A free alpha horror shooter where you clear spider-infested houses alone or with friends, with PvP, voice chat, hidden games and secrets.
Aranea VR is a free horror shooter from AngryFrog, built around an abandoned house crawling with spiders. The developer sets the mood with the idea that some houses reveal an evil character at a single glance, and promises a story told through empty buildings and dark mine tunnels. It was first listed on SideQuest in September 2021 and is still in alpha.
How it plays
You explore the house with pistols and a flashlight, fighting spider creatures that come in respawning waves. Pistols are holstered on your arms, you reload by pulling back the slide, and many objects in the rooms can be picked up; you can even squash spiders with random items. A heads-up display sits on your left wrist.
- Wave-based spider enemies, including spiders that crawl on the walls
- A working in-game console with small games, one unlocked by finding it
- A hidden virtual VR headset that unlocks more games for your room
- Hidden rooms and Easter eggs
Multiplayer
Online play uses a lobby with server regions and optional password-protected rooms. You can team up against the spiders and see hit markers from teammates, and since alpha 77 you can also fight other players. Voice chat works by proximity (hold Y) or over a walkie-talkie radio (hold X).
How to get it and what to know
- Price: free; the developer asks for optional contributions on itch.io to keep it free for everyone.
- Installed from SideQuest; see our guide to sideloading on Meta Quest.
- Also available on itch.io, where the page is titled Abandoned.
- Supported headsets: Meta Quest headsets such as the Quest 3 and Quest 3S.
- Alpha build: the patch notes list known bugs, and the developer warns flashlights can hurt performance.
- SideQuest rates its comfort level as comfortable.
