Best hand-tracking games for Meta Quest 2024

Using hand tracking with Oculus Quest 2
(Image credit: Future)

The Meta Quest headsets are amazing pieces of technology, but did you know you can actually use your hands in place of controllers for some games and apps? It adds a whole new level of immersion to VR. We've curated a list of the best hand-tracking games for the Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest 3, with designs that work best when you ditch your Touch controllers and rely on your own touch instead.

While there are a good number of games on the Oculus Store to download, SideQuest provides even more hand-tracking experiences to play with — and they're all free, too! Make sure you install SideQuest on your headset before downloading those.

Note: For the best results, always play in a well-lit room for optimal hand-tracking performance — the brighter, the better. We cannot stress that enough.

Check out the best hand tracking games for the Meta Quest

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The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets

The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets is a charming game for all ages, heights, and skill levels. Follow the narration of your grandfather through half a dozen imaginary worlds to find the stolen pets and discover a wonderful tale of lost childhood memories in the process. Hand tracking is a perfect fit for this laid-back title.

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The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets

A highly immersive, accessible game with a heartwarming story that's chock full of charming puzzles, the physics-based gameplay of The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets is made even better with hand tracking.


Buy From: Oculus

Cubism

Tetrominoes get a three-dimensional enhancement in Cubism, a puzzler that has you placing funky-shaped pieces inside a larger puzzle. The trick here is that, like playing Jenga, you'll be utilizing your primary digits to grab these pieces and put them in the right place. It's a great way to relax while keeping your brain active, and using your fingers to grab virtual puzzle pieces feels amazing. Bet you can't complete them all!

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Cubism

With over 90 puzzles that emphasize spatial thinking and a relaxing vibe, Cubism is a perfect way to simultaneously unwind and give your brain a workout. Hand tracking makes solving the challenges in this meditative puzzler feel even more satisfying.

Buy From:
Oculus

Rogue Ascent VR

Remember when you were a kid and pretended to get into sci-fi shootouts with your friends? Rogue Ascent VR takes that concept and cranks it up to 11. As its title suggests, it's a roguelike where you ascend up a tower to collect some upgrades, either permanently or per run. What separates Rogue Ascent VR from others in the genre is that the whole game utilizes hand tracking superbly. You'll blast your way up the tower with actual finger guns and raise up your arms to summon a laser shield. There's multiple character classes, bosses, and even Twitch integration for VR streamers!

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Rogue Ascent VR

Taking the concept of finger guns to a whole new level, Rogue Ascent VR is a fresh take on the roguelike genre thanks to its incredible use of hand tracking. A variety of character classes and online leaderboards help add a ton of replay value, too.

Buy From: Quest Store

Vacation Simulator

As a sequel to the veritable VR masterpiece Job Simulator, Vacation Simulator takes all the zany action of Owlchemy Labs' first game to a tropical paradise... or a beautiful forest, or even a snow-capped mountain. This time around, instead of trying to recreate the riveting experience of a set of monotonous jobs, you're tasked with recreating the experience of a human vacation. Roast marshmallows, go for a ski, or build elaborate sandcastles — all with your very own hands!

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Vacation Simulator

Full of the same wacky humor that made its predecessor a VR must-have, Vacation Simulator combines a plethora of minigames with its signature focus on physics-based hijinks. Using your hands to sculpt sandcastles, paint pictures, and pile up ice cream cones makes the experience even more fun.

Buy From: Oculus

Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic

Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic pits you as a wizard with nearly unlimited magic power. Practice your moves in your den before heading out into the world to vanquish evildoers and monsters alike. Aside from some incredible hand-tracking capabilities, Waltz of the Wizard features an impressive new movement system that's sure to keep your mind off typical "fake" VR movement and more on the action at hand.

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Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic

Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic lets you live out your childhood — and, let's be honest, adulthood — fantasy of being a wizard. The gesture-based magic system is enhanced with hand-tracking, and the game even offers voice commands to make the experience feel more real than ever before.

Buy From: Oculus

Hand Physics Lab

Developer Dennys Kuhnert of Holoception fame has been working on this incredible collection of hand tracking experiments since Meta opened up the development floodgate, and the results are nothing short of amazing. While it was once a SideQuest-only experimental release, the full version on the Quest Store features over 80 different puzzles to solve, achievements to earn, and cats to pet in VR.

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Hand Physics Lab

While it can be played with Touch controllers, Hand Physics Lab is at its best when played with hand tracking. From cracking safes to painting eggs, Hand Physics Lab is a charmingly strange showcase of hand tracking technology in VR.

Buy From: Oculus

Startenders

Have you ever thought to yourself, "Wow, the 1988 Tom Cruise vehicle Cocktail would have been a much better movie if it were set in space"? Probably not! But Startenders proves that such a weird concept can work fantastically. You'll have to manage an onslaught of drink orders while bartending for aliens, juggling bottles of intergalactic booze and space kitchen gadgets. There are thousands of drink recipes, and you can even create custom cocktails that patrons will order in story mode.

