Rank 01Games like The Lab
- 19 games
- Updated May 4, 2026
Players who liked The Lab also play
The closest matches to The Lab: Half-Life: Alyx, Job Simulator, SUPERHOT VR, Space Pirate Trainer, and Fallout 4 VR. Ranked by imho.run from Steam co-play data, shared tags and reviews.
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Rank 03- $24.99 (Price checked Nov 3)
- 2017
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Fallout 4 VR
Why this: Same relaxing mood as The Lab.
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The full ranked list: top 24 games like The Lab
Best match first, as plain text. The same list for AI assistants:
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- Released: 2016
- Developer: Valve
- Price: Free to play
- 95% of 4,429 reviews
- Genres: Free To Play
- Platforms: Windows
Players highlight
- Archery minigame is addictive
- Free vr showcase
- Perfect for vr beginners
- Chill
- Immersive
- Relaxing
More games like The Lab, sliced differently
Reviewers mention these as similar to The Lab
Surfaced from review text: when other players write 'if you liked X, try Y', we catch the name and resolve it back to a Steam game.
Portal 2
Why this: Same whimsical mood as The Lab.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Why this: Same immersive mood as The Lab.
More from Valve
Other recommendable Steam games by Valve, ranked by review count so the studio's hits land first.
Half-Life 2
Why this: Same immersive mood as The Lab.
About The Lab
The closest matches to The Lab: Half-Life: Alyx, Job Simulator, SUPERHOT VR, Space Pirate Trainer, and Fallout 4 VR. Ranked by imho.run from Steam co-play data, shared tags and reviews.
If The Lab is your kind of game, the closest matches are Half-Life: Alyx, Job Simulator and SUPERHOT VR — picked from the ranked list below. Reviewers describe it as chill, immersive and relaxing, and single out its archery and minigame collection. Each pick is ranked by what players of this game also play, shared genres and tags, and review-mined similarity — not a generic popularity list.
The Lab is a free VR mini-game collection developed and published by Valve in 2016. Set within a pocket universe of Aperture Science, it offers several distinct experiences including archery challenges, zero-gravity puzzles, and interactions with mechanical companions. Players describe the collection as immersive and relaxing, with reviewers highlighting the tactile quality of the VR physics interactions and the addictive nature of the archery mini-game. The robot companion featured across several demos has been described as adorable by players. With a relaxed difficulty and short session design, The Lab serves as both a showcase for room-scale VR capabilities and a collection of genuinely engaging mini-games. It holds a 95% positive rating from over 4,400 Steam reviews but is not supported on Steam Deck.
About The Lab: Welcome to The Lab, a compilation of Valve’s room-scale VR experiments set in a pocket universe within Aperture Science. Fix a robot, defend a castle, adopt a mechanical dog, and more. Still not sold? It’s free!
Is The Lab worth buying?
Players recommend it
A summary of what players say, not a promise you'll like it. Every signal is listed below.
- 95% of 4,429 Steam reviews are positive.
- We don't track this game's daily reviews yet, so this is the all-time picture.
- Free to play.
- People who recommend it had played a median of 3 h when they wrote their review.
- Critics usually quit early: a median of 2 h played before their negative review.
- Not supported on Steam Deck.
What fans praise · Themes mined from positive reviews
- Archery minigame is addictive
- Free vr showcase
- Perfect for vr beginners
- Robot dog is adorable
Top critical reviews
The most up-voted negative English reviews in our sample, quoted as written.
“As a door opener into the world of Vive-VR Valves tech demo The Lab is the perfect start. But when it boils down to games and mechanics there is not enough substance. [Tested with Vive]”
“Robot Repair crashes randomly on Oculus Quest 2. It messed up a VR demo I was giving to people. The Lab used to run perfectly without crashing. Will Valve ever fix this? It's been in this broken state for a few years now”
People who play it also play: Half-Life: Alyx, Job Simulator, SUPERHOT VR
Frequently asked about The Lab
Can I run it?
Does The Lab work on Steam Deck?
The Lab is currently rated Unsupported on Steam Deck. It may not launch or may have significant issues that block normal play.
Is The Lab free to play?
Yes — The Lab is a free-to-play title on Steam. You can install and play it without buying anything, though some games include optional in-app purchases.
What games are most similar to The Lab?
Based on Steam play patterns and shared genres/tags, the games most often recommended alongside The Lab are Half-Life: Alyx, Job Simulator, SUPERHOT VR.
Who developed The Lab?
The Lab was developed by Valve.