Meta's free mixed reality showcase for Quest 3 and 3S: furry alien puffians break through the walls of your real room, and you catch them.
First Encounters is a free mixed reality game for Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S, published by Meta and built for Meta by creative studio UNIT9. It launched with the Quest 3 in October 2023, comes preinstalled on the headset, and is many owners' first look at what mixed reality can do.
How it plays
The game uses passthrough and the headset's scan of your room. Small furry alien creatures called puffians flood into your home, and holes open in your real walls to reveal an alien world outside. You use a blaster to catch the puffians before time runs out, matching colors to raise your score.
Because the walls, furniture and floor of your actual room become part of the level, each player's game looks different. It is short and arcade-like, built as a showcase rather than a long campaign.
Comfort and space
There is no artificial movement: you walk around your own room. Clear the play area first, and make sure the headset has an up-to-date room scan so the virtual walls line up with real ones. It is played with controllers.
What to know before buying
- It is free on the Meta Horizon Store and preinstalled on Quest 3.
- It needs the depth-sensing hardware of Quest 3 or Quest 3S, so it does not run on Quest 2 or Quest Pro.
- It is single-player, shows a 3+ rating on the Meta store, and supports more than 20 languages.
- The download is small, at about 600 MB.
