Virtual Reality is in its infancy and there are a lot of things that will probably emerge in future headsets that we can only dream about now. If you’ve spent any amount of time in VR then you are probably with me in hoping that tiny little air conditioners inside the headset will be one of those things. But until then, sweat and VR are going to remain awkward bedfellows.

That being the case it would seem the only reasonable thing to do is sweat as much as you possibly can while using your VR. So slap on your VR Cover and dive into one of these games that through exertion wil turn your forehead into Niagra Falls

Dreadhalls10. Dreadhalls – You are in a dungeon filled with terrifying creatures and eerie noises. You have an oil lamp and a map that doesn’t tell you where you’re going, but will tell you where you’ve been. All you have to do is find the exit. The problem is you have no defense against the creatures aside from running and barricading yourself in a room. Dreadhalls is out on the Rift and the Gear VR and while it’s seated experience, it is a genuinely frightening and intense experience that is very likely to make you sweat.

Skeet VR Target Shooting
9. Skeet: VR Target Shooting – This game isn’t overly active, but having to manually pump your shotgun and aim your gun not with an analogue stick, but with your arms brings more activity to video games than most of us are used to.

 

 

Windlands8. Windlands – If you’ve ever dreamed about being Spiderman, but in nature instead of New York, then you will probably want to check out Windlands. On the Rift it’s a pretty laid back game that is unlikely to make you break a sweat, but load it up on the Vive and you may find yourself getting a little bit of a workout as you flail around trying to grapple the trees and make your way across the level. This is especially true if you turn your body rather than using the controller to turn.

Holopoint7. Holopoint – Holopoint is a game where you are a Samurai with a bow and arrow. You shoot glowing blue cubes and they explode, sending a laser back at you that you have to dodge. After you’ve shot a few cubes, glowing blue samurai start to attack. There are even boss fights. By the time you are done playing this game your heart will be hammering and your pores gushing like you’ve just finishe Sweatin’ to the Oldies with Richard Simmons… or whatever you kids are doing at the gym these days.

Audioshield

6. Audioshield – Audioshield doesn’t task you with pretending to play an instrument, or even dancing. Instead, it has you using a coloured shield in each hand to block the corresponding coloured projectiles, all to the rhythm of the music. It’s possible that if you are smooth enough it may look like dancing, but smooth or not, you are going to sweat playing this game.

 

Waltz of The Wizard5. Waltz of the Wizard – As the guys from Tested say after playing this game, “VR gets fitness for free.” What they mean by that is games that you would not think of as being overly active experiences become a workout on the Vive simply because you have to move around to play them. You may not sweat profusely while playing this game, but you’ll stil make a mess of your foam.

 

Thrill of the Fight4. Thrill Of The Fight – This one is a no brainer. It’s a boxing game in which you have to throw punches and block the punches of other players or dodge and weave to get out of the way. The only way this could be more of a work out is if you were in a real ring dodging real punches. You might be more motivated to exert yourself in that case.

 

Maximum Override3. Maximum Override VR – In Maximum Override VR you are a kaiju, or Japanese monster. A giant alien towering over the city and your job is to abduct a certain number of people, which you do by squashing them. Everything in the environment is destructable so you can fulfill your fantasies of knocking down buildings and just going on a rampage. Of course, rampaging is quite a workout and you’re bound to work up a sweat here.

 

Budget Cuts2. Budget Cuts – In this game you’ve broken into a facility where you’ve applied for a job and you aim to approve your own job application. The trouble is, the facility is patrolled by murderous robots that will kill you on sight. Hopefully the job pays well. To get your application approved you will have to use your teleportation gun and any weapons you can find to either avoid or take out the robots. When you want to enter a cramped space or open a safe under a desk you will have to physically duck. To throw knives you will have to make throwing motions with the controller. All this activity, when combined with the summer heat, is sure to dampen your facial foam.

Hover Junkers1. Hover Junkers – In Hover Junkers you are trying to survive by hovering over the surface of the planet on a ship and collecting junk that you use to fortify your ship or sell. There are other junk-collectors out there though and if you run into them you’ll have to take them out or be taken out by them. You have weapons but because this is VR you will need more than your thumbs to aim them. And if you want to duck behind cover you are going to have to actually duck behind cover. As these encounters are the main point of the game you can expect to be doing a lot of ducking, shooting and sweating.

This list is by no means exhaustive, but it is exhausting. That’s just a little workout joke. Anyway, playing any of these games is sure you leave you in a mess if you don’t take the proper precautions. Protecting your facial interface foam with a cover from VR Cover is the best place to start. Head over to our store to check out our various options.