Free updates to Odders Lab’s OhShape will help you stay in shape while self-isolating.
The OhShape #StayHome update includes three new songs for the game’s Extras library. Included in that is a fitness map designed to exercise every area of the body. It’s yet another way you can use a VR headset to stay in shape in these challenging times. Odders Lab is also donating $1 to Unicef for every player that completes the course, so give it a try to do your bit.
Also arriving as part of the update is YUR.watch compatibility. This is a virtual watch that keeps track of the calories you burn across multiple games on PC VR and on Oculus Quest. Other compatible games include Synth Riders, which is also doing its bit to keep people fit in VR this weekend with live workout sessions, and SairentoVR.
Next up there’s the Beginner mode difficulty, available in every official song in the game. This is designed to give new players a much more gentle introduction into the world of OhShape, which can take some getting used to. To help even more, there’s now a calibration mode that will let you set your height. That’s pretty important for a game that is essentially human Tetris.
We’re pretty fond of OhShape, and it’s definitely one of the better ways to keep in shape while indoors. The update is available on Oculus Quest now and will be coming to PC VR headsets soon. Will you be checking it out? Let us know in the comments below!
The cord-free, standalone Meta Quest system is one of the best options for VR fitness, exercise and workout routines. Here are our picks the best Quest 2 fitness and exercise apps to get your blood pumping.
[This article was originally published in March 2020. It was edited and updated in March 2021 and again in February 2022.]
The following list is in no particular order, however there are two general categories of apps on the list.
The first category is apps that are specifically designed for working out in VR — usually with specifically designed sessions that you follow for a workout session.
The second is incidental workout apps — apps and experiences that weren’t designed specifically for working out, but can be used in such a way because they get the blood pumping enough when played at a high intensity.
Despite all these new additions, the basic premise has always remained the same — it’s features rhythm-based boxing, dance and HIIT routines that gives you points for speed and accuracy. In July last year, the app also added a bunch of notable artists to its music catalog, including Calvin Harris and Tiesto.
FitXR is free to download on the Quest Store, with a subscription-based service in place for access to workouts. There’s a 7-day free trial for new users.
Let’s not beat around the saber – initially, Supernatural started out as a fitness-focused Beat Saber clone. Notes fly at you in time with music, which you have to hit in-time using bats and occasionally you’ll be forced to squat to avoid obstacles. However, the service has since added new boxing workout as well, expanding its offering of guided coach workouts.
Every 24 hours, there’s a new workout playlist/routine for you to run through. The aim is to get you sweating with big arm swings and quick squats. The better you perform, the harder the routine will get, thanks to Supernatural’s adaptive difficulty.
Supernatural is free to download on Quest, but is only currently available in select regions. Access to workouts uses a subscription pricing model, with a free trial period for new users.
One of the newer entries on the list, Les Mills Bodycombat is an attractive option for those looking to avoid a subscription model.
The app is brought to you by the Les Mills brand, which has gyms globally as well as a substantial online workout offering. The Quest Bodycombat app adapts one of these online workout classes into 30 boxing workouts for VR, available as a one-off purchase.
You’ll be punching and squatting to the beat of the music, with the option to select a playlist between five and 20 minutes. It’s not the most original VR workout option, but it gets the basics right in a polished experience available for a one-time price.
If you’re looking to pair a physical fitness machine with a virtual workout, then Holofit is one of two apps that lets you do so. The app pairs your headset with compatible bikes, elipticals and rowing machines, allowing you to use your physical machines in a virtual location.
However, even without any machines, the app also has HIIT, fat burn and time-attack programs that see you recreate skiing, running or cycling using movements with the Touch controllers.
Holofit is available on Quest via a yearly or monthly subscription model with a 7-day trial for new users.
VZFit
Another option for connecting physical machines and fitness trackers, VZFit uses Google Street View to let you virtually exercise anywhere you want. The app has Strava and Fitbit support, alongside connectivity with “most smart bike devices and trainer sensors.”
There’s also full body workouts and support for an optional cadence sensor, which you’ll have to buy separately, that allows you to connect a stationary exercise bike that’s missing smart bike functionality.
VZFit is available for Quest with a 7-day free trial and $9.99 monthly subscription.
Beat Saber was definitely never intended to be used as a workout app, but there’s a significant amount of people who use it for just that. A couple of levels on Expert or Expert+ in Beat Saber will get your heart rate pumping like there’s no tomorrow.
Beat Saber is available for Oculus Quest for $29.99.
Synth Riders is, yes, another VR rhythm game and while it takes some visual notes from Beat Saber and other entries in the genre, the gameplay is quite different. You’ll hit floating spheres to the rhythm of the music, and move your hands in circular or curved motions to follow tails that fly off each sphere. It’s similar in concept to other rhythm games, but with its own spin.
The game has implemented a variety of fitness-focused features, such as a calorie counter and a fitness update that arrived earlier this year and included live VR workout sessions, guided by a trainer.
