APPS ENTERTAINMENT
The best non-gaming fun on PS VR.
1 ALLUMETTE
Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Match Girl, this freebie is more than an animated short – it’s a tiny, living, breathing world. In a quaint cloud city (all handdrawn houses and sky-bridges) dinky characters babble and a heart-rending tale of sacrifice unfolds. It’s the future of storytelling, made powerfully real through the sensation of being there. We definitely didn’t tear up. *sniff*
2 INVASION!
Ever wished you could star in a Pixar movie/become a bird of prey’s lunch? Plop into the body of a fluffy white bunny and view the attempted alien abduction action (and look over your shoulder to shoot companion bunny Chloe disbelieving looks) as two goofy extra-terrestrials named Mac and Cheze try to rabbit-nap you. Short, but oh-so-sweet – and totally free.
3 DAVID ATTENBOROUGH’S FIRST LIFE VR
Floating from the Natural History Museum and onto PS VR soon is this educational experience, narrated by everybody’s fave naturalist. In case gazing at 540-million-year-old organisms bobbing in the Cambrian ocean wasn’t relaxing enough, Attenborough provides commentary on their evolution in a voice as warm as an angora-jumper-wearing kitten dipped in chocolate fondue.
4 KISMET
We see a shadow looming in your future… It’s your housemate standing over you, wondering what you’re up to in this curious fortune-telling app. In the candlelit glow of an opulent caravan, a masked mystic automaton tells your future. Once you’ve paid a fiver, astrology sessions, tarot card readings and an ancient board game named Ur keep you returning for dreamy, daily doses of divination.
5 HATSUNE MIKU: VR FUTURE LIVE
Turquoise-tressed Miku is one of the world’s most successful pop stars. She’s also not real – making her a great fit for the VR realm, natch. Buy “stages” to watch concerts (featuring outfit changes, rhythm mini-games and special guests) from various spots in the stadium and wave glowsticks, magic wands, and even leeks in the crowd.
6 ATOMIC GHOST FLEET
Explored the depths of VR Worlds’ Ocean Descent? Fancy double-dipping? Alchemy VR’s deep-sea swim sim may fulfil your adventuring needs. Set in the tropical waters near Bikini Atoll (an irradiated island, the site of US nuclear tests in the 1940s and ’50s), you peer at shipwrecks on the ocean floor – and at the exotic inhabitants. Fingers crossed for no orange, three-eyed fish.
7 HARMONIX MUSIC VR
Got cash, a USB stick of music and a hankering for trippy art therapy? This one’s for you. Interact with a beach as waveform mountains bounce! Fly through kaleidoscopic tunnels as they pulsate with percussion! Puppeteer a robo-dance party and eat Teleport Cake! Use PS Move controllers to paint beautiful swatches of colour that inexplicably come to life! (Okay, proper therapy may be required afterwards.)
8 LITTLSTAR VR
You might have tried big-screen Cinematic mode – if you haven’t, go and play Uncharted 4 on it now – but you’re missing out if you haven’t downloaded this free app. 360-degree videos offer experiences such as skydives, rollercoaster rides, comedy sketches and shootouts. It’s looking to support “choose your own adventure”-style FMV games in future. You can even create your own content, if you wish. Behave. All apped out? Looking for games? Turn to p112 for our new PS VR Hall Of Fame.