While the high-level sales pitch for virtual reality often involves transporting players to another world, I’ve never found those to be the best VR games. In my experience, my favorite experiences are very esoteric, colorful, and weird. They’re more like hallucinatory episodes rather than gateways to another world. That’s why Beat Saber still stands as one of the most popular VR games and why one of my favorite VR games is Rez Infinite.
Thrasher, the newest game from Thumper composer and artist Brian Gibson, is the latest VR game of that ilk. It’s also one of my favorite games I’ve played in VR to date thanks to its simple but mesmerizing gameplay. Thrasher is flying a bit under the radar ahead of release, but anyone with a Meta Quest headset should pick this game up now that it’s available.
In Thrasher, players guide a space eel around cosmic, abstract environments. There’s not much to worry about in the way of a narrative, just trippy visuals to take in as players make their way through each level and face off against cosmic beings. Gibson’s soundtrack is excellent and sounds just as ethereal as Thrasher’s levels look. This isn’t a rhythm game outright, but the sounds and sights of each stage are what make the experience feel whole.
Playing Thrasher is a very straightforward experience, which could actually make it a good first VR game for those new to the tech. With their hand or a Meta Quest controller, players just have to guide the eel through white shapes moving around the screen. These come in waves, and however much time players have left at the end of a level serves as their final score that’s placed on a leaderboard.
The simplicity of the controls makes it easy to enter a flow state while playing Thrasher. The eel moves like a ribbon on a dance streamer. It’s mesmerizing to just move it around the screen while not much is going on. When shapes appeared around me, I got the same rush as a game like Fruit Ninja as I quickly tried to slash through them as fast as I could. My senses were locked into that action thanks to the nature of VR, further immersing me in an surreal experience.
As Thrasher progresses, more obstacles are introduced. While the goal is to move the eel through all the white lines on the screen as quickly as possible, red lines that interrupt the flow and deduct time when hit start showing up in movement patterns. Boss fights cap off the end of each level, presenting the hardest patterns to move through without hitting a red line.
Thrasher introduces other gameplay twists over time, like groups of smaller lines that players need to move through in quick succession. With each new level, I was eager to see what kind of patterns, shapes, or mechanics Thrasher would throw at me next. It’s much more laid back than Thumper, but it can still be exhilarating as you narrowly avoid red lines or just move the eel through the last one with seconds left on the clock.
I find many VR games cumbersome to control, but Thrasher’s control scheme feels like it could’ve worked on the Nintendo Wii. That gives it a pick-up-and-play quality, as I’m eager to jump back in and refine my times on each level while also getting the dopamine hit that comes each time I clear a wave. Thrasher quickly cemented itself as one of the best VR games I’ve ever played and reminded me of just how much potential there still is in the tech. I yearn to see more games that are less concerned about creating virtual worlds and more focused on crafting audiovisual experiences I’ll never forget.
Thrasher is available now for Meta Quest 2, 3, and Pro, as well as the Apple Vision Pro. A PC VR version will be released this December, while a version of the game that does not use VR is also in the works.
