Gorilla Tag

Gorilla Tag is a virtual reality multiplayer game developed and published by Another Axiom. Players control legless gorillas nicknamed "monkes" using a movement system that works entirely through physical hand and arm motion. There are no buttons, no thumbsticks, and no teleportation. You move by pushing off surfaces, climb by grabbing with both hands, and jump by shoving yourself away from whatever you're touching. The game is free-to-play on Meta Quest and paid on Steam.

Originally a solo project started by Kerestell "Lemming" Smith in late 2019, Gorilla Tag launched in early access in February 2021 and grew into one of the most successful VR games ever made. By June 2024, the game had crossed 10 million lifetime players and earned over $100 million in revenue almost entirely through cosmetics and word of mouth with no traditional marketing.

Gameplay

Movement

Gorilla Tag uses a movement system that isn't found in other games. Instead of pressing a thumbstick to walk, you physically swing your arms and push off the ground and walls to move. Pushing both hands flat against a surface and shoving away launches you forward. Grabbing a wall with both hands lets you pull yourself up and climb. Crouching and thrusting your arms down gives you big jumps. The harder you push, the faster you go.

This system means that playing Gorilla Tag is a real physical workout. Your actual arm speed and strength directly affect how fast your gorilla moves. Skilled players can reach high speeds, perform wall-runs, and navigate maps in ways that new players can't easily follow. The movement is described as easy to pick up but hard to truly master.

Because the game has no legs, your gorilla character propels itself entirely on its arms which also means the avatar actually looks like a gorilla moving around, rather than a person walking. This came about partly as a happy accident when the developer noticed the style of movement matched how real gorillas move.

Game Modes

Gorilla Tag has four main game modes, plus a rotating set of limited-time modes that appear with updates.

Casual is the default free-roam mode where no game is being played. Players hang out, chat, and explore. Many players spend most of their time just socializing here.

Infection is the core competitive mode and the one most people think of. One player starts as an infected "Lava Monke" marked by glowing orange coloring and has to tag the others. Anyone who gets tagged becomes infected and joins the hunting team. The round ends when everyone has been caught. With four or more players, this mode becomes a chaotic chase across the map.

Hunt gives each player a personal target to chase, shown on an in-game watch. Tagged players temporarily turn into a fast "Ice Monke" that can slow down hunters by touching them. The round ends when only two hunters remain.

Paintbrawl is a team-based mode where two teams orange and blue fire paint at each other using slingshots. Each player has three balloons on their back. Pop all three and they're eliminated, though they can still shoot to slow down opponents. The round ends when one team is fully eliminated.

Additional limited-time modes have included Super Infection, Freeze Tag, Ghost Tag, Ambush, Monke Blocks, and Ghost Reactor.

Maps and Environments

Players can choose from several different maps to play in, each with its own layout of trees, cliffs, tunnels, and obstacles. The maps available include:

• Forest The original map, featuring trees to climb, stumps to jump between, and open ground. It has been in the game since early development.
• Canyon A rocky outdoor area with cliffs and ledges.
• Mountain A snowy environment featuring the Igloo (used for changing cosmetics and entering codes) and the Tower, which has slides and ramps.
• Cave An underground map with tunnels and a sub-area called the Mines.
• Beach A coastal open area.
• City A larger map featuring the Nice Gorilla Shop (where players buy cosmetics), the Parkour Place (a competitive obstacle course), and the Basement, which contains an AI character called Monkeye.
• Clouds A map set high in the sky, notable for being the first map to feature moving elements like wind.

Players can join public lobbies or set up private rooms for friends. A voice chat system is on by default, allowing players to talk to whoever is nearby in a room.

Cosmetics and Progression

Gorilla Tag uses an in-game currency called Shiny Rocks. These can be earned slowly through daily logins or purchased directly with real money. Shiny Rocks are spent at the Nice Gorilla Shop in the City map on cosmetic items hats, accessories, and other items to customize your gorilla's appearance. None of the cosmetics affect gameplay.

The game also features anniversary badges released every year on the game's launch date, which are limited-time and only available for a short window.