Jamie described this game as “Beat Saber for your body” and said it was a “genuinely authentic fitness game.” It’s not a workout in the traditional sense, but it will get your blood flowing as you throw your body around to the music, fitting and moving yourself into all different shapes.
With the intensity ramped up, you might end up burning calories faster than some of the other fitness games on this list.
Pistol Whip might seem like a strange entry for a VR exercise list at first, but play a couple of the levels on harder difficulty and you’ll quickly see how Pistol Whip could qualify as a workout. The ducking and constant quick movements will have your glutes and quads burning after a long session.
While not designed as a fitness app, Until You Fall is a VR roguelike that will have you hacking and slashing in heart-racing melee combat. At its most intense, the game should offer you something comparable to a light upper body workout. That being said, its roguelike mechanics means it’s more game-y than other entries on this list. If you’re looking for something fun to play that also gives you a bit of a workout along the way, Until You Fall might be best.
There are a number of boxing games available on the Quest, but The Thrill of the Fight uses mechanics that aims to be more of a true-to-life simulator in a boxing ring, as opposed to a workout-first approach to VR boxing. A few rounds in the ring and you’ll be sweating profusely. We definitely prefer this one over Creed VR on Quest.
Oculus Move isn’t a VR workout app, but rather a feature that will let you track your progress, workouts and calories burned while in VR. It was announced in 2020 at Facebook Connect and should work Quest-wide on all of your apps. It’s a good option to natively track your fitness and workout sessions in VR across all activity on Quest.
Oculus Move can be enabled in the Quest system settings.
What are you favorite Quest exercise apps that keep you active in a VR workout session? Let us know in the comments.
I’ll let you in on a bit of a secret; I actually really don’t like VR rhythm games.
Yes, I know, it takes bravery to come forward with such a statement in the midst of the industry’s fever pitch obsession with the genre, but I’ve Beat Sabered and Pistol Whipped — heck I’ve even Synth Ridered — and it’s never done much for me. I accept that this is a ‘me’ thing; in fact I couldn’t be happier that people are getting fit and having fun in VR. But only BoxVR ever managed to sink its mitts into me thanks to its fitness focus, and that wasn’t for long.
I have an inkling suspicion, though, that OhShape will be a different story.
This clean, almost clinical mix of Tetris and pulse-pounding VR rhythm game is a more instant, accessible iteration into the field of active, rhythmic VR gaming. You match shapes cut into rapidly approaching blocks, occasionally switching out to instead pluck coins from mid-air, duck out of the way of walls and even punch through them. It’s a little like a greatest hits of the genre itself, albeit with its own twist on top.
Shape shifting is the focus, and rightly so. The key is a little leniency; OhShape obviously can’t tell where your elbows and feet really are, so it relies on your head and hands to inform the shape of your body, without any of the frustrating near misses I often encounter in a game like BoxVR. Obviously there’s only so far current VR tracking can take this concept — and only so safe you can be dancing around with an expensive blindfold on — so don’t expect to be cutting anything too elaborate.
But that’s not to say the game’s too easy. While I definitely found it faster to pick up on Easy and Medium difficulty modes than I have with, say, Pistol Whip, the tension quickly mounts on some Medium songs and most Hard songs.
In fact, in demanding sequences, it’s just a little too tough to tell what the next shape will be until it’s right in your face. It doesn’t help that some blocks are colored red, which is the same color the screen flashes if you fail a move. In the heat of a song, it sets off a distracting alarm in your brain when you haven’t actually done anything wrong. Overall levels require more memorization than quick reactions, though repeated playthroughs and option tweaking will inevitably lessen that pain.
And you’ll definitely be repeating these songs, as OhShape’s Beat Saber-esque list of tracks is typically small for an indie game just finding its feet (just look at how big Beat Games had to get before Green Day came on board). There’s a healthy sampling of soundalikes here; none that will have you repeating lyrics in your head (HUNDRED DOLLAR BILLS, HUNDRED DOLLAR BILLS), but energetic enough to get the heart pumping.
And that’s key, because OhShape feels like a genuinely authentic fitness game. The variety of moves and steps involved with even just one track can get your heart rate up, and several songs in one go definitely burns off the calories faster than a lot of its contemporaries.
Arguably OhShape’s strongest point, though, is its versatility as a platform. Most VR rhythm games come with modifiers and extra options to enhance the fun, but OhShape goes above and beyond to make sure it’s catering to your skill set and preferences.
For starters, there’s the obligatory No Fail mode, but the game even allows you to tweak the speed of tracks back and forth to a small degree. Need to learn the patterns in Hard Mode? Slow the song down a fraction to give yourself a little more time to adjust. You can even change how accurate you have to be with your shapes and switch to a ‘Small Room’ mode if you’re worried about shifting too far to one side and smacking your head on a wall (which, crucially, was a big concern for me).
To top it all off, there’s even custom song support — yes, even on Oculus Quest — and level editing software for you to make your own tracks or share them online. At a time where Beat Saber’s modding future is being called into question, OhShape appears refreshingly restraint free.
