If you’ve just picked up a headset then it can become overwhelming rather quickly as there are so many quality virtual reality fitness games to choose from. Some are meant purely for fitness, like Hot Squat, and can wind up offering a grueling experience that a person that just began their fitness journey might find overwhelming. Thankfully, there are also many great games to use for workouts that ease players into burning calories through difficulty settings or being a more relaxed, low impact affair. To help you have a fun first experience, we here at VR Fitness Insider have come up with a list of the best VR fitness games for beginners 2020.
If you’re looking for even more types of fitness games, check out our lists of the top 25 VR fitness games, and our headset specific lists for HTC Vive, Valve Index, PlayStation VR, Oculus Go, Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, and Windows Mixed Reality.
Great Virtual Reality Workouts for Beginners
Once you’ve mastered these great games for beginners, make sure to check out our list of the best high intensity VR games. The best part is that you might not even need to buy a new game and just raise the difficulty on some of these!
Audica
Rhythm games have quickly become a mainstay of not only VR fitness games but virtual reality itself. No developer is more synonymous with the genre than Rock Band and Guitar Hero creator Harmonix and its VR rhythm shooter Audica is yet another success for the Boston-based studio. Not only does it feature a sizable soundtrack with 33 songs (with even more as downloadable content), there are multiple difficulty levels that help first-time VR players have an enjoyable time. It also results in a lot of replay value as you slowly gain skill and can up the difficulty level on each song. If you’d rather shoot than slice objects, Audica is a great choice as one of the best VR fitness games for beginners.
Audica has been given a fitness rating comparable to walking by the VR Institute of Health and Exercise. It is playable on Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest and Windows Mixed Reality. The game is currently available on Steam for $29.99.
Beat Saber
This is one title that you’ve probably already purchased since Beat Saber has become a phenomenon within the VR space. Beat Games’ VR rhythm game is incredibly straightforward and players get to live out a childhood fantasy of swinging energy swords around while awesome music plays. It’s not all hype, though, as Beat Saber is a fantastic game and there’s a sizable amount of depth and difficulty options. It’s a solid early purchase for any headset owner, and it will fit anyone’s play space as there are gameplay variants for those with spacious and tight rooms.
Beat Saber has been given a fitness rating comparable to tennis by the VR Institute of Health and Exercise. Beat Saber was awarded our VR Fitness Game of the Year in 2018 and won our Best Arm Workout VR Fitness Game of the Year in 2019. It’s playable on Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, and Windows Mixed Reality. The game is currently available on Steam for $29.99.
BoxVR
Another one of the best VR fitness games for beginners is BoxVR, which provides a virtual boxercise class in the comfort of your own home. While you might think this workout just targets your arms, there’s a wide array of exercises and your legs and core will also get used during it. Developer FitXR has done a great job supporting the game with additional music, multiplayer options and there’s paid DLC packs if you wind up getting really into it. It might not have the excitement and presentation of Beat Saber, but it’s one of the best titles to pick up if you’re serious about woking out and getting into better shape.
BoxVR has been given a fitness rating comparable to tennis by the VR Institute of Health and Exercise. It won VR Fitness Insider’s Best VR Cardio Fitness Game of the Year in 2018 and our Best VR Fitness Game of the Year in 2019. It is playable on Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, Windows Mixed Reality, and PlayStation VR. The game is currently available on Steam for $29.99.
Dance Central VR
Yet another title by Harmonix, Dance Central VR is an Oculus exclusive that will have you grooving out to some fun tunes like Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” and “Humble” by Kendrick Lamar. It’s a fun game to play and it’s hard to be in a bad mood after a half-hour of dancing. There are several difficulty settings as well, so you don’t have to be a natural at dancing to get some enjoyment out of it.
Dance Central VR is exclusive to Oculus Rift and Quest. The game is currently available on the Oculus Store for $29.99.
Echo Arena
Another Oculus exclusive, and a free one at that, is Echo Arena. This one half of Echo VR is a team-based multiplayer game that has players moving through a zero-gravity environment to score goals. The competitive virtual sport is a lot of fun and it’s a solid workout as you’re punching opponents mid-air. The best part is that it won’t cost anything to check out, although the second half of the game (the objective-based Echo Combat) can costs $9.99 if you dig what you play.
Echo VR is available now for free on Oculus Rift and Oculus Quest. It was awarded our Best VR Competitive Fitness Game of the Year in both 2018 and 2019.
Hotel Transylvania Popstic
While Hotel Transylvania Popstic is a great VR game for kids, it’s also an underrated workout that isn’t overly complex. Perfect for younger players, it has users moving around and popping color-coordinated bubbles to the rhythm of a song. There are three difficulty levels and the easiest is perfect for a first outing in virtual reality. It’s a decent total body workout as you’ll be squatting to avoid lasers as well.
