As you’ve probably gathered by now I spent a year reviewing VR games.

I’ve started putting together Top 10 puzzle games, Top 10 flying games, Top 10 immersive storytelling etc etc but for the time being I thought I’d just share with you my Top 50.

The scoring system takes into account 8 factors that I believe are vital to consider when evaluating a virtual reality experience. These are:

• Awe (Score out of 7) “That was magical”
• Comfort (Score out of -7) “I was perfectly comfortable throughout”
• Agility (Score out of 7) “The game made me move my whole body”
• Purpose (Score out of 7) “The experience felt meaningful throughout”
• Elation (5 points, all or nothing) “At times I felt genuinely elated”
• Love (5 points, all or nothing) “I just love that game, soft spot for it”
• Aggravation (Score of -5) “Something really annoyed me…”
• Sensory Experience (3+3+3, V+A+H) “It was aesthetically beautiful”

Most of the above factors are perfectly self-explanatory but the “Sensory Experience” category might require a bit of unpacking. V stands for “visual”. A stands for “auditory”. H stands for “haptics”. In virtual reality experiences the overall aesthetic is predominantly influenced by these three sensory systems and so the look, sound and feel each get up to three points, totting up to an overall aesthetic rating of 9. So the max score overall, across all rating factors is 40.

I’m not publishing the scores just yet, for the time being I’m just going to share the ranking. I’d really like to hear your opinions, but please don’t leave a comment here. If you strongly agree or disagree with the ranking of any of these games please search for them on YouTube “Brain Man VR NAME OF GAME” and leave your comments there. That will really help me to keep track of your feedback. Below the Top 50 list is some footage of the reviews of a handful of games that made it to the Top 10.

Rank 1: Nobody quite does time like SUPERHOT – so they take first place because, quite frankly, who doesn’t want to feel like Neo from The Matrix?!

Rank 2: A FISHERMAN’s TALE is an aesthetic tour de force, convincing story line, wonderful voice acting, ingenious scale play, genuinely taxing to solve.

Rank 4: Beat Sabre is an oldie but a goodie. Nothing quite like it for casting off stress, getting your adrenaline going and moving your body to the beats.

Rank 6: Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets. Another game that might raise eyebrows for inclusion in a top 10. For one thing it seems like a kid’s game. But don’t be deceived by its outward appearances. It’s devilishly tricky to complete, yet the exquisite aesthetics exude an aura of calm and delight.

Rank 9: Angry Birds might seem like yet another odd choice for the Top 10, but there’s no more reliable game to delight guests – both young and old – who’ve little experience of Virtual Reality. It requires very little explanation. When people find a catapult in one hand and a projectile (a cute but angry little bird) in the other, they instinctively know what to do, whether 7 or 70. And no stone has been left unturned in ensuring it looks and sounds great.

In addition to these monthly blogs, I also regularly tweet about the latest neuroscience research (@drjacklewis) and build Virtual Reality worlds that improve cognitive abilities.