Gorilla Tag review: VR's best free game, with lobbies that need watching

This review is an AI-written assessment. It is based on official game details and on what published reviews and reporting broadly agree on, not on hands-on play.

What it is

Gorilla Tag is a multiplayer VR game from Another Axiom in which every player is a legless gorilla. There are no thumbsticks for movement: you push off the ground and walls with your hands and swing your arms to run, jump and climb. The core mode is infection-style tag, where tagged players join the chasing side, and the game has grown around it with more maps, modes, casual lobbies and a user-generated content area that the studio calls the Virtual Stump.

It launched in early access in February 2021 and reached full release on Meta Quest in December 2022 and on Steam in January 2023, then arrived on PlayStation VR2 in November 2024. It is free on the Meta Horizon Store and the PlayStation Store. The SteamVR version is listed at $19.99, according to the ESRB. Money comes from optional cosmetics bought with Shiny Rocks, an in-game currency that players can also earn free each day. The ESRB rates it E for Everyone with Mild Fantasy Violence.

The scale is unusual for VR. In June 2024 Road to VR reported that the game had passed $100 million in revenue, with 10 million lifetime players, 3 million monthly and 1 million daily active users. Another Axiom has not published new figures since then. In July 2026 the studio announced a mobile spin-off, Gorilla Tag: Monke Mayhem, due in 2027.

Strengths

• The movement. Coverage agrees that the arm-based locomotion is what makes the game. UploadVR noted early on that it has "a high skill ceiling", and PC Gamer called the gameplay "deceptively simple". It is easy to pick up and hard to master, which keeps experienced players coming back.
• Physical play. Because you move by swinging your arms, a session is real exercise. Vice pointed this out when the game came to PS VR2.
• Price. The base game costs nothing on Quest and PS VR2, and paying only changes how your gorilla looks.
• A full lobby at any hour. With a player base this size, matchmaking is rarely a problem. Vice called it "a quintessential VR experience" and treated it as PS VR2's killer app.
• Steady updates. Maps, modes and seasonal cosmetics are added on a regular cycle, and the game has kept a large audience for over five years.

Weaknesses

• Players and voice chat. The audience skews young, and voice chat is the main way to communicate. Toxicity, including widespread racial slurs, has been the most consistent complaint. Another Axiom added AI voice moderation from GGWP in March 2025. Android Central's headline said it had "finally fixed its voice moderation problem", but busy public lobbies can still be rough.
• Age checks are imperfect. The game uses k-ID for age verification, and parents control voice chat, custom names, groups and access to user-generated content. In May 2025, 404 Media reported that children were getting past the checks with photos of public figures.
• Comfort. Fast arm-swing movement, big jumps and frequent changes of direction can cause motion sickness, and PC Gamer flagged the movement as potentially nauseating. Players also need a clear space, since flailing arms can hit walls and furniture.
• Basic visuals. UploadVR described the low-poly look as "a bit garish and polygonal". The PS VR2 version does not use the headset's eye tracking or adaptive triggers.
• Nothing for solo players. There is no campaign. The game only works with other people, so players who prefer single-player VR will find little here.

Who it suits

Gorilla Tag suits anyone who wants a free, physical multiplayer game and does not mind chaotic public lobbies. It is a good fit for Meta Quest 3S and Meta Quest 3 owners, and Meta has sold the Quest 3S in a Gorilla Tag bundle. For children, the ESRB's parent guide points to Meta Quest and PlayStation parental controls, which can restrict voice chat, social features and spending, alongside the game's own k-ID settings. Players who get motion sick easily should start with short sessions.

How it compares

POPULATION: ONE also offers climbing-based movement, but as a free-to-play battle royale with guns, structured matches and a more competitive feel. Gorilla Tag is simpler, needs no aiming and is easier to drop into for a few minutes. VRChat is the bigger social sandbox, with a huge range of user-made worlds and avatars, but it has no built-in game loop to match Gorilla Tag's chase. Gorilla Tag's popularity has also produced a flood of copies: in October 2025, UploadVR reported that Meta had delisted more than 100 clones from its store.

Sources

• Road to VR: 'Gorilla Tag' Has Topped $100M in Revenue, Making it One of VR's Most Successful Games
• Road to VR: Quest's Most Popular Game 'Gorilla Tag' is Going Mobile in 'Monke Mayhem' Next Year
• UploadVR: Everyone Loves Gorilla Tag And It's Clear To See Why
• UploadVR: Gorilla Tag Swings Onto PlayStation VR2 Next Week
• UploadVR: Meta Is Delisting Gorilla Tag Clones From Quest's Horizon Store
• PC Gamer: Tag has inexplicably become this year's hottest VR game
• Vice: PSVR 2 Finally Has Its Killer App, Now That 'Gorilla Tag' Is Available to Download
• Android Central: Gorilla Tag finally fixed its voice moderation problem
• 404 Media: Kids Say They're Using Photos of Trump and Markiplier to Bypass 'Gorilla Tag' Age Verification
• ESRB: A Parent's Guide to Gorilla Tag
• Another Axiom: Gorilla Tag k-ID FAQ