The best VR sports games (for Oculus Quest 2) you can try for free!

Despite the pandemic and stock shortages, Oculus Quest 2 devices are selling like hot cakes - maybe since people and families have been going on holiday less. It’s always important to move around and preferably keep fit and VR can offer a way to do this with more... motivation. Especially if you've been spending too much time earning our free points here at Prizes Drop, simply by completing our easy, desk-bound mini-tasks. 

 

Once you start working out in VR, you'll find the headset can get more and more uncomfortable the longer you wear it, so it's a good plan to keep your workouts short until the Quest 2 tech evolves.

 

What's cool is that the Oculus Quest 2 has a native Move app tracker which tracks your fitness as you spend more time in VR. A lot of people turn this off, but if you’re serious about keeping fit, then it’s another cool data tracker that many apps will use to help you get fitter or stay that way. You can get quite detailed stats about what you've been able to do in one session. 

 

But it’s not just sports / fitness games that can be pricey for the Oculus Quest 2. Luckily you have an option to download some early versions of games for free via Sidequest VR / App Lab website, which are apps that haven’t yet reached the full Oculus store. You can log in to Sidequest VR / App Lab apps and download them directly to your Oculus account (handy!)

 

Otherwise, you can find and play the free demos directly via the Oculus store.

 

Ready to go? Check out the following for a good idea of what you’ll be in for…

 

Fit XR

You get a nice array of starter sessions here to explore, featuring different activities. You also get the added motivation of exercising next to other users, trying them out too.

 

The sessions where you’re dodging, punching and ducking objects like a rhythm game, are particularly engaging. This is a great, free taster of what working out in VR is like. Try out the demo today.

 

 

Tennis League VR

Good for a light warm-up, this is available free on App Lab just now. You can try a good range of settings, from constant balls pumping at you courtesy of the machine, or try the - much harder - virtual opponent. It’s tennis as we know it, and it plays and feels like the real thing, except for a complete simulation of a court, which would remove the less precise dependence on teleporting. 

 

 

Dance Central (demo)

The demo for this one is still available. The cartoon style is really cool, and doesn't take away the great dance music and routines prepared for you. By mimicking the character exactly, you'll find yourself moving a lot and staying the course until the end of the song.

 

Copy every movement, including the hand gestures, and you get an even better score, and the dancers around you get more interested and enthusiastic. It's motivational stuff! For all dancers out there, this could be the only fitness app you need to bother with. 

 

 

Creed: Rise to Glory (demo)

You’ve not tried a boxing game in VR until… you’ve played a boxing game in VR!

 

You’ll be surprised at how it feels to be put on the defensive suddenly. It’s this intense realism that gets the adrenaline pumping and fists flying. 

 

The demo is intense, perhaps too much for some, but the full game will be less so, with more practice sections. Search for the demo on Oculus Store.

 

 

Racket: NX

Really cool graphics see you inside a spherical arena where you must tennis-hit a futuristic ball against the wall to clear levels. Your racket is also a sci-fi TRON-style plaything, and you'll be swinging it wildly to create stronger shots and clear the walls faster. It's a game with big potential and you can get a demo for free still on App Lab. 

 

Ok folks, that’s our quick and easy ‘run-down’ to get you trawling through the app stores in search of fitness experiences. All for free, and from your own home, thanks to the advent of VR.

 

Once headsets get lighter and the technology evolves, these apps are only set to improve and get more comprehensive. Tie such fitness apps to real-world machines like bikes etc and you can see the way it can go. In fact, for many public gymnasiums to incorporate the tech too, would be an interesting option.

 

It's just the beginning for sports and work out in VR, and it could be life-changing. Next time you attend a real gym, you could be feeling more confident in general too, and not be scared of using any of the machinery to hand.

 

Once you've got tired, it's back to earning more points here at Prizes Drop. Your next free Amazon purchase awaits!