Hand tracking is a relatively new technology first released by Meta in 2019. Essentially, with your Quest headset it allows the user to be able to interact with menus and game objects without needing a controller at all, creating an even more immersive environment.

While it is still new, not every developer has support for it in their games, but we've been seeing a growing number of games and experiences that are starting to utilize it it in fun and interesting ways!

To enable hand tracking, in your Quest menu click on the time on the lower left corner of the menu bar, then go to your Quest settings, then select 'hands and controllers' and flip the toggle to on.

Hand tracking can be a little finicky so for best quality results, make sure that you are playing in a room where your hands are illuminated well enough so that the sensors can see your hands better, making it easier be able to distinguish your hands from the rest of the environment.

Elixir

Let's get you warmed up with a hand tracking game that is absolutely free!

In this short experience, you play as a sorceresses apprentice as she walks you through her lab and guides you through various tasks.

Without giving away too many spoilers, you'll use hand tracking to teleport to various stations in the lab, interact with some experiments, and will transform your hands in some very interesting ways. Go ahead, dip your hands in that vat of goo, you know you want to!

Elixir is free on the Meta Quest store, which you can download here.

Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic

If you liked the magical style of Elixir, you'll love Waltz of the Wizard.

The best part about this game is that everything can be interacted with in some way. Not only can you pick up and explore things with hand tracking, but the game also makes some interesting use of gestures to communicate, cast and control spells.

Besides tinkering around in the workshop, the game also features a 40 level fortress with story line, combat and traps. At your arsenal are 10 different powers you can choose between, from lightning to tornadoes, spectral blades, shields and much more.

Powers aren't your only way to fight, you also have various explosive weapons such as grenades, proximity mines and bombs to help you against enemies in the fortress.

Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic is currently $19.99 on the Meta Quest store, and you can find out more information on the game here!

Hand Physics Lab

Hand Physics Lab is basically a crazy sandbox for hand tracking experiments! There are over 80 different puzzles and experiences to play around in.

Do some finger painting, pet a cat, build a cube tower, shake hands with your clone, throw some planets around and much much more.

Hand Physics Lab opens up a whole new world for "what could be" when it comes to hand tracking mechanics in future games.

This game has no learning curve and anyone of all ages can jump right in to experiment with hand tracking.

Hand Physics Lab is currently $9.99 on the Meta Quest store, and you can find out more information on the game here!

Unplugged

Guitar Hero fans unite! Unplugged takes the fun from Guitar Hero (fun fact: the lead guitarist produced this game as well) but takes that experience into VR. This game features tracks from familiar bands like The Offspring, Weezer, Ozzy Osbourne and more.

The more accurate you strum, the more excited the crowd will get! Through skill, you'll also be able to unlock more songs, venues, guitars and more.

The base game features over 20 songs and 4 difficulty levels, but you can purchase additional add-ons featuring bands like Pantera.

With hand tracking, become the best air guitarist this world has ever seen!

Unplugged is currently $24.99 on the Meta Quest store, and you can find out more information on the game here!

Vacation Simulator

The year is 2060 and robots have set out to discover what it was that humans used to do besides 'job'. Visit Vacation simulator for a full fledged idea on what human 'vacations' were like! Owlchemy labs (the developers behind Job Simulator and Comonious High) have created a game perfect for all ages, featuring three different vacation locations to explore and quest in.

Each location has a destination theme to it - spend time (mostly) relaxing on a tropical beach, roast some smores in a woodsy forest, or have a snowball fight in the frosty mountains! Talk to all the bots, complete their quests, collect all the things and most importantly, have fun!

Owlchemy Labs is known for is having incredibly interactive games and Vacation Simulator is no exception. If you can see it, you can interact with it - sometimes in surprising ways!

Vacation Simulator is currently $29.99 on the Meta Quest store, and you can find out more information on the game here!

Piano Vision

For pianists or aspiring out there, Piano Vision is perfect free learning tool for you. Piano Vision uses not only hand tracking but also pass-through technology to allow you to overlay the app right over your actual piano!

If you don't have an actual piano, not to worry, Piano Vision also features an "air piano" mode in which you can use to learn and practice.

Although it comes with sheet music to get you started, you can also upload your own custom songs using their companion desktop app.

Multiplayer modes in Piano Vision consist of having others visit you for a virtual concert, or even having someone there with you to help instruct you.

It includes sheet music but also an almost rhythm game like mechanic in which you can see which keys are coming up before you tap them.

Piano Vision free on the Quest App Lab, and you can find out more information on the game here!

The Curious Tale of The Stolen Pets

The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets is a wholesome little story based puzzle game in which you travel back in time to - as the title implies - solve the mystery of the stolen pets. Re-live the imaginative adventures of your childhood - both joy and the troubled relationship with your sister.

While I wouldn't say that the puzzles in this game are difficult by any means, they are very interactive and works extremely well with hand tracking. You'll come across different themed island like platforms to solve and get through.

The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets is currently $9.99 on the Meta Quest store, and you can find out more information on the game here!

Startenders

For an interesting twist on hand tracking...make drinks for aliens! As a student of the Startenders Academy Glactic Internship, learn to mix all the best drinks and impress your unique patrons.

Through successful missions you can also upgrade your bar with tools, accessories and furniture that will make future jobs easier (or faster).

Visit different bars, deal with bizzare ways of making drinks as you serve your way across the universe. There are over 100,000 possibilities of drink mixes, see if you can even come close!

Startenders is currently $14.99 on the Meta Quest store, and you can find out more information on the game here!

Little Cities

Little Cities is a charming little city building simulator. Start from a humble island village and turn it into a bustling metropolis. The game is easy to pick up but has a lot to discover!

See residents move in and populate your island as it grows from a humble village to a bustling mini-metropolis. Design the layout, strategically plot amenities, and make a perfect city where your citizens love to live.

Little Cities offers a lot of customization from building styles, to attraction types (Over 30 unlockable concession stands, street decorations and flora have been added in a recent update!)

Little Cities is currently $19.99 on the Meta Quest store, and you can find out more information about the game here!

EOLIA

Eolia is the longest, most in depth hand tracking experience on our list, boasting over 4 hours of gameplay.

Travel to the deserts of Eolia as Conga Dholak; a Modus determined to save the land from the great storm. Follow the inhabitants, telling the story of Salius Locrius and Nagrus Mohre, the great storm that left destruction in its wake.

Eolia is definitely a hand tracking first game, featuring a unique smooth locomotion/turning system (yes, with hand tracking!), and fun ways of interacting with menu systems, musical instruments, inventory, and even riding a mighty steed.

A portion of every purchase of the game benefits climate change initiatives, a kind gesture that ROTU Entertainment does with every game release.

While the best experience will be to play with hand tracking, Eolia can also be used with your typical touch controllers.

You can buy EOLIA for $14.99 on the Meta Quest store, and you can find out more information on the game here!

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Hand tracking is still in its infancy but it's been amazing to see what beautiful and crazy uses developers have made out of it.

We look forward to seeing what the future holds for hand tracking as a technology, both in its improvements and its use cases in the "hands" (see what we did there) of developers!