Step 1: buy Synth Riders via humble bundle for $12.

Step 2: search for "Synthriderz" and download 1800+ community tracks for free; install by literally dropping them into the custom songs folder, no modding required.

Step 2.5 (optional); install custom avatars, stages, and any desired mods.

Step 3: play until you're a sweaty mess. Wipe down headset, hydrate, repeat ad infinitum.

Seriously though, incredible value even at full price. Highly customizable with lots of game modes and settings to play with, and the constantly growing library of free community tracks (1800+ at time of review) seals the deal. Honestly I've barely touched the admittedly excellent base tracks because of it. To those coming from beat saber concerned about the skill ceiling I'd recommend adjusting your play space to 1.25 or so, as well as playing around with orb size and speed modifiers.

10/10, will be buying a second time to have standalone on my Quest 2.

This is NOT a Beat Saber clone.

Hear me out. It's the same genre, definitely. It's a game that in essence is about hitting notes flying towards your face with your hands. So far sounds pretty similar. There are a few major differences though.

1. More of a focus on just getting your hands to the notes rather than slashing every block indidually. This leads to a better flow where your hands (And by extension limbs) move more to the music. Where Beat Saber is more about accuracy and individual notes, Synth Riders seems to be more about the overall cadence of the song.

2. Easier to get into. As you're just looking to meet notes with your hands rather than semi-accurately slashing each note, it's a more intuitive and new player friendly experience. Learning curve is definitely still there if you try a song on Expert or Master, but for the most part I think this is easier to pick up and play.

3. Much more active gameplay. There are more custom walls and the notes are a bit more spread out, which means you really do have to move your body a lot more to get those notes and avoid smashing your head into walls (Which, by the way, make satisfying window-smashing noises when you do hit them).

4. Custom songs supported natively, no need to faff with mod managers. The only downside is there are currently only 350-ish custom songs. The game is much newer than Beat Saber though so expect the song library to grow and grow.

Overall, this game is in my opinion a more active, less punishing, more zen experience than Beat Saber. Don't get me wrong, I love BS and think it's easily justified my Vive purchase, but this game offers something different in the same genre.

It's like Beat Saber, but it actually goes on sale. So it's better than Beat Saber.

This game is not about fancy graphics or pushing the limits of VR. It's about having a great time. Amazing game with amazing community. Very underrated compared to other rythm games on the VR market right now. Please just get it already.

I tried this game within free demo time and I have to say, after playing a 300+ hours of beatsaber it has plusses and minuses.

Definitive minus for me is the music - I understand the stylization but synthwave is something I listen to on a long drive after I ran out of podcasts, not exactly a moving music. What totally excited me though was the Electro Swing which seems much more suitable for this mechanic.

From Expert+ in BS you can jump straight to master here, it's pretty much the same but some of the hand movements are way more satisfying than the same in BS, simply because of leading your hands in fun dancy ways by design. In BS you reach this only by already knowing the map when you have enough time to squeeze some fun moves in.

Downside is that orientation of the hands does not matter so I feel like the skill ceiling is going to be lower which does not matter for most players anyway.

You look 1% less dorky playing SR than BS which is good for parties and introducing people to VR.

Arm day: Beatsaber
Leg day: Pistol whip
Core day: Synth Riders

2 songs that make this game a 10/10:
Take That by RIOT (nu disco)
Electric Swing Circus - Empires (Electro Swing)

I used to be an unhealthy person due to certain choices in life.

Now I'm a sweaty unhealthy person.

Great basic exercise game. IMHO it is much more fun and active than Beat Saber. My only gripe is that the number of genres represented by the music DLC is a bit thin. No 90s, no 80s, (yes some of us old bastards do play this game).

Synth Riders is by far more superior than Beat Saber.

I was kinda a pro player similar to that of how Osu players rank, by farming super hard songs with goods scores. I was rank 493 peak world and 58 Canada. The difference? Beat Saber is bullet hell and "wrist" flicking.

Synth Riders offers a much more smoother dance vibe which gets you physically moving, not just flailing about.

It's an excellent game, but I am marking this down because of the predatory business practice. For the first few days after purchase, ALL songs are unlocked with no indication that the songs you're playing are locked behind DLC. Afterwards, the 'play' button is replaced with a big shiny price tag. 2$ per song is pretty hefty, too.

"First one's free" is for drug dealers. Don't encourage bad business practices. I wish I'd known beforehand.

If you enjoy Beat Saber but wish the higher difficulties were less about destroying your wrists and more about arm/body movement, this is the game for you. Tons of fun, and a great and welcoming community.