OhShape Review Final Verdict
I don’t really have a lot of bad things to say about OhShape, then. It’s a smart, straight, no-nonsense rhythm game with an energetic core mechanic and plenty of options to tailor the experience to your liking. There’s a few presentation hiccups and the initial track list could be more inspiring, but these are minor and very fixable issues. If you’re growing tired of slashing or shooting beats in VR, then you should definitely try throwing some shapes here instead.
Oooohohoho, this has been one heck of a chunky week. Not only have we had some great announcements, we ourselves have something great for you – count this as your Valentine’s Day present from UploadVR: the potential to win an actual Oculus Quest headset!
Our first story is the reveal of Half-Life: Alyx’s release date, which is March 23rd! That’s 38 days and counting. It is pretty incredible that something that is looking to be so massive for VR is releasing so soon after its announcement back in November. Not only that, but Valve will be updating us on Index’s availability pretty soon, so you could have a chance in getting the headset with added capabilities for the game as well as a free pre-order of it.
Second, we love the new look of the SteamVR Beta interface – it’s much sleeker and cleaner looking for sure. How can you not love the new Oculus Quest icon that comes along with the update as well?
Our last story is another visit to Xbox land. Phil Spencer has been clarifying his past comments on VR, adding that he hopes one day it will be big enough for Microsoft to make their own Xbox VR headset. Do you think that’ll happen? Or do you think Microsoft should just go it anyway?
Okay, and time for our own announcement. We’re partnering with Odders Lab to bring you a two-week chance to win an Oculus Quest and a copy of OhShape for when it releases! All you’ve got to do is enter via Odders Lab’s Gleam below, and keep every digit crossed until time’s up!
Alright, that’s it from us! If you’re craving more VR content over the weekend, make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more news and features. Bye!
VRFocus brings you another brand-new list of VR titles to look forward to over the course of the next week. Make sure to check out our accompanying YouTube video to get a preview of each title’s gameplay.
Ghost Giant – Zoink!
Previously released as an PSVR exclusive title, developer Zoink are now releasing this VR puzzle adventure on Oculus Quest. In this family-friendly title, you play as the titular friendly ghost known only as Ghost Giant. Viewable only to Louis, a lonely boy, the story involves Ghost Giant bonding and helping Louis to overcome the struggles of everyday life.
In this new standalone instalment to the Scraper Universe, you are set with the task of infiltrating a secret AI-filled facility to seek a secret weapon blueprint. Filled with weapon customisation, this VR role-playing wave shooter sees you defending the megacities of the world from the threat of Humech Forces.
Inspired by the hit Japanese TV show, Hole in the Wall, this rhythm VR game sees you move your whole body to go through or avoid walls to the beat of the music. Compete with friends or against players from around the world for the best score with the World Leader boards. Studio Odders Lab has worked with professional choreographers to perfect 12 immersive dance levels. Also featuring content provided by users within the community who have shaped custom maps using the level editor.
Supported platforms: Oculus Quest
Launch date: 20th February
Buggy Bump – MoonShine Games
This fast-paced VR racing game features moment-to-moment racing in a racing event known as the Buggy Bump Festival. Beat your own time in offline single player, battle against AI vehicles in Time Trail Mode or set a new record in an online 4-player game. Featuring 19 tracks, 9 in the day, 9 and night and a bonus surprise track.
Set in the North Sea, select your bait and fish from a boat or the shore from at any time of day, and battle challenging weather conditions as you search for over 20 different fish species. This aquatic title is brought to you by UK-based studio Dangerous Derk Interactive, known for their successful previous fishing-themed title, Carp Fishing Simulator in 2015.
Get ready to throw some shapes in glorious wire-free VR; we’re giving you the chance to win an Oculus Quest with Odders Lab’s OhShape!
If you didn’t know, OhShape is a mix of VR dancing and human Tetris. It’s a rhythm game in which players have to dodge obstacles and match shapes to the beat. It’s a little bit of Beat Saber, a little bit of a Saturday night game show, and promises to be quite a workout. Check it out in action in the trailer below.
It came to PC VR headsets last year but the Oculus Quest release — which we’ve been eagerly awaiting — will be arriving on February 20. Not only that, but it arrives with five new songs and support for custom tracks. If you bought it on Oculus Rift via the Oculus Store, you can pick it up via cross-buy too.
To celebrate the game’s release, we’re teaming up with Odders Lab to give away a brand new Oculus Quest. Y’know, the wireless standalone headset that everyone seems to want at the moment. All you’ll have to do is enter via Gleam. The chance to win a Quest is here and you can win copies of the game from here. The competition will run for the next week so make sure not to miss your chance.
The competition’s available globally. If you already own a Quest then why not tell a friend and share the love?
Excited to pick up OhShape on Oculus Quest? Think you’ll win an Oculus Quest with us? Let us know in the comments below!
Ghost Giant – Zoink!
OhShape – Odders Lab
Sea Fishing Simulator – Dangerous Derk Interactive