What you need to know
- Rec Room is a free-to-play social game that lets players hang out or play games together.
- It started out as a VR-only game but has expanded to major non-VR platforms, including Steam, iOS, and Xbox.
- Players can also create their own worlds and make real money off in-game purchases, which has created a vibrant creative community.
It's been a long time coming, but Rec Room is finally available on Android, free on the Google Play Store. While it started out and remains one of the best VR games you can play, Rec Room quickly expanded when a "pancake" version launched for systems that run on traditional flat screens. Since then, the game has absolutely exploded, boasting well over 1 million active VR gamers and many more that play the game in non-VR fashion.
At its core, Rec Room is a social hub and creator haven all in one neat little package, letting players spend their time as they see fit. You'll customize an avatar and begin in your own private room, venturing out into the lobby to join others in an online social space. At any time, you can jump into dozens of virtual sporting events, thematic story-based missions like the Castlevania-inspired Crescendo of the Blood Moon, or just sit back and watch a movie with friends. All of it is free to play at the forefront.
The Android launch is still a bit early, as it's only available to install on select devices. Initial reviews are also showing that it runs a little slow on great phones like the Galaxy S20 FE. While there's no controller support just yet, it looks like that is being worked on for a future update. So long as you're OK with some performance hiccups while the game gets optimized for mobile a bit more, Rec Room is a fantastic way to hang out with and play games with friends.
In recent years, Rec Room's creative efforts have been bolstered by the addition of a subscription model that allows creators to make actual money on their in-game creations, resulting in bigger, badder, and more complex custom games and areas than we've seen before. Rec Room's powerful in-game creative tools give just about anyone the ability to make something cool and share that with their friends.
Play with your friends (or just hang out)
Create your avatar, customize your room, play games with friends, and experience everything there is to be found in Rec Room.
