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Oculus Rift is slowly expanding around the globe, four years after it appeared on Kickstarter for the first time.

The Rift has traded heavily on its applications for gaming. With its slow global rollout, the number of games available for the virtual reality wearable is inevitably increasing.


Some of the first titles for Palmer Luckey's wearable were released at the Oculus Connect 2 gathering in October 2015, since then a lot more have been unveiled. Here is WIRED's pick of the best:

Windlands

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Windlands lets you soar through the ruins of a fallen civilisation and discover the "secrets of the ancient world". Developed by Psytec Games, and released in March 2016, the game was designed primarily for virtual reality.

While not completely dissimilar to Minecraft in its aesthetics, the single-player game allows those in the worlds to soar through skies and use a grappling hook to propel to the next location. Speed runs and time trials test a player's skill.


Adrift

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Let's face it, the vast majority of people alive today probably aren't ever going to walk in space. Adrift, from 505 Games and threeonezero, changes this. "Adrift is an immersive First Person Experience (FPX) that tells the story of an astronaut in peril," the developers say.

The game was launched in March, at the same time as the Oculus VR US launch, and sees the player take control of an astronaut floating around a destroyed space station, with a damaged spacesuit leaking oxygen.

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EVE: Valkyrie VR

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"In EVE: Valkyrie, you are in command of a heavily armed fighter in the most realistic dogfighting game available on any platform," Oculus says about the game. Released at the same time as the headset, the VR version builds on the game's loyal following.

The game features single player point-of-view modes, skill-based character progressions and ship upgrades – all within the EVE universe.

The Climb

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Developed by Crytek, the game forces you to dangle from the edge of a cliff face and work your way to safety in an environment that even if things do go wrong, there's little chance of death.

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The game was exclusively developed for VR and released in April. "The Climb brings alive the excitement and thrill of rock climbing in incredible virtual reality," Crytek says about the game.

Battlezone

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British developer Rebellion recently revealed its reboot of classic Battlezone is coming to Oculus. The version trundles along a decidedly TRON-inspired path, with light-tank styled vehicles liberally applying cannon fire to a futuristic world.

WIRED played it at 2015's E3 and found it one of the most entertaining games at the entire conference. The game hasn't yet been released – it is due for download on October 13 – but can be pre-ordered from the developers.

Minecraft

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Perhaps the biggest game of all though is the unstoppable Minecraft. The now classic title has made the transition to Oculus. Already the focus of Microsoft's reveal for its HoloLens headset, Mojang's infinitely malleable world is playable in virtual reality as well as its planned application for augmented reality. Players can look forward to playing in creator or survival mode, but in full immersive 3D VR.

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Microsoft launched the game in August and has let players explore the blocky worlds in VR.


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When announced, not all of Oculus' new games were new. Perhaps the biggest surprise coming out of Oculus Connect in 2015 – aside from Netflix's VR living room – was the Oculus Arcade. Designed for Samsung's Gear VR headset, it repackages classic games, such as Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog and Bandai Namco's Pac-Man, into the futuristic format. Titles from Midway and Warner Bros. will also be included.

The games themselves won't be upgraded to virtual reality – so no running around a maze gobbling power-pellets first person, amazing though that would be. Rather, you'll play recreations of the arcade cabinets in the digital world. The Oculus Arcade launched in November 2015.