5 free games to try when you get your Oculus Rift

Today, Oculus VR cofounder and chief executive Palmer Luckey made the first delivery of the consumer version of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. Many more will be shipping soon.

For the past few months, I’ve been using an Oculus DK2, a version of the headset intended for developers, while I wait for my CV1 and the launch titles to arrive. I’ve tried out many apps and games. Some are more comfortable than others and seem to be more accommodating to people who have less VR experience.

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Here are five free games that I think many people will enjoy.

Windlands

An indie game that got its start in an Indiegogo campaign, Psytec Games’ Windlands lets you jump up and climb on top of trees and ledges using grappling hooks. It’s fun and relaxing and a time suck in the best sense of the term.

Stacks

Stacks, from the team behind BigScreen, lets you make an interactive work of art. By that I mean you can stack up different colored blocks on a small platform in front of you and then see giant versions of the blocks popping up all around you. Then, once your arrangement gets to a certain size, hit the red button.

I Expect You to Die

Schell Games’ I Expect You to Die is already something of a classic, having racked up several awards. The first level is a challenge that places you in a car inside of a plane, and the idea is to get the car out safely.

Minformer

A product of indie developers Daniel Fuller and Mary Grimes, Minformer is a Minecraft-inspired platformer where you’re trying to jump from block to block and not fall off into the sky. It can be difficult, but it’s satisfying to get from one checkpoint to another.

Back to Dinosaur Island 2

Back to Dinosaur Island 2 from Crytek (which did a licensing deal with Amazon to deliver the Lumberyard game engine based partly on CryEngine) is stunning. You slowly move up the side of a steep cliff on ziplines as dinosaurs pop up around you.

Have fun!