Minecraft comes to Oculus Rift – hands-on in the virtual world

A new version of the block-building game puts players into an immersive virtual environment, courtesy of Facebook's VR headset

It is the sense of scale that hits you. Despite intentionally blocky visuals, the open-world building game Minecraft has always produced landscapes of great diversity and beauty. To stand on a hillside and see the plains extend out for miles in all directions remains a great pleasure, even four years after its release.

But visiting the game in virtual reality, actually standing among the craggy chasms, being able to look up at the looming mountains, seeing them extend into the sky far above you ... this is a new, rather breathtaking experience.