What VRChat actually is
VRChat is a social space built almost entirely by its users. There are hundreds of thousands of worlds and millions of avatars, all made by the people who play there. One afternoon you can be dogfighting in fighter jets, the next you're sitting in a treehouse floating in a nebula, or exploring a haunted mansion, or playing cards with a robot, an alien, and an eight-foot tall wolf. The variety is the point: whatever you're into, there's probably a space for it, and if there isn't, the tools are there to build it.
Playing together with your group
You and your friends can meet up in the same world and just hang out, or pick from the thousands of games already in VRChat. There's running a kitchen in a busy restaurant, racing go-karts in zero gravity, battle royale, casual card games, shooters, racing, platformers, puzzles, horror, and plenty of party games. Beyond games, groups often drift into other scenes together — a planetarium chat about astronomy, a hike through a fantasy forest, a car meet, or a live music event under a chemical storage facility. Once you find a crowd you like, you can join their Group so you can find them again the next time you're on.
Before you start
VRChat was built to take advantage of VR headsets, but a headset isn't required to join in. With the right hardware you get avatars that flow with your movement, plus full-body tracking and finger tracking. It also supports full controller play, including DualShock and DualSense controllers, and it's cross-platform, so your group doesn't all need the same setup. Note that VRChat is in Early Access and includes in-app purchases.
Making your own stuff
Everything in VRChat was built by the community using the VRChat SDK, Unity, and Udon, the in-house scripting language. That covers worlds and games, but also avatars — you can be an alien, a talking dog, or a sentient shoe whose glowing bits change color to the beat of the music. If your group has an idea that doesn't exist yet, the tools to build it are in your hands.