The Lab

Free VR minigames set in Aperture Science's pocket universe

Valve · Released Apr 5, 2016

Reviews: Very Positive; 95% of 6,682
Recent reviews: Very Positive; 94% of 19 in 30 days
Playing now: 27; peak 24h 33
Steam Deck: Unsupported
Last update: 5 years ago; Aug 26, 2021

What is The Lab?

The Lab is a free, single-player, first-person VR collection set in an Aperture Science pocket universe. You choose separate activities, including destroying objects with a slingshot, defending a castle with a bow, repairing a robot, and exploring models of the human body and solar system.

For you if...

+you want varied, short VR activities instead of a campaign
+you like experimenting with objects at your own pace

Not for you if...

−you want a single, continuous story campaign
−you prefer playing without a VR headset

What players say

95% of 6,682 reviews are positive · 94% of 19 in the last 30 days

Players praise the variety of activities, particularly archery, and recommend it as an introduction to VR. Recent complaints focus on crashes in Robot Repair and broken movement or physics in Secret Shop.

Screenshots and trailer

The Lab system requirements

As published by the developer.

Minimum

OS: Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10
Processor: Intel® i5-4590, AMD FX 8350 equivalent or better
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce® GTX 970, AMD Radeon™ R9 290 equivalent or better, Video Output: HDMI 1.4, DisplayPort 1.2 or newer
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Notes: 1x USB 2.0 or better port also required

PC version details

DRM, required accounts, controller support and Steam features.

DRM: None declared on Steam
Controller: Keyboard and mouse
Platforms: Windows
Steam features: Family Sharing, VR

Steam Deck: Unsupported

Steam o s does not support_ v r

Multiplayer and co-op

Single-player

Languages

Full audio: English. Text only: French, German, Czech, Finnish, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese - Portugal, Portuguese - Brazil, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Swedish, Italian, Japanese, Spanish - Spain, Danish, Korean, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Turkish.