The Google Cardboard is probably the most low cost yet effective way of getting into Virtual Reality. The VR may not be at par with high-end systems like the Oculus or HTC Vive but still VR nonetheless. These would be the VR Apps that can run on the current high-end smart phones and still provide an amazing environment that will immerse you in a 3D world of its own and still effectively cut you off from the real world.

In simple terms, the Google Cardboard is simply just that, a cardboard platform for enclosing and holding your smart phone up to your eyes so you can view Virtual Reality for the masses (so to speak). The wonder is despite the simplicity, the selection of VR games available for the platform is wide enough to keep a gamer going back for more.

These are the 5 most popular and free VR games available for the cardboard platform. Again, they may not be at the level of the high-end VR apps but they will surely make your day even if you hold that cardboard box in front of your eyes.

BattleZ VR

From Realiteer Corp., Battle Z is billed as the first multi player fps VR game for the cardboard where the players can team up and help each other survive a Zombie infested world. Aside from the cardboard or any other compatible mobile VR viewer, the use of a motion tracking controller would definitely enhance the enjoyment of the game.

Publisher: Realiteer Corp.
Platform: Android and IOS

A Chair In A Room

A Chair In a Room ia a puzzle solving horror game. Though not an FPS game, it possesses the kind of dark undertones seen in games like Cry of Fear and Afraid of Monsters. The game has a sort of Christmas Carol like themed storyline where the player is haunted by ghosts whose intentions are to help the main character be a better person. Note however that Chair in a Room is not really an action game but rather a story driven one that once solved, provides a great feeling of accomplishment. The games popularity has led to its re-development for the Oculus Rift.

Publisher: Wolf & Wood Interactive
Platform: Oculus, Android and IOS

InMind VR

An innovative game where the player takes the role of a human brain troubleshooter shrunk to nano-size and has to travel the synaptic neural networks of a patient in order to eliminate unwanted brain abnormalities. The game sets you in a predetermined path while you shoot those defective neurons. InMind VR is reminiscent of the movie InnerSpace which starred Dennis Quaid except that instead of the whole human body, you only have access to the brain. The game maybe great with the Oculus but awesome with smart phones as well.

Publisher: Nival VR
Platform: Oculus, Android and IOS

Voxel Fly VR

Remember those flying cars in movies like Blade Runner and the Fifth Element where instead of roads, cars travel through the air. The game places you right in the middle of that Aerospace city highway where you have to fly through and avoid getting splattered by those aeromobiles. That’s because your some kind of futuristic cyberflyer. The game is fun in an arcade way where you can have competitions with your friends to see who can get the farthest without being cybersplattered. The game has different difficulty modes, a 2D mode and the option to use game pads and various control devices. For those who love the thrill of high speed evasion games, Voxel Fly will definitely provide hours of fast paced game play. As the doc said to Marty McFly, where we’re going, there are no roads!

Publisher: Cenda Games
Platform: Android and IOS

Wrong Voyage

Back in the 90’s, when computer graphics started to drastically improve, fast action animated like platform and puzzle solving survival games where a big hit. Wrong Voyage is a game that took a right turn and brought back the old run, jump and avoid obstacle game play, but this time as a combination 3D and FPS survival game in Virtual Reality. In the game, you will have to explore an old ruin in an alien like landscape, use your gun at times to blast your way out and do your best to avoid falling objects and obstacles to avoid falling to your doom. Come to think of it, Wrong Voyage might as well be the 3D VR reincarnation of the 1991 Sci-Fi classic platformer Out of This World. Ahhh…nostalgia.

There are a lot more VR games for the cardboard and a lot more are still on the way. The games however really haven’t change that much through time, the concepts are the same, it’s just the presentation that’s different. As technology advances, so do the way we play our games. By the time we simply jack the games into our heads, the cardboard will always be remembered as the classic forerunner of what VR is going to be.