Virtual reality golf and 4 other video games to ease stress, improve your quality of life – and have fun
- Test studies suggest imagery and level of immersion of VR games can enhance players’ well-being
- Holiday simulator with bots as your hosts and rhythm-based electronic DJing with laser guns among new game offerings
Building on the school of thought that films and imagery can improve the quality of life, recent test studies have shown that playing virtual reality (VR) games can help with relaxation, too. It all depends on the type of game you’re playing, and perhaps, how you play it.
In terms of the technology’s relaxation capabilities, academic interest in this field is currently running high.
Already, in 2019, a search on Google Scholar – the web search engine that indexes the full text of scholarly literature across publishing formats and disciplines – for the terms “VR” and “relaxation” returns over 4,000 results.
Virtual environments modelled on nature are generally championed in such studies, but there’s also significant exploration in the use of imagery and level of immersion for creating a better sense of well-being.
We look at five new games for VR headsets including the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Windows Mixed Reality and Playstation VR (PSVR) that should help you to relax.
From taking a virtual holiday to hitting a few rounds at your own private golf course, the games combine popular pastimes with the power of VR to help you unwind.
1. Vacation Simulator
A new, quirky game from popular developer Owlchemy Labs, Vacation Simulator is not what you might expect from a game with this title.
On Vacation Island, robots are your hosts, and they have “researched” everything humans like to do on holiday. The result, of course, is not entirely a dream holiday, but it does make for a witty and wholly entertaining game.
Gameplay in Vacation Simulator takes the form of addictive mini-games across beach, forest and mountain destinations. Really interactive from the word go, the game allows you to pick up and play with almost anything in sight.
Each bot guiding you through your holiday has its own personality, leading to endless tech-humour quips – “Let’s optimise our vacation to maximum efficiency!”
While it is no replacement for a real beach, Vacation Simulator is the kind of game that works well for those all important breaks between tasks. The game’s makers claim it is "free of motion sickness and seasickness!" too, and comfortable to play, with optional standing or sitting controls.
Vacation Simulator is available on HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality.
2. ZED
If strategic puzzles are more your thing, the immersive – if a little eerie – world of ZED could be the perfect stress-relieving tonic.
A dreamlike setting of shrunken planets, forests and abandoned cityscapes are open for you to explore freely as you try to help your protagonist piece together his memories.
The game is made by the team behind the1993 point-and-click adventure game, Myst. Released for early PC and Macintosh computers, Myst became a cult classic because of its immersive qualities that kept players invested in the mysterious narrative.
ZED, in which curiosity and logic are rewarded during gameplay, promises to be as moving as it is rewarding to play. According to the trailers, the game seems to favour more relaxed play, encouraging players to enjoy the mechanics and scenery over time rather than in a short burst. It also supports both seated and standing controls.
Tipped for release this spring, it will be available through Steam, on both HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
3. Everybody's Golf VR
Anyone for a round of golf? Everybody's Golf VR is one of those offerings that VR gaming was seemingly built for.
Come rain or shine, you can be perfecting your swing from the comfort of your own home – just be careful not to play too close to any household heirlooms.
The courses in this game are beautifully rendered to give the natural appearance of a virtual outdoors, complete with the ambient sound of gentle breezes.
Pre-release demonstrations of the game at various exhibition have been resoundingly positive.
As long as the satisfying swing animations are maintained in the finished product, this game is certain to create a great stress-busting environment. Another plus: the “Everybody” element also rids Everybody's Golf VR of some of the competitive pressure linked to scoring a bogey.
Everybody's Golf VR is exclusive to PSVR and supports both PlayStationMove motion controller and DUALSHOCK4 wireless controls.
4. Audica
Like Everybody's Golf VR, Audica combines two relaxing pastimes in one virtually immersive game.
Built for electronic music lovers, it allows you to be the DJ of your dreams as a “rhythm shooter”.
Audica is developed and published by Harmonix Music Systems, the maker of popular rhythm-based video games Rock Band and Dance Central.
However, in place of traditional instruments, or your own dance moves, players control the music in Audica using two laser guns, which are linked to the tracked motion controllers.
The game is set on an interstellar platform with a minimal colour scheme reminiscent of the 1982 science-fiction adventure film, Tron.
Staring out into space, players are tasked with shooting incoming music markers in time to the beat. As with all rhythm games, the result of hitting these notes is immediately gratifying – even more so when a complex string of notes is played by well-timed shots.
Recently, the game was updated to include several new playable tracks.
The Audica track list currently has at least 15 songs on it, but the number is growing. HR 8938 Cephei by deadmau5 and Overtime by KNOWER are the most recent tracks to be added. In addition to the play-along mode, Audica has a platform for composing your own tracks, too.
Home-made tracks are shared online by gamers through a dedicated Discord channel.
An early access version of this game is available to HTC Vive and Oculus Rift users.
Any feedback collected will help improve the game’s development before it becomes a final polished piece (including any tracks you might want to see added.)
5. Mind Labyrinth VR Dreams
The least “game-like” of the five selected VR games, Mind Labyrinth VR Dreams has the most potential to make you feel relaxed.
A type of guided meditation app, the game’s room-scale environment rolls through magical forests and fantasy worlds.
It gives players a number of different “moods” to explore, through different refuges and mantras.
In the latest update to this title, the developers have included meditation breathing exercises for the locations throughout the game.
New Harmonic Brainwave music tracks, designed to stimulate dreamlike brain frequencies that occur during sleep, have also been added to enable deeper relaxation.
Mind Labyrinth VR Dreams is available on HTC Vive and Oculus Rift headsets.
Is it time to play VR games?
If you’re completely new to VR, now is a good time to give the technology a try.
The studios behind leading VR headsets are continually working to develop new, more intuitive devices.
VR game developers are seeking ways to create the smoothest, most immersive experiences possible. And, as the market becomes increasingly competitive, with many well-established IT companies coming on board, VR is also becoming more affordable to the average consumer.
