BONELAB
BONELAB
Game
Game2019
BONEWORKS
Developer Stress Level Zero
Boneworks is a 2019 first-person shooter virtual reality game developed and published by Stress Level Zero. The game is designed to be entirely physics-based, with the player controlling a full virtual body that responds not just to the player's real-world input but also to obstructions in the game world. In Boneworks, players take on the role of Arthur Ford, a rogue cybersecurity director who escapes into an… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
345 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Nov 3, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
93
LovedLoved
238 positive · 18 negative
95% range 89–96%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 238 | 18 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 29 | 3 | 35 |
| Lemmy * | 3 | 0 | 17 |
| Mastodon * | 2 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
29,096 of 31,472 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Overwhelmingly positive, with many calling it the best VR game ever.
Players overwhelmingly praise Boneworks as a groundbreaking VR experience with exceptional physics, immersive gameplay, and a compelling campaign. Many consider it superior to its successor, Bonelab, citing a better story and more cohesive design. [3][5][7][9][14][17][20][21][22][26][27][28][29][32][33]
Some players acknowledge flaws such as janky physics, a short campaign, and a lack of conventional story, but these are often forgiven given the game's age and innovation. A few critics find the campaign soulless and movement sluggish. [25][30][34][35][36]
Praised physics · campaign · immersion · gunplay · modding community
Criticised jank · short campaign · sluggish movement · lack of conventional story
Summary drafted by an AI model from the 36 reactions it cites ([n] links open each post), then checked by code: every paragraph cites real posts and every quote is verbatim. Written Oct 8, 2026. Method
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
BONEWORKS sits at 93% positive across 256 opinionated reactions from 4 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Boneworks received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Boneworks has been compared to Half-Life in its aesthetics and puzzles. The game was praised for having created an "incredible engine for a captivating VR adventure", and has been called "one of the best VR gun-adventure games on the market". Rock Paper Shotgun described it as "an innovative adventure that pushes VR in all sorts of directions, but still suffers from a number of VR-specific issues." Physics manipulation in Boneworks has been described as entering the "uncanny valley". The game has been criticized for its bugs, where the player's limbs can become stuck in game…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 345 · most liked firstone of the more impactful moments in VR for me was realizing I could shoot myself near the end of Boneworks. I'd spent so long in the game that I genuinely hesitated, usually if the immersion isn't right you get bored and try things sooner.
positive · AI labelView post →bonelab but everything is better please don't ♥♥♥♥ it up with the next update slz
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A while back, somewhere in 2019-2020 i had watched one of my favorite youtubers play this game and it had introduced me to the world of boneworks. at the time i didn't have a vr nor a well-working computer so i could only imagine myself playing boneworks. In 2022 when bonelab had came out I still didn't have a working computer but i did have a working quest 2 which i then played bonelab on, although it still didn't feel like "actual boneworks" its still felt pretty good to actually play a game…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you want a weird and wacky game with the best physics and story mode this game is for you ---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☑ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☑ Eargasm ☐ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☑ Kids ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Grandma ---{ PC…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Story: Fantastic Soundtrack: Amazing Level design: Superior The fact that people say gtag is the best VR game is insane. 11/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Best VR game of all time, after I finished Bonelab I thought no vr game could get better, than I experienced this masterpiece of a game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →if you're wondering if vr games are for you this is really the best place to find that out, for all the good and all the bad reasons.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Weekend PC Game Deals: Award winners, VR festivals, new choices and more. - Cyberpunk 2077 – $29.99 on Steam - No Man's Sky – $29.99 on Steam - Resident Evil 4 – $29.99 on Steam - HITMAN World of Assassination – $27.99 on Steam - Medieval Dynasty – $26.24 on Steam - BONEWORKS – $23.99 on Steam - GTFO – $23.99 on Steam - VTOL VR – $20.99 on Steam - Tetris Effect: Connected – $19.99 on Steam - Automobilista 2 – $19.99 on Steam - Red Dead Redemption 2 – $19.79 on Steam - Hi-Fi RUSH – $19.12 on…
neutral · AI labelView post →BONEWORKS is one of the best VR games to ever hit the steam store, ♥♥♥♥ bonelab that "game" was a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ tech demo buy this one
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →the greatest vr experience of all time beats bonelab
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Easily the best VR game ever made. The physics are perfect for a 6 year old game and the mods are very fun to play around with.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this ♥♥♥♥ still holds up what a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ game changer for vr and then meta came along and shat on it maybe one day we'll get games like this agin
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →100/10 I wish i could forget about this game and then play it again just to feel how good it was to play it for the first time again.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →PC VR Exclusive ‘Boneworks’ is Now Entirely Playable on Quest Thanks to This Free ‘Bonelab’ Mod.