Hotel Transylvania Popstic is currently available on Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Windows Mixed Reality. It has a fitness rating comparable to an elliptical by the VR Institute of Health and Exercise, and costs $19.99 on Steam.
Knockout League
There are a lot of great boxing titles in VR but Knockout League is the perfect mix of arcade fun and a solid workout. There are colorful enemies, that sometimes get as ridiculous as going up against a boxing octopus, and the combat is always fun. There are also some fun mini-games to be found via the game’s training alley.
Knockout League is available now on Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, Windows Mixed Reality, and PlayStation VR for $19.99. It has been given a fitness rating comparable to rowing by the VR Institute of Health and Exercise.
Ninja Legends
Featuring four difficulty modes, Ninja Legends is an active action game that winds up being one of the best VR fitness games for beginners. This will test your reaction speed as you attempt to fend off waves of ninjas with melee combat and even archery thanks to an update. Special skills that unleash katanas, claws, staffs and chain darts into the game help it stay fresh throughout.
Ninja Legends is available on Steam and the Oculus Store for $19.99. The game is playable on Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, and Windows Mixed Reality. It has been given a fitness rating comparable to an elliptical by the VR Institute of Health and Exercise.
Nothin’ But Net
If you’re looking to practice shooting hoops then you’ll want to check out Nothin’ But Net. You’ll get to work on your dribbling and shooting throughout a number of single-player modes. There are also multiplayer mini-games to check out including horse, speed ball, three point shootouts, knockout, and free throw competitions.
Nothin’ But Net is available now on Valve Index, HTC Vive, and Oculus Rift. It costs $9.99 on Steam.
OhShape
if you’re looking for something simple that doesn’t have a lengthy learning curve then OhShape is a great starting point. The game is built around the player moving their body into shapes that match oncoming walls. It becomes more of a workout as players dodge obstacles and punch objects, and it’s fun trying to set a high score in.
OhShape is available now on HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, and Windows Mixed Reality for $14.99. It is coming soon to PlayStation VR.
Racket Fury: Table Tennis VR
If you want a light arm exercise then you should purchase Racket Fury: Table Tennis VR. This great table tennis sim has fantastic physics and players get to test their racket skills against 16 different opponents that each have their own play style. Online play rounds out the fun and it’s an enjoyable way to burn calories.
Racket Fury: Table Tennis VR has been given a fitness rating comparable to using an elliptical by the VR Institute of Health and Exercise, and costs $19.99. It’s playable on Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Oculus Quest. It is currently available on Steam and the Oculus Store for $19.99.
Rec Room
While it’s mostly known as a free social hub, Rec Room has plenty of mini-games that offer up a solid workout as well. There are a ton of different modes including a Rec Royale shooter that has players using cover and taking out other players. Other fun modes include Laser Tag, Paintball, Soccer, and Rec Room Quests. With no entry fee, it’s worth downloading and checking out.
Rec Room is available now for free on Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, Windows Mixed Reality, and PlayStation VR.
Soundboxing
If you’re picky about music and want to play a rhythm game with songs you dig then you’ll want to play Soundboxing. It will allow you to use YouTube videos to generate a song. That’s an incredible amount of variety and it’s a solid arm workout as well.
Soundboxing is available now on Valve Index, HTC Vive, and Oculus Rift for $15.99. It has been given a fitness rating comparable to tennis by the VR Institute of Health and Exercise.
Sports Scramble
Another Oculus exclusive, Sports Scramble is a wild sports mash-up that has players playing baseball with hockey sticks and tennis with a golf club. It’s ridiculous, but in a really fun way. There are multiplayer modes available and it never takes itself too seriously.
Sports Scramble is available now exclusively on Oculus Rift and Oculus Quest. The game costs $29.99.
Superhot VR
While Superhot VR doesn’t fit the traditional mold of a fitness title, it’s actually a fantastic way to see how playing a game at room scale creates an incredible experience that is only available in virtual reality. This first-person shooter is an excellent low intensity workout as it keeps the player regularly moving but every motion is thought about. The shooter revolves around the mechanic that time only moves when you perform an action, so you’ll be dodging bullets and working your way through rooms full of enemies as if it was an action film. There aren’t many cooler experiences in VR, and it will test your mind as well as help you burn some calories.
Superhot VR has a fitness rating comparable to walking by the VR Institute of Health and Exercise. It won our Best VR Shooting Fitness Game of the Year in 2017 and is playable on Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, Windows Mixed Reality, and PlayStation VR. The game is currently available on Steam for $24.99.
That does it for VR Fitness Insider’s list of the best VR fitness games for beginners 2020. With this great selection, there is little doubt that you will find yourself hooked on using virtual reality to get a great workout in.
