One of the biggest post-launch features added to the Oculus Quest to date has been uncontrollable hand tracking. With more and more games and experiences officially enforcing support or through SideQuest, we’ve picked the best Oculus Quest manual tracking games so far.
When the Oculus Quest launched last year, your only entry option was to use the built-in touch controllers. However, more than a year later, the headset now also supports uncontrolled hand tracking. You can use your hands not only to navigate the UI and task menus, but also as an input method for games and apps that have been updated with hand tracking support.
What are the best Oculus Quest hand tracking games?
While support slowly started, more games have added hand tracking capabilities since Oculus removed the functionality from the beta. If you are looking to try the best hand-tracking experiences that Quest has to offer, start here.
Honor mentions
Initiate manual tracking
This alternative version of Quest Introduction is available through the App Lab and offers the same experience, but has been modified to only use hand tracking instead of consoles. You can read more here.
VRtuos
This app allows you to calibrate its virtual piano on a real keyboard or piano, and it uses manual tracking to teach you songs while viewing notes above the keys. You can read more here.
10. Tea for God
While it’s a bit interesting, there’s a little overwhelming experience like getting lost in the winding lanes of this experimental first-person shooter. It really is possible to forget where you are when you shyly step around bends and take cover in the elevators. The game is best played with consoles, but it also supports Uncontrolled Hand tracking in Quest. Be warned – it’s definitely not perfect and can be buggy at times, but it’s still fun to play with.
Like VRtuos, Tea For God is only available via sideload, which you can do through SideQuest.
9. Virtual office
Virtual Desktop recently received an update that allows you to connect to your PC on your Quest from anywhere using only your hands, without the need for a console. If you download the Alternative SideQuest version of the app, the functionality (on a trial basis) will extend to controlling virtual reality games on PC, with your hands acting as mock touch controllers.
You can read more about the feature and how it works here.
8. Elixir
This game made its debut on Oculus Connect 6, where participants can try it as a demo, after announcing the hand tracking during the opening speech. Once manual tracking was introduced from the beta version and entered into the full version, the game became publicly available for free download.
It’s free and a good explanation of what you can do with manual tracking, so you have nothing to lose. You can read more here.
7. The line
Similar to Gloomy Eyes, The Line is a short and immersive experience that follows the story of Pedro, a miniature doll and newspaper delivery man. This only lasts about 15 minutes, but unlike Gloomy Eyes, you’ll use your hands to interact with things in The Line. The entertainment is so cool and the story is so magical. It might be a small package, but it’s totally worth it.
Find out more in our quick review.
6. The strange history of stolen animals
This true virtual reality title was released late last year, but it was one of the first games to officially support hand tracking in the Quest Store a few months ago. Each level is a world diorama style with layers of puzzles and collectibles. We had a few hijackers in our review (pre-written follow-up), but we were still huge fans of the game. Unlike some of the other games on this list, Curious Tale supports manual tracking as an input method for the game. Whole Game – This is not a dedicated or different mode specifically for hand tracking, so you will be able to play the game from start to finish without controllers if you like.
You can read our review of the game (written before incorporating manual tracking support) here, and watch an interview about manual tracking support with Curious Tale developer Kristoffer Benjaminsson from Fast Travel Games above.
5. Richie’s Planck Experiment
Even before support for manual tracking, Richie’s Plank Experience was known to produce some of the most immersive moments in virtual reality – you’ve all seen this video of a guy hopping on TV.
However, with the recent update to the Oculus Quest version of the game, the immersion has been increased further with the addition of hand tracking support. While the support is only for the mainboard sections of the game for now, it’s still an awesome and awesome experience. The lack of consoles makes everything more realistic, just like standing on a board suspended to the side of a skyscraper.
You can read more of our impressions here. This piece was written while the feature was still in beta, but support for manual tracking has now been implemented in the public release of the game on Quest.
4. Vacation simulation
Vacation Simulator added support for hand tracking very late in the game compared to some other games, but it is still one of the biggest and most popular games on this list which has added support for it. The free Back to Job expansions also add several mechanisms from the previous game, Job Simulator, so you should have plenty of content to keep moving forward.
Owlchemy Labs recently added support for New high-frequency manual tracking mode in Quest 2So these headphones will also benefit from some improvements in terms of performance and response time.
3. Waltz, a magician’s dance
There are plenty of manual tracking experiences available in the mission, but one of them is especially magical. Waltz of the Wizard’s hand tracking support allows you to use your hands to cast spells and manipulate the environment around you in multiple ways. Like any manual tracking experience, it’s not perfect, but it’s still one of the most memorable experiences with technology to date.
You can read our full impressions here.
2. Hand physics laboratory
Hand Physics Lab started out as a demo available for sideloading through SideQuest with a limited number of environments and interactive design to try out Quest’s new hand tracking support.
Now, Hand Physics Lab is available on Quest’s official Oculus store, supports manual and console input, and features many of these original (and new) interactions as part of a full-fledged puzzle game campaign. It is a unique test playground that can be very frustrating and satisfying. Hand Physics Lab is available at Oculus Store. You can Read our review here.
1. Cubism
Cubism is a deceptively simple game. Its puzzles are easy to understand but difficult to complete completely. It’s a slow and thoughtful experience, making it the perfect hand tracking solution.
It’s not that Cubism is pioneering anything with its implementation of hand tracing – all it does is pick up and place bits of 3D puzzles. But that’s all you need to create a handy tracking game that’s very cool and easy to understand while avoiding some of the friction that’s found in the other experiences on this list.
Not to mention, the games are one of the few (if not only) manual tracking experiences that also offer 120Hz support on Quest 2.You can Read our review of cubing here (Written before adding manual tracking support) and Read our thoughts on updating hand tracking here.