neutral · AI labelView post →It's quite the experience, I started with the Index. Unless Valve releases a new game with the frame I'd recommend trying Half Life: Alyx first, it's a very AAA-like experience and does a great job at demonstrating all of the capabilities of VR on top of being beautiful. Once you've tried that Beat Sabre is a blast (and quite a bit of exercise). Superhot is probably the best selling VR game, you can live out your Keanu Reeves fantasy of being both John Wick and Neo. The art style ensures…
neutral · AI labelView post →i really wish there were more vr games like this. constant titles being released that are either cash grabs or don't feel like they have any good reason being vr is why it's a failing genre. the whole point is that it's a virtual reality, therefore the player should easily feel immersed in the game. boneworks does this incredibly well with its physics engine and interactable environments. there's plenty of creative ways to progress the levels that are often rewarded with secrets and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Boneworks changed my life. I discovered this game when I was in a really dark part in my life and it gave me hope. The story is immersive, the gameplay is unique and exciting. the achievements really kept me stuck on the game wanting to see that badge of my favourite game on my profile. Honestly, it may not have 100s of hours of gameplay but this game is beautiful head to toe. Some of the best hours of my life have been spent playing this game. I owe a lot too SLZ, cant wait for B-Side!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this is my favorite game ever and is the best vr game in my opinion. definitely try it, so much better than bonelab
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Physics Action Puzzler ‘BONEWORKS’ is Coming to Quest 3, Pre-production for Next Game Announced. Stress Level Zero’s physics-based sandbox follow-up BONELAB (2022) has done spectacularly well on Quest, although the studio still hasn’t brought its award-winning physics action puzzler BONEWORKS (2019) to Meta’s latest standalone hardware generation. That’s about to change. If you haven’t played on PC VR headset, Boneworks is a narrative VR action-adventure using advanced experimental physics…
neutral · AI labelView post →before i bought this, my bones did not work. now having played through it three or four times, my bones still do not work, but the game is good
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →if you like a good story game with an awesome sandbox side with a big mod community than this is the game for you now note the story aspect is really good but short like 6 to 13 hours max depending how you play
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Better than BONELAB, and great modding community
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I feel odd negatively reviewing Boneworks. I liked it, and you can have a good time with it. I think the Hammer-esque grid textures and graffiti are a cute aesthetic, the gunplay is fun enough, and the puzzles are stimulating without being overlong. The physics are robust, and this does have the most consistent and reliable gripping and climbing out of any game I've played with the Index Knuckles' weird capacitive pads. The Ladder proved this to me perfectly, only Boneworks could make that…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Probably the greatest VR game of all time, bested by none (except for Vertigo 2 sometimes, underrated game) the storytelling and themes are wonderful and the gameplay is top-notch. I can't say all that much because you just have to play it. It ran fine with some lag spikes on my setup, which is 82% AliExpress parts and frankly the computational equivalent of a Camaro. The game does a few excellent things, which I'll rattle off as any review should: You don't have to grab things fully, really.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →BONEWORKS may seem old but its campaign holds up to this day its something else entirely. the combat is reminiscent of if half life alyx pushed the physics extreme leap other games in the series are known for
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Its amazing and plus its story wayyyy better than BoneLabs story i cant wait for the 1.7 update tho
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unfortunately I refunded this game about a month ago because I forgot how forgotten it was and it genuinely made me CRY but today im buying it again and i will NOT let this stop me and i WILL ENJOY THIS GAME!!! I LOVE YOU BONEWORKSSS!!!!!!!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this game is one of my favorite vr games i've ever played. i got bonelab before i got this game and i used to think this game would be bonelabs but worse and i was wrong. this games campaign is better than most of vr games i've played and this game is just kind of relaxing to me too. if you're thinking of getting this game then get it
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love this game so much. The fact that there IS a lesson about this whole game: the ability to realize there is a way to escape the darkness, you just have to let the *light shine through*
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There is actually quite a backlog on VR games by now. Admittedly mostly by b-grade studios, so not reaching the quality of HL:Alyx or so, but not bad either. Stuff like ~~Boneworks~~ Bonelab or the Alien and Metro games are genuinely quite good and came out recently.
