When comparing Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades vs The Lab, the Slant community recommends The Lab for most people. In the question“What are the best HTC Vive games?” The Lab is ranked 5th while Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades is ranked 25th.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Detailed physical firearms simulation and physics interactions
This is the core of the game, more a proof of concept as this is all in a sandbox with little to no goals. Interact with objects, wee how they behave and load and fire weapons.
Pro Active development, new weekly content and updates
This is an early access game that is being actively developed meaning new content and bug fixes frequently.
Pro Mini-games, scored/timed target practice w/ local and global leaderboard support
There are a few mini-games included that give some incentive to play after handling and exploring most objects in the game. There is leaderboard support, which also allows for some longevity for those that want to try to get to the top of the charts.
Pro Shows what the system is capable of doing
Pro Amazingly fun collection of mini games and experiences
The lab is a collection of a bunch of very fun mini games. You get to use a bow and arrow to defend your castle against waves of enemies, control a fighter drone in a classic arcade style shoot-em-up, repair a Aperture science robot, explore the secret shop from Dota and more. Although each game is simple, they are all very well executed and make fantastic use of VR mechanics.
Pro Nice VR games collection
Pro Perfect for showing your friends what the Vive can do
All the games and experiences are very easy to play and are simply an incredible introduction to the capabilities of VR.
Pro Free
It's free so there's no risk of wasting money in case it turns out you don't like it.
Pro Amusing writing
The Lab is a mini game collection created y Valve, who are know for a very specific witty sense of humor. That is not lost in The Lab whatsoever as the writing is cleverly funny, which makes a mini game collection game all that more enjoyable.
Pro Non game sections are really interesting
The user can stand on the top of an Icelandic mountain top and look around, there is no game to it, it is just an experience but one that is quite interesting as it is almost like actually being there.
Cons
Con No story, only firearm simulation
The gameplay is pretty basic for now, a proof of concept really, but still fun to mess around with.
Con No multiplayer
Single player only as there is no way to play this game with friends.
Con More a proof of concept than a full fledged game
The mini games are quite short and will not provide a whole lot of entertainment. The purpose of this title is to showcase what room scale VR is capable of (which it does well), but when considered as a game for those interested in gaming it falls a bit short.