Kayak VR: Mirage

Kayak VR: Mirage
Information
VR/AR	Virtual Reality
Developer	Better Than Life
Publisher	Better Than Life
Platform	SteamVR, Viveport, PlayStation VR2
Device	Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality, PlayStation VR2
Operating System	Windows, PlayStation 5
Type	Game
Genre	Simulation, Sports, Racing, Casual
Input Device	Tracked motion controllers (optional paddle mount), PlayStation VR2 Sense Controllers
Play Area	Standing, seated
Game Mode	Single-player, asynchronous leaderboards, realtime two-player multiplayer
Release Date	PC VR (Steam) - July 12, 2022; PlayStation VR2 - February 22, 2023
Price	US $22.99
App Store	Steam, Viveport, PlayStation Store
Website	https://betterthanlife.io/projects/kayak_vr_mirage/

See also: VR Apps and VR Games

Kayak VR: Mirage is a virtual reality kayaking simulator developed and published by the Dutch independent studio Better Than Life. It released for PC VR through Steam and Viveport on July 12, 2022, and for PlayStation VR2 on February 22, 2023.

The game places the player in a physically simulated kayak and lets them paddle through a set of scenic environments, either racing against checkpoints and leaderboard times or exploring at a relaxed pace. It was built in Unreal Engine with an emphasis on photorealistic water and lighting, and reviewers repeatedly described its visuals, particularly the water rendering, as among the strongest in VR. At the launch of the PlayStation VR2 headset in February 2023, it was the best-selling launch title on the PlayStation Store in both North America and Europe.

Gameplay

Kayak VR: Mirage is a VR-only experience in which the player sits or stands in place and mimics the motion of paddling a kayak. Each tracked controller represents one end of a double-bladed paddle, and the game models the kayak with full physics, so the speed and direction of the boat depend on how the player digs each blade into the water. Players can optionally attach both controllers to a physical stick or mount to form a single paddle prop, which the developer describes as a way to increase immersion.

The game offers several modes. A time attack mode sends the player through a checkpoint course on each location to set a fastest time, while a free roam mode removes the timer for unhurried exploration of the same environments. A controller-free tour mode steers the kayak automatically so the player can simply look around, an option reviewers noted suits players who want a passive sightseeing experience. At launch, competition was asynchronous: players raced against ghost data and global or friends leaderboards rather than live opponents. A free update in September 2024 added a realtime two-player multiplayer mode to both the PC VR and PlayStation VR2 versions, though without cross-play between the two platforms. Players can unlock and customize cosmetic options for the kayak, paddle, and headwear.

Each location includes multiple times of day and weather conditions, and the environments are populated with sea and wildlife. The PC VR version shipped with four base environments: Papagayo (a tropical coastline), Antarctica, Bjornoya (an Arctic island also known as Bear Island), and Australia. Two additional locations were later released as paid downloadable content, Soca Valley in Slovenia and Yucatan in Mexico, with a Complete Edition bundling the base game and both packs.

Development

Better Than Life is an independent studio based in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. Kayak VR: Mirage was the studio's debut title. The game was built in Unreal Engine. The developer set out to deliver, in its words, "cutting-edge graphics that push the limits of what VR is capable of."

On PC, the game supports upscaling technologies to keep frame rates high at VR resolutions, including NVIDIA DLSS (on RTX graphics cards) and AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution. The studio's recommended hardware is modest for a title marketed on its visuals: the listed minimum specification is a Ryzen 5 1600 or Core i5-8600K processor with a GeForce GTX 1070 or Radeon RX 5700 XT class graphics card and 8 GB of RAM. The water surface, reflections, and lighting are the features the developer and press most often single out as the technical centerpiece.

Release

Kayak VR: Mirage first launched on PC VR through Steam and Viveport on July 12, 2022, supporting SteamVR headsets such as the Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Windows Mixed Reality devices. A PlayStation VR2 version was announced as part of the headset's launch lineup and released alongside the hardware on February 22, 2023.

Platform	Release date	Notes
PC VR (Steam, Viveport)	July 12, 2022	SteamVR headsets; DLSS and FidelityFX support
PlayStation VR2	February 22, 2023	PSVR2 launch title
DLC: Soca Valley (Slovenia)	Post-launch	Additional paid location
DLC: Yucatan (Mexico)	Post-launch	Additional paid location

Reception

On Steam, Kayak VR: Mirage holds a "Very Positive" user rating, with about 82 percent of 988 user reviews being positive. On the PlayStation 5 / PSVR2 version, the aggregator Metacritic recorded a critic score of 73 out of 100 from 10 reviews, classed as "mixed or average," alongside a user score of 7.5. OpenCritic rated it "Strong" with a top critic average of 77 and 71 percent of critics recommending it.

Reviews of the PSVR2 release were consistent: critics praised the visuals and relaxing tone while noting limited content. Push Square scored it 7 out of 10, calling it "a brilliant showcase for the tech" and "one of the first titles you dig out for your friends to try," while listing the small number of locations and limited longevity as drawbacks. Push Square's review described the water as "easily some of the best water in video games, period." UploadVR rated the PSVR2 version "Recommended," highlighting the water physics and the haptic feedback that conveys the motion of the waves, and called it one of the bigger surprises of the PSVR2 launch lineup; it also noted that the racing focus and thin content limit replay value.

Commercially, the PSVR2 version was the best-selling launch title on the PlayStation Store in February 2023 in both North America and Europe, according to figures published on the PlayStation Blog (the ranking excluded titles eligible for free upgrades), placing ahead of Pavlov and the bundled Horizon Call of the Mountain.