Why Lyft when you can teleport to the dancefloor?
Think dance clubs are just for traditionally attractive rich people and excessive alcohol consumption? Think again! VR is many things to many people, and one of those things is a fully digital nightclub and festival machine. Unlike at real-life clubs, you can actually dance at these premier VR nightlife spots and, if you’re feeling especially fancy, you can put on your best Oxfords without worrying about some bloke spilling Heineken all over them.
WaveVR
WaveVR is a VR dance party that doesn’t ever stop. Dancers can log in and create basic avatars, join each others’ rooms, and attend short (think 10 to 15 minute) festival sets from a regular schedule of artists. Each set takes place in a different handcrafted environment, and some environments have unique gimmicks like zero-g and flying. There are also collectible party favors that help you achieve different effects, including digital ‘trips’ that you can share with other dancers.
Rec Room
Rec Room is one of VR’s most accessible social apps, with ports on the PSVR and Oculus Quest, as well as flatscreen modes accessible to PC and PS4 (and soon iOS) users. Rec Room is a social game that hosts millions of user-generated rooms in addition to plenty of official game modes. Not everything is nightlife-related, but there are some great Rec Room dance clubs that feature live DJs and revere in the app’s more eclectic joy of gearing up in a headset and dancing with strangers over the internet. Stay up to date with the Rec Room Discord channel for announcements on club nights and dance nights.
VRChat
VRChat is the big one on our list. Last November, we reported on how VRChat offers an outlet to players who want to track themselves dancing in VR with full-body tracking. Likewise, the social VR hub continues to provide one of the most impressive shared space suites across the entire medium, including a range of venues spanning from dance clubs to yoga studios.
According to an email exchange with VRChat community member DJ Lumi, whose live sets you can find on his Twitch profile, there are evidently quite a few weekly parties that are worth catching in VRChat. First off, you can find events on Wednesdays and Saturdays in the Dirty Dancers community world. There’s also a ‘Club Crawl’ on Fridays, held by the Dirty Dancers community, where a group of dancers and a live DJ journey from world to world. In addition to those two, the DanceDanceVR club hosts parties on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.
We also recommend checking out Void Club, a public venue that hosts 24/7 dance parties in a Tron-esque neon kitsch setting. Other events are listed on the VRChat Events page.
Dance Central VR
Exclusive to the Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift headsets, Harmonix Music Systems’ Dance Central VR is a no-brainer for Oculus headset owners who want to learn some dance moves but also want a more structured dancing experience. It’s worth noting that Dance Central VR won’t teach you how to dance like a true professional would at a real studio, but it will certainly make you more used to choreography. And you might pick up some extra moves to show off in social VR apps while you’re playing it.
What’s your favorite VR game or app to go dancing in? Which ones did we miss? Let us know in the comments.