Early 2021 Meta launched App Lab, this is an alternative platform to the official Quest store that has less strict publishing standards. App Lab enables developers to share games and experiences with Quest users that, for one reason or another, might not be eligible for the official store.
There are both free and paid experiences that can be downloaded from App Lab (find out how to download App Lab games here), and in this list, we will be taking a look at ten of our favourite paid App Lab games. Also make sure to check out our top ten free App Lab games list here.
Ancient Dungeon
Genre: Rogue-lite dungeon crawler
Battle your way through procedurally generated dungeons that challenge you with a new layout every time you play. Each dungeon has a theme, such as vegetation or fire, and is filled to the brim with monsters, traps, secrets, loot and mini-bosses. Use your sword and throwing knife to cut through vegetation, smash through walls and cut down enemies who react and stagger with each blow. The random generation and variety of content makes each gameplay session a fresh and engaging experience.
Dead Second
Genre: Arcade shooter
Dead Second is a simple but addictively fun shooter. Teleport to a location, take cover and clear an area of enemies until you reach your goal. Shoot your way through eight stages to unlock a variety of guns, skins, achievements, and get your name on the leaderboard. Guns are a pleasure to handle and pack a nice punch, whilst getting headshots or multi-kills rewards you with a flashy graphic on-screen and higher point scores.
There’s also a pleasing bullet-time slow-down effect every time you defeat an enemy, allowing you to dodge incoming fire matrix-style. A VR pistol grip or gun stock is a Quest controller accessory that will help to enhance your experience with shooters like Dead Second.
Swordsman VR
Genre: Melee fighting
Swordsman VR is a realistic sword-fighting sim featuring over 40 stages, each with their own theme and enemy types. There’s plenty of unlockable weapons, armour, skills, modifiers and an arena mode too. Combat is realistic, weapons feel weighty and they bounce off enemy armour as you would expect.
Enemies have plenty of animations and move/strike/defend naturally, tending not to rush you but instead, come at you from different angles with a variety of strikes. Sometimes the AI does stupid things or the physics don’t work as you would expect, but it’s a quality experience overall.
Cave Digger 2
Genre: Action adventure
Currently in early access, Cave Digger 2 has a few bugs that are actively being ironed out by the developers but don’t let that put you off. This 1-4 player romp has you digging through procedurally generated caves, mines and ruins to gather loot. However, you’ll want to keep your trusty six-shooter closeby to ward off the dangerous creatures lurking below. There’s plenty of quests to complete, places to explore, and secret areas to uncover that make Cave Digger 2 an exciting and epic adventure.
PowerBeats VR
Genre: Fitness
Punch, squat, and dodge the incoming obstacles to the rhythm of the music, with four unique environments and around 24 songs to work out to. PowerBeats includes three difficulty levels and an endless mode that will challenge even the fittest players. However, one of the best features is the ability to add your own custom songs which gives you an inexhaustible supply of new beats.
Because this game will have you breaking a sweat, upgrading the facial interface (the cushiony pad between your face and the headset) to one made from a material that’s easier to wipe down (e.g. PU leather) is recommended.
Shuttle Maze
Genre: Action/Puzzle
Navigate a ship through a shuttle maze in third-person using your motion controller, similar to how you might move a toy in your hand. Completing the objectives relies on good timing and precision to get past the many obstacles in your way. The neon visuals and 80s synth style soundtrack gives a great retro feel to this game for those who enjoy a bit of nostalgia. It’s also a very polished experience, from the graphics and gameplay, to the music, sound effects and quality voice acting that accompanies the story.
Drums Rock
Genre: Music/Arcade
Play the drums in order to survive the hordes of demons coming after you as you rock out in hell. Every demon has a colour that corresponds to a particular drum or snare, players need to hit the correct coloured drum at the right time to destroy the demons. Drums Rock is an addictive and entertaining rhythm game with a great tracklist that makes up a campaign that will take you over 4 hours to get through.
There’s also four different difficulty settings, online leaderboards, and dozens of drums, drumsticks and songs to unlock to keep you rocking on.
Guardians
Genre: Online shooter
Guardians combines a First Person Shooter (FPS) with Real Time Strategy (RTS) to create a uniquely satisfying experience. Players get to take on hordes of bug-like aliens using a range of high-tech weaponry whilst simultaneously harvesting the planet of its minerals. The currency earned through mining is then used to purchase defensive structures and allied units.
These structures and units can also be given commands to attack, defend, patrol etc., similar to classic RTS games like Command & Conquer. There’s a campaign that can be played single player or co-op with up to four players, as well as an eight player PvP mode and map editor.
BattleGroupVR
Genre: Strategy
Engage in epic space battles where you get to switch between commanding an entire fleet via a holomap, to taking control of a single vessel as the captain. There’s plenty to be had here for the strategically minded. For example, success in the battlefield will often depend on the ships you purchase, the abilities of the captains you select, and what ship you pair them with. BattleGroupVR features single player, co-op and online PvP game modes.
Warplanes: Battles over Pacific
Genre: Combat flight sim
Jump into the shoes of a WW2 fighter pilot and lead the US to victory over Japan in a single player campaign. Warplanes offers realistic, fast-paced action and impressive visuals that make for an adrenaline fueled flying experience. There are twelve planes to purchase, customise and fly, in addition to PvP and co-op multiplayer modes. Just be aware that this game can get intense and trigger VR sickness. A flight stick adaptor for your Quest controller is the perfect accessory to increase immersion in a flying sim like this one.
What do you think of our top ten list of paid App Lab games? Are there any you would add? Let us know in the comment section below, and if you want more, you can also check out my playlist here featuring over 100 of the best App Lab games and our other article listing the top ten free App Lab games here.
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