyond gaming.
In the next article, we’ll focus on mixed reality apps and games, highlighting this year’s best uses for hand tracking. Normally only fully released games are counted, so tomorrow we’ll also include the Early Access category.
Finally, in our last article, we will introduce you to the biggest awards of 2025. Like last year, this includes Best VR Game of the Year across all platforms, Best VR Hardware, Best Developer, Best Multiplayer, Best Virtual Place, and Most Anticipated VR Game of 2026.
So let’s start with the first round of the Best of 2025 awards.
The best exploration experience
2025 has been another eye-opener in terms of how filmmakers are leveraging immersive technology to deliver compelling stories. Specifically, Apple Vision Pro has seen projects such as the Metallica concert experience, Bono: Stories of Surrender, MotoGP Tour de Force, and D-Day: The Camera Soldier in Apple Immersive Video.
Some experiences touch on heavier themes. Reality of Hope features life-saving friendships using VRChat, Reflections of Little Red Dot examines Singapore’s history, and Soul Paint encourages introspection. Other notable projects include Touching The Sky, Alien Perspective, and Black Cats & Checkered Flags.
This year’s award goes to “The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up,” a free-roaming VR experience based on a Taiwanese short story. Although you can’t influence what happens, most scenes are fully explorable as you witness the story unfold. It’s like stepping into a movie and being further immersed with a compelling story.
The clouds are 2,000 meters up in the sky, making you feel like you’re in the middle of a movie
The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up is an adaptation of a Taiwanese short story into a free-roaming VR experience.
Your favorite new Apple Vision Pro games
Apple developers didn’t start supporting track controllers until near the end of 2025, when games like Pickle Pro started supporting the input method. The well-known title Glassbreakers is coming to Apple Vision Pro in 2025, alongside puzzle game Porta Nubi, winner of Apple’s exclusive Best of the Year award.
Gears & Goo by Resolution Games is the winner of Best New Apple Vision Pro Game. The developers of Resolution adapted tower defense to Apple’s line of sight and pinch interface, delivering a challenging multi-hour campaign. We look forward to seeing more Gears & Goo in the future.
Gears & Goo reimagines tower defense for hand-eye tracking with Apple Vision Pro
Gears & Goo is now available for Vision Pro on Apple Arcade and is a must-play for subscribers and strategy fans.
Favorite new quest game
Even without the launch of the new Quest headset, there was certainly no shortage of games across Meta’s standalone ecosystem this year.
Many of the best Quest games of 2025 have been delayed. In addition to big names like Marvel’s Deadpool VR and Thief VR, recent months have also seen the arrival of Glassbreakers, Arken Age, Hotel Infinity, Reach, Of Lies and Rain, Demeo x D&D, Titan Isles, and Memoreum. Still, Alien: Rogue Incursion, Pixel Dungeon, and GORN 2 made the rest of the year a great one.
There can only be one winner, and Ghost Town is the 2025 Quest Game of the Year. Fireproof Games delivered what we thought was a “fully immersive supernatural VR adventure” with strong gameplay design and some of the best visuals we’ve ever seen in Quest 3.
It’s a very worthy follow-up to Fireproof’s previous hit, The Room VR: A Dark Matter, and I’m really looking forward to seeing more of this world in the future.
Ghost Town review: A completely immersive supernatural VR adventure
Ghost Town is an amazing supernatural puzzle adventure created by The Room VR studio that you don’t want to miss.
Favorite new PC VR games
All eyes may be on Valve with the launch of Steam Frame next year, but 2025 still has some great PC VR releases. Leading the way with a handful of exclusive titles were Vertigo 2: Into The Aether, BattleGroupVR2, and Lushfoil Photography Sim.
These are joined by multi-platform hits such as Of Lies and Rain, Lumines Arise, Demeo x D&D, Arken Age, Reach, Thief VR, Ghost Town and The Midnight Walk. And that’s before we even mention that slightly older games like Vendetta Forever, Zero Caliber 2, and Dungeons of Eternity are coming to PC VR.
Roboquest VR will be named PC VR Game of the Year in 2025. Flat2VR Studios’ exhilarating transformation of RyseUp Studios’ 2023 FPS roguelite feels like it was designed natively for the platform, and our review called it an “instant classic.”
Roboquest VR Review: An Instant Classic
Roboquest VR takes the already exhilarating FPS roguelite and provides a near-perfect VR adaptation.
Favorite new PlayStation VR2 games
This year was another year where PlayStation VR2 – aside from Climate Station – relied on third-party publishers and had a string of hits. 2025 delivered powerful libraries such as Hitman, Maestro, Of Lies and Rain, Demeo x D&D, Reach, Lumines Arise, UNDERDOGS, Roboquest VR, and more. We also haven’t forgotten about Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate, which has been gradually improving with updates.
In 2025, Arken Age will be named PlayStation VR2 Game of the Year. VitruviusVR delivered a powerful sci-fi action adventure with a tactile, VR-first gameplay design. Arken Age is also a solid PC VR and Quest 3 game, but it benefits from Sony’s headset with strong haptic feedback and PS5 Pro enhancements. Our reviews have grown since its release, and if you like action titles, this is a must-buy.
Arken Age review: Satisfying sci-fi adventure with great VR design
Arken Age offers a satisfying sci-fi adventure with a clever VR-oriented design, and is currently available on PlayStation VR2 and Steam.
