Five relaxing games for PlayStation VR 2

PSVR 2 new Header

PlayStation VR 2 is here, and from Horizon Call of the Mountain to Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge, there’s a bunch of action-packed adventures to explore. But what if you want something a bit more sedate? Something that won’t get your pulse pounding too hard, or that you can use to demo your new headset to your mum?

Here’s five more relaxing games and experiences that can be found on PSVR 2, some of which now have demos available on the PlayStation Store.

Horizon Call of the Mountain – Machine Safari

Exclusively on PSVR 2

Horizon Call of the Mountain might have its fair share of intense robot battling, but it can also be a very relaxing game as well. Most of the adventure is actually made up of climbing and exploring the world, for one thing, but there’s also the Machine Safari mode.

Horizon Call of the Mountain boat ride

This takes the opening from the game and turns it into a lovely, calm, Pokémon Snap-like boat ride, where you can sit back and relax while watching machine creatures go about their lives, taking in the game’s stunning graphics and lush environments as you do so.

Kayak VR: Mirage

Available on PSVR 2 and Steam VR

From one water vessel to another, Kayak VR: Mirage sends you off to waters around the world, letting you splash around and explore to your heart’s content. There’s some more strenuous challenge if you want to paddle your way up the leaderboards of time trial races, but the real treat of Kayak VR is being able to transport yourself to different parts of the world and soak in the environments.

Kayak VR Mirage time trial race

Puzzling Places

Available on PSVR 2, PSVR, Quest 2 and Quest

Jigsaw puzzles are amongst the most popular relaxing pastimes in the real world, and Puzzling Places captures that tone in VR. Instead of having flat traditional puzzles, the game features a library of 3D buildings and environments that have been broken up into pieces that you then need to snap together to complete a scene, using a handful of photos as reference points.

Puzzling Places PSVR 2

You can choose the number of pieces you want a puzzle to feature, from 25 to 1000, and there’s tons of DLC drops that have grown the library with new puzzles that are a simple pleasure to complete.

Cities: VR

Available on PSVR 2 and Quest 2

Management sims are a popular genre of relaxing game, and Cities VR adapts the premier city building game Cities: Skylines into VR, bringing everything from the town’s humble beginnings with roads, districting and utilities, to managing police stations, expanding to neighbouring tiles, and more.

CIties VR on PSVR 2

The main difference is a slight shift in visual style, with trees going even more cartoony, but you can now get closer to your hustling, bustling city than ever before, even getting right down to ground level, if you like! If you’re one for management sims, then Cities VR is a game you could happily lose yourself in.

Tetris Effect: Connected

Available in VR on PSVR 2, PSVR, Quest 2, Quest & Steam VR

The original block-dropping puzzle game was lauded for its satisfying zen-like vibes all the way back in the late 80s, and Tetris Effect only takes that further with gorgeous background visuals and music that is tied to your actions, aiming to entice multiple senses and create synesthesia in the player.

Tetris Effect on PSVR 2

Newly upgraded for PlayStation VR 2, you’ll get the exact same experience as on previous platforms, from single player to multiplayer, but with higher resolution visuals that work better with all the small points of light, and new haptic feedback that can lightly buzz the headset. Block-dropping enthusiasts will also be pleased to hear you can just grab a DualSense and play with a D-pad.


This is just a quick sample of the experiences available on day one for PlayStation VR 2, but if you want something simplistic and fun you could also broaden your VR horizons to include games like Tentacular, What The Bat? and puzzling adventures like The Last Clockwinder. Driving can also be a relaxing experience, and Gran Turismo 7’s VR upgrade is excellent.

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