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Startenders

Startenders is a delightfully funny game that has you balancing between making complex alien drink orders accurately and making them as quickly as possible. Using your own hands to pull off bartending tricks worthy of a viral video — be it from either success or failure — adds a lot to the already enjoyable gameplay.

Buy From: Oculus

Little Cities

We fell in love with Little Cities when it launched back in May 2022. Now that more time has passed, developer Purple Yonder has included a few updates that's made the game even better — including hand tracking. Little Cities already had an intuitive UI and hand tracking is such a natural fit for the overall experience. Navigating the bubble-based menus and building your cities with your own two hands is a ton of fun.

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Little Cities

A casual and simple city building sim, Little Cities places an emphasis on creating a cheerful atmosphere. Hand tracking lends itself incredibly well to placing roads and plopping down buildings as you grow your cities.

Buy From: Oculus

Myst

When the remake of Myst released in December 2020, we thoroughly enjoyed the updated take of such a classic game, but it still had a few issues. The lack of an in-game journal was the number one complaint; because Myst is focused solely on puzzles, players had to constantly remove their headset to take notes. It broke the immersion pretty badly. Recently, Myst received an update that not only added the in-game journal, but hand tracking as well. Interacting with the various books and mechanisms that make up the world of Myst makes for a highly immersive experience — and this time, it never breaks.

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Myst

The original Myst is a landmark entry in the video game canon and is regarded as a classic for good reason. Being able to play the remake in VR, however, makes the experience of Myst perfect for newcomers and old fans alike. VR lets you step into Myst, but it's hand tracking that truly makes you feel like you've been transported into its dreamy world.

Buy From: Oculus

Unplugged: Air Guitar

Guitar Hero changed gaming forever when it launched in 2005 and allowed players everywhere to live out their rockstar fantasies with a physical guitar controller. Unfortunately, this rockin' gaming trend died out in the eighth console generation. Unplugged: Air Guitar brings it back in a brilliant way that only VR can accomplish: you don't need a controller because the guitar itself is entirely virtual. While this can be played with the Touch Controllers, it's much more fun to use hand tracking and strum along to epic guitar riffs from your favorite rock songs just like you normally do when no one else is watching (that's not just me, right?).

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Unplugged: Air Guitar

Everyone likes to jam out on an imaginary air guitar once in awhile, but Unplugged: Air Guitar turns those movements into proper music through hand tracking. The base game has over 50 rock songs spanning five decades of rock music, with everything from Ozzy Osbourne to Weezer. DLC packs expand upon this with the music of Pantera, Rob Zombie, and more.

Buy From: Oculus

Free experiences

Tiny Castles

Quite literally designed to showcase how hand tracking could work on a full-fledged action-adventure game, Tiny Castles represents one of the more complete experiences on this list. It's still a short game, but its mechanics are tailor-made to make magic-wielding with hand tracking a more enjoyable experience. Plus, it's totally free and on the official Oculus Store. What could get better or easier than that?

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Tiny Castles

Created with the sole purpose to show what hand tracking is capable of, Tiny Castles focuses less on difficulty and more on the potential of hand tracking technology. It also includes a separate "Playground" mode that allows you to experiment with the hand tracking mechanics outside of the main game.

Get From: Oculus

Elixir

As a fledgling apprentice, you get free reign of the sorceress's lab and all the amazing magic hidden within. But be warned, you may alter yourself in unintended ways with no option of turning back. Do you think you can master the spells and tasks assigned to you, or are you doomed to live the rest of your life with tentacle fingers?

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Elixir

Mixing the whimsical comedic tone of games like Job Simulator with a world of fantasy, Elixir lets you experience all the discomfort of being an unpaid and overworked magical intern right from your very own home. Hand tracking enhances the joys and horrors of poking disembodied eyes and giving yourself octopus hands.

Get From: Oculus

Tea for God

If you're looking for a great example of what hand tracking can add to an already unique experience, the oddly named Tea for God is a great choice. Tea for God is a never-ending procedurally-generated experience, meaning the game creates its world as you play and it's different every single time. On top of being one of the best room-scale experiences available, Tea for God utilizes the hand tracking feature in a uniquely natural way. You can make guns by simply holding up your thumb and index finger, punch enemies when they get too close, and even use your fingers to touch buttons and control environmental objects.

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Tea for God

A highly customizable and procedurally generated game, Tea for God is one of the most unique experiences available on the Quest 2. Hand tracking turns a pair of finger guns into actual guns and allows you to interact with the world in immersive ways.

Get From: Oculus

VRtuos

Were you once interested in learning how to play the piano, only to find that the keyboard you picked up from a garage sale was too challenging? VRtuos works by lining up your real-world piano, whether it's a bargain-bin keyboard or a glorious grand piano, with a virtual one that teaches you the ropes. Colored notes rain down into each key you need to press, helping you not only press the right notes, but to hold them as long as you're supposed to. Five bundled songs get things started and you can even import any MIDI file to help you learn that song you've always wanted to play.

