Looking for a good VR rhythm or music game to play on Quest? Here are our best picks.
One of the most prominent genres in VR is music and rhythm games. It’s a type of game that found success early on in VR with Beat Saber and has since become a staple of the medium.
If you’re looking for the best rhythm games or music titles available for Meta Quest and Quest 2 on the Oculus Store, here are our picks.
Best Music & Rhythm Games – Quest 2
Beat Saber
Let’s get this one out of the way — what would be a rhythm game list without the unbeatable king of rhythm games, Beat Saber? There’s nothing to say that you probably don’t already know — it’s one of the oldest rhythm games on the platform and the VR game that’s had the most mainstream exposure.
Using a lightsaber in each hand, the aim of the game is to slash on beat and in the right direction, matching the music playing in the background. There’s been a bunch of updates, new content and DLC music packs since release, and that doesn’t look set to stop anytime soon.
Beat Saber is an essential rhythm game on Quest. As you’ll see further down, it’s such a hit that it’s hard not to compare every other VR rhythm game against it.
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Unplugged
One of the newer entries on the list, Unplugged uses Quest’s hand tracking technology to bring your air guitar dreams to life. It works like a mashup of Guitar Hero and Tap Tap Revenge — make chord shapes with one hand, as they fall towards the air guitar strings, and strum to the rhythm with the other.
The Quest’s hand tracking technology isn’t perfect and involves a bit of a learning curve to increase the reliability, but it works well enough the vast majority of the time. Unplugged is unbelievably good fun and will probably be around for many years to come.
Read more: Unplugged Review: Thrilling Air Guitar With Unmatched Hand Tracking Capabilities
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Pistol Whip
Imagine if Beat Saber and Superhot had a baby… Well, there’s a lot more to Pistol Whip than that, but it gives you a general idea of what to expect.
Shoot your guns to the beat of the music — the more in time and accurate your shots are, the better your score. Some enemies take multiple shots to go down, while others will require a short range melee attack.
Not only is Pistol Whip thrilling, but it also is one of the Quest’s most consistently updated games, constantly receiving new levels, expansions and content — and all for free!
Read more: Pistol Whip Smoke & Thunder Marks New Era For Cloudhead Games
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OhShape
Perhaps the least conventional entry on this list, OhShape sees you positioning your body into various shapes, matching the cutouts in rapidly approach blocks. It’s like a strange mix between Tetris and VR rhythm-based gameplay.
Read more: OhShape Review: Beat Saber For Your Body
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Synth Riders
Synth Riders is another game that’s been around for many years and yet continually pushes out new content and DLC packs. It’s a game with slicker movements compared to others on this list, focusing a bit more on gliding and flowing actions, as opposed to slashing or hitting.
The library of songs available isn’t quite on the level of something like Beat Saber, but there have been some big draws, such as the recent Muse DLC pack.
Read more: Synth Riders Launches New 5-Track Muse DLC Pack
Ragnarock
Ragnarock was a surprise VR rhythm hit in 2021, and for good reason. You play as the drummer of a viking boat, presented with several drumming patterns that rush towards you. If you beat the patterns in time, your crew will sing viking songs in tempo and row in the perfect pace to match the song.
Even better, the game supports multiplayer with cross-platform play, so you can go up against your friends in a viking drum battle at sea.
Read more: Ragnarock Hands-On: All Hail The Viking Drummer King
Smash Drums
It’s another drumming game, but this one is focused more on modern drum kits as opposed to the viking variety.
Smash Drums! will have you bang familiar parts of a drum kit as they zoom towards you — think Beat Saber, but instead of sabers and notes, you’re banging snares high hats with drumsticks.
Read more: Smash Drums Is Available Now On The Oculus Quest Store
Dance Central
Get your boogie on! It’s pretty slim pickings when it comes to dance games on Quest — Dance Central was a launch title for Quest back in 2019, and nothing has really come along to challenge it since.
While we can’t say the game has received much new content or many updates over the years, it’s definitely still a great (and technically only) option if you want a dancing game on your headset.
Read more: Dance Central VR Review: Grooving To The Music
What’s your favorite music or rhythm game on Oculus Quest? Let us know in the comments below.