neutral · AI labelView post →Couldn't wait for the Quest 3 release so I upgraded my computer and got the game here right before the announcement of the Steam Frame (now to see if this will work standalone, if it does my Quest 3 is as good as a dustcatcher). Better story than BoneLab... and I know cause I played LabWorks before coming over here
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →When I think of my memories of other games they feel like memories of playing a game. When I think of my memories of Boneworks and other VR titles they feel like memories of being in a place.
positive · AI labelView post →I’m mixed about this game. But although it has a bunch of flaws, they never prevented me from enjoying the game overall. It is important to note as well that I’m not familiar with physics sandbox games or particularly care about them. I never played Garry’s mod, for example, or its VR equivalents if any. And I didn’t even play sandbox mode in this game. So it might be entirely possible that I miss the whole point of this game. There is a story campaign however. This is what I played and this is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My favorite vr game wish they kept updating this instead of releasing the pos bonelab this game literally has everything you could want in a vr game besides maybe a conventional story. The physics in this game are mindblowing I wish I could play it again for the first time.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Somewhat hot take... I'd argue Boneworks (*not* Bonelab) was "better", at least if you're used to VR and if you judge by freedom and replay value. Don't get me wrong, playing through Half Life Alyx was fun and engaging, but to me it had little to no replay value, since for all it did great in visuals, audio, accessibility, and especially story, it failed dramatically in physics. Since I played Alyx right after Boneworks, I kept trying to pick stuff up which I ended up not being able to for…
positive · AI labelView post →Just beat boneworks and bonelab back to back, this was the superior experience. While it doesn't have all the mods and huge sandbox of bonelab, the campaign is much better. It took me about 9 days to beat boneworks, and 2 to beat bonelab. While bonelab had much more variety in its levels, boneworks was much more of a cohesive story, which I prefer. Absolute must-play vr game, probably my favorite vr campaign of all time.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is peak, and I mean PEAK. ts is the pinnacle of VR gaming, after 18 hrs I beat the campaign and just bought bonelabs, cant wait to play it. ---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☑ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☐ Kids ☑ Teens ☑…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is so good! If you don't have this game yet GET IT. It is so worth it to get this game, you will have the most fun in your life the first time you play the campaign or sandbox mode. Trust me you need to get this game. The first time you play the campaign fully, OH MY GOD it is SOOOO GOOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →>As long-time believers in VR feel the air sucked out of their lungs at the 10-year anniversary of PC VR DK2 was released in 2014. By 2015 we had tech demos of VR internet browsers and hacks to make 80% of older games somewhat playable. And then nothing. Just 10 years of shovelware and tech demos. We got what, vrchat, beat saber, hl Alyx, and Boneworks? SkyrimVR was somehow a sucess despite being even junkies than the og skyrim?
neutral · AI labelView post →This game is OKAY. My biggest problems are that the campaign is ultimately kind of soulless, and the movement is really sluggish. I can give a lot of the game's problems a pass because it's one of the earliest VR games. I wouldn't pay more than $15 for it though, if you can help it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First time i ever played vr was on the psvr on the Ps4 then psvr2 on the ps5 then finally i got the adapter to play pcvr i bought boneworks after watching people play it for 2-3 years then i played it best vr game i ever played
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Probably one of the best games I ever played. This got me punching walls and turning my room into swiss cheese. 10/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this game is six years old and makes almost every other vr title look really bad. this game has amazing physics and visuals, very fun combat .