Development

Origins

Gorilla Tag was started as a personal project by Kerestell Smith, who goes by the username "Lemming" or "LemmingVR" online. Smith had become heavily interested in VR after spending a lot of time playing Echo Arena by Ready at Dawn a zero-gravity sports game where you push and pull yourself through the air using your arms. He was drawn to its sense of physical presence and immersion, and wanted to build something with that same feeling but grounded in more natural movement.

The arm-based locomotion idea came partly from another VR game called Raccoon Lagoon by Hidden Path, in which short avatars would physically reach down to pick up items. Smith noticed that the physicality of it felt intuitive and interesting. He also noted that VR headsets track hands and head but not legs, which made leg-based movement feel disconnected and artificial. Removing legs entirely and making everything arm-powered seemed like a more honest fit for how VR actually works.

Smith began building a prototype in December 2019. He had a working movement system by around January 2020. The tag concept came a few months later. When he showed the movement demo to a friend, they pointed out it looked exactly like how a gorilla moves and the gorilla avatar concept was born.

Formation of Another Axiom

For most of its early life, Gorilla Tag was built and maintained by Smith alone. In August 2022, he formally founded the studio Another Axiom with David Yee and David Neubelt, both of whom had been helping with development. As the game's popularity kept growing, the team expanded to over 100 people by mid-2024, with updates being pushed to the game every few weeks.

Release History

Smith made Gorilla Tag available for free on SideQuest a third-party launcher for Meta Quest headsets and on SteamVR in February 2021. The following month, it appeared on App Lab, an unofficial section of the Oculus Store that allowed developers to distribute games without going through the full approval process.

The game was a hit from early on and built a strong community before it ever reached a major storefront. In December 2022, it officially launched on the Meta Quest Store. On January 1, 2023, it left Steam Early Access. It later launched on PlayStation VR2 on November 8, 2024.

Reception

Critical Reception

Gorilla Tag was praised for the originality and physical engagement of its movement system. PC Gamer described the gameplay as "deceptively simple," with controls that are "easy to toy with but tricky to master." Android Central noted how the physics-based simplicity kept the game enjoyable even given its basic visuals. TechRadar highlighted the game's focus on fun and social interaction over competition.

GameSpot writer Mark Delaney called Gorilla Tag the "preferred virtual hangout" of Generation Alpha, noting that the game had built an unusually large and loyal audience among players roughly between 7 and 14 years old. VR Fitness Insider gave it an overall score of 8.4 out of 10 as a fitness experience, awarding a perfect 10 specifically for arm workout intensity.

In 2021, UploadVR awarded Gorilla Tag "Best Competitive Multiplayer," praising the way it innovated on the tag concept and delivered physical immersion that flat-screen games simply couldn't replicate.

Commercial Success

Gorilla Tag grew almost entirely through word of mouth and social media, with no traditional marketing campaigns. On TikTok, the hashtag #gorillatag accumulated over 10 billion views by June 2024. Communities also formed organically on YouTube, Reddit, and Discord.

By January 2023, the game had generated $26 million in lifetime revenue. By June 2024, that figure passed $100 million. The game also reached 10 million lifetime players, with over 3 million monthly active users and over 1 million daily active users. Players were spending an average of nearly 60 minutes per session. Gorilla Tag became the first game on the Meta Quest Store to receive 100,000 user reviews.

Community

Modding

Gorilla Tag has a large modding community, supported mainly on PC VR versions of the game through SteamVR. Mods range from visual changes and new sounds to entirely custom maps. One of the most popular modding tools is the Monke Map Loader, which allows players to load custom locations inspired by real places and other video game settings into the game.

Another Axiom has officially integrated with mod.io, giving players a supported and safer way to browse, download, and install community-made mods.

Because modding is only available on the PC version, mod users and vanilla players exist in separate spaces within the community. Using mods in standard public lobbies is against the game's rules and can result in a ban.

Competitive Play

An organized competitive community developed around Gorilla Tag, with groups forming leagues and hosting tournaments with real monetary prizes for top-performing players. The competitive side of the game focuses heavily on mastering the movement system skilled players can chain together wall-runs, precision jumps, and quick direction changes that are difficult for newer players to keep up with.

Clones and Imitations

The success of Gorilla Tag led to a large wave of clone games on VR platforms. By 2022, the number of copies on SideQuest had grown to the point where the platform decided to stop accepting new Gorilla Tag clone submissions. In 2025, the Meta Horizon Store delisted dozens of similar games as well.