EVE: Valkyrie Windows, VR, PS4 game

As voting for VR of the Year Awards has come to a close, we’d like to take a moment to highlight what we ourselves thought were a handful of the best VR experiences of the year. These are high-octane games, playful sandboxes, and cinematic experiences that showcase what is possible on a wide variety of VR hardware. The fact that quality like this can be reached within the first year of an entirely new medium is also something to be celebrated.

So without further ado, here are the 2016 Editor’s Choice VR of the Year award winners.

Robinson: The Journey

Crytek

PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift

Robinson: The Journey will offer players an unparalleled sense of presence in a game world as they assume the role of a young boy who has crash-landed on a mysterious planet. With freedom to explore their surroundings in 360 degrees of detail, players will become pioneers by interacting with the rich ecosystem around them and unearthing incredible secrets at every turn.

Fantastic Contraption

Northway Games

HTC Vive, Oculus Rift

A surreal building game for the HTC Vive. Create life-sized contraptions as tall as you can reach, then send them whirling, flinging, and trundling off to solve puzzles on the other side of a floating island. There are no right or wrong solutions, so bring your creativity.

Raw Data

Survios

HTC Vive

Players find themselves in a close-quarters co-op battle against intelligent enemy AI as they slash, shoot, duck and dodge in an environment rich with interactive and destructible objects. At their disposal is an arsenal of evolving weapons--including a pistol, katana, compound bow, pump-action shotgun, plasma grenades and more--and combat upgrades that run the gamut from slow-mo bullettime to stealth camouflage.

EVE Valkyrie

CCP Games

Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR, HTC Vive

Experience the thrill of being an elite spaceship pilot in the sprawling sci-fi universe of EVE. Trade cannon fire for cash as you chase wealth and notoriety on the edge of space. With a wide variety of ships, customization options, weapon loadouts, and combat styles, EVE: Valkyrie gives you the ultimate freedom to fly.

Adr1ft

Three One Zero

HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR, OSVR

Floating silently amongst the wreckage of a destroyed space station with no memory and a severely damaged EVA suit slowly leaking oxygen, the only survivor struggles to determine the cause of the catastrophic event that took the lives of everyone on board. The player fights to stay alive by exploring the wreckage for precious resources, and overcomes the challenges of an unforgiving environment to repair the damaged EEV and safely return home.