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i get that supposedly this game was a big vr breakthrough on the same level of hl2 for fps games or smth but being in vr and interacting with physics objects is interesting for about 4 minutes before understanding that that is how the world works here ok cool. all that's left is an adventure game with a ♥♥♥♥ story set in very boring and poorly laid out environments/rooms where you do basic physics puzzles or fight 1 of 3 enemy types: brainless zombies that cant hurt you, guys with hitscan guns,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →its good but... Mods are way better in bonelab and the game runs VARY GOOD
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →PEAK gaming, goated physics, goated graphics, goated story, this reminds me of half-life 2 but with just a different story, please play this if you have a vr.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Oh my gosh yeeees. The only other game I can remember that has done that is Boneworks
neutral · AI labelView post →Really fun game even with its jank, but kind of upsetting to look back on in a way. It was a really fun game with a lot of flaws to be ironed out and a lot of ideas to be expanded upon and introduced in the future. This game was a huge moment for virtual reality games that really showed how they could stand out from regular games and why their existence is justified. I don’t think anybody expected for this to be VR’s peak rather than its kicking off point. There were a couple more great games…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yes, albeit with Vive Pro. The good: much better motion smoothness and reprojection as opposed to Linux SteamVR The neutral: Monado is just a runtime, you need to get additional software to it, like WlxOverlay-S for desktop preview The bad: Most older games utilise OpenVR. Monado is an OpenXR runtime, meaning games have to be translated from one to another. A software for this - OpenComposite, is not feature complete and your game compatibility will be a hit or miss. VRChat works okay, H3VR…
neutral · AI labelView post →I'm still having trouble picking a VR game to give a 5/5 review score. Any suggestions? I'm thinking about going back to HL Alyx or Boneworks.
neutral · AI labelView post →I still feel my favorite VR game is Boneworks, and nothing has topped it for me. Not even Alyx. But the real killer app of VR is VRChat and the weird denialism of this fact doesn't sit well for me. I'm sure a big percentage of VR users bought a headset and it's basically "$1000 VRChat machine."
positive · AI labelView post →Anyone that enjoyed Half-Life Alyx and hasn't played Boneworks owes it to themselves to give it a try. To me, that game was the real "Half-Life 2 of VR." I adored that weird first playthrough. #blutoid
positive · AI labelView post →Genuinely one of the best games of all time. The immersion I experienced while playing Boneworks is something that will likely never be matched by any other game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the Best VR Games i have played, i bought it on the Oculus app first and when i moved to Steam, i bought it instantly, Bonelab cant beat this, I have a Theory for the 1.7 update, they're waiting for the Steam Frame
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this game is one of THE best vr games out there and if you want a good realistic physic based vr game this is for you.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →finally, Boneworks has a challenger for "VR game most likely to make you throw up" I'm so excited about putting my VR legs to the ultimate test
neutral · AI labelView post →this was before the gorilla tag effect on vr and it still holds up amazingly, one of the best vr games ever made
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →best campaign in a vr game, when i first found the zombies in the sewage trench i felt fear i have not felt in a game (it didn't help this was my first vr game). storytelling is amazing
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First of all with OpenMW, VR Morrowind is already a thing. For Skyrim it's a big list to make Bethesda's shitty VR port good. HIGGS, VRIK, PLANCK, Haptic Skyrim VR...hundreds of other mods too but these get the game to BONEWORKS tier VR interaction with objects and you can shout spells into the microphone or sign them in the air like Arx Fatalis or use a boring spell wheel. Whatever floats your boat. It's been at least 3 or 4 years since my VR playthrough but I can easily use VR all day…
neutral · AI labelView post →Boneworks is a fantastic VR game, genuinely felt so good and fun to play. Huge variety of levels, puzzles, combat scenarios. It gives you that incredible feeling of solving a puzzle in some weird way and thinking "oh yeah I'm so good, you didn't account for that, devs!" even though I imagine devs fully expected that. The only 2 issues i'd point out is that tutorial puzzle is so bad I'd imagine a lot of people would abandon the game there, and the whole "carry item to the end to unlock it in…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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