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VRtuos

Less of a game and more of a teaching tool, VRtuos uses VR to teach you how to play your real-world keyboard. It also allows you to import any song you want as a MIDI file, meaning you can finally learn how to nail that piano solo in your favorite songs.

Get From: Oculus

Interdimensional Matter

Interdimensional Matter is a puzzle game that appears to be simple on the surface; take the object apart, insert the "cores" into the correctly shaped slots, and put the object back together. Even a preschooler could do it, right? In this dimension, sure, but between dimensions, there's no telling what will happen to the matter as it bends and moves in ways you won't expect. It doesn't feel the same without your hands, and that's what makes this such an excellent experience!

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Interdimensional Matter

A unique puzzle game with a deceptively simple premise, Interdimensional Matter is the type of experience that could only be done in VR. Manipulating matter with your own hands adds a whole new layer of satisfaction to this puzzler.

Get From: SideQuest

Voxel Works Quest

While the Oculus Rift has an official version of Minecraft, the Oculus Quest is without its own port of the venerable voxel survival game. Voxel Works Quest attempts to recreate the magic of Minecraft with the bonus of letting you use your actual hands to interact with the blocky world. It's still got a long way to go before it has all the features of Microsoft's incredibly deep title, but it's darn fun to play, given the new level of interaction present.

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Voxel Works Quest

As a Minecraft-lite experience, Voxel Works Quest transports you into a voxel world and lets you — yup, you guessed it — mine and craft to your heart's content. Instead of just relying on controllers, however, it lets you get into the action using your very own hands to truly immerse yourself in a charmingly chunky virtual world.

Get From: SideQuest

VRWorkout

VRWorkout is designed to be a way to get exercise rather than playing a game that happens to accelerate your heart rate. It's better designed for hand-only interaction than games like Beat Saber or Pistol Whip, which rely on ultra-precise controller aiming and movement. It's actively being developed and has seen several updates since its debut, and the developer has been very responsive with feature requests and additions.

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VRWorkout

VRWorkout lets you break a sweat through customizable exercise activities, all of which utilize hand tracking. It's a great way to get your heart pumping while enjoying VR.

Get From: Oculus

Mr. Scribbles

Mr. Scribbles is a unique drawing game that aims to create a completely natural way of interacting with virtual elements. Utilizing a set of gestures and hand movements, virtual artists can create lines and shapes out of thin air. These shapes can then be manipulated in several ways, including resizing, changing the color or material, and just about anything your mind can concoct. You can even create little planets, set them to spin, and toss objects into their orbits.

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Mr. Scribbles

There are plenty of virtual art programs on the Quest 2 for the artistically inclined, but Mr. Scribbles is a great pick for anyone wanting something a little more simple and laidback. Rather than relying on controllers, your own hands can be used to scribble art and interact with it in unique ways.

Get From: SideQuest

Sun Shard: Hand Tracking Demo - Might of the Gods

Gamers familiar with the Black & White series will know that god games can be incredibly rewarding to play. While Sun Shard doesn't encompass all the qualities of a full-fledged god game, it does put you in the shoes of a rather large deity whose goal is to defend a totem against an invading hoard. Grab, smack, pummel, and shoot magic at your enemies as they head wave-after-wave into your sanctuary and try to dismantle the totem that gives you power.

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Sun Shard: Hand Tracking Demo - Might of the Gods

Stepping into the shoes of a giant deity is a classic VR gimmick for a reason — it's just plain fun. Sun Shard lets you unleash your inner godlike rage by using your own hands to flick and crush all the tiny enemies who challenge you.

Get From: SideQuest

Hand tracking in VR is a blast, and is mostly free

After a year-long beta run on the original Meta Quest, hand tracking was launched as part of the main feature set of the Quest family just before the Oculus Quest 2 came out. Since then, we've seen several developers implement hand tracking into their games. Many of the best Meta Quest games don't support it; but thanks to the hand tracking 2.0 update, the games that do use hand tracking work better than ever before!

If you're just looking to experiment with hand tracking and get a feel for how it works, stick to the free section above. Make sure you have SideQuest installed, as most free games require you to sideload them via the SideQuest app on your smartphone. However, games like Tiny Castles and Elixir can be installed directly from the Oculus Store with no additional changes to your Oculus Quest.

Cubism and Rogue Ascent VR are our top picks for the best hand-tracking experiences as far as more full-fledged games go. Cubism offers laidback puzzles to see the novelty of hand tracking, while Rogue Ascent VR is more of an intense game that shows its true potential. As always, make sure you play all of these games in a bright room, as the Quest's cameras will need to be able to see your hands to track them best.

Nick Ransbottom
Freelance writer, VR/AR

Nick is a freelance journalist and games reviewer with a passion for RPGs, bad puns, and VR. When he isn’t guesting on podcasts or streaming on Twitch, he’s probably playing Borderlands with his husband.