Beat Labs
A downloadable game
TL;DR
Beat Labs is a free and open sandbox for fiddling with different gameplay mechanics and ideas for rhythm games in VR. Itโs powered by BeatSaver - a database of over 70 000 community-made song beatmaps for Beat Saber.
It currently focuses on the mechanics of Beat Saber but eventually there will be various modifications to the way the game feels and plays.
Weโre doing it in the open so come and join the discussion on our Discord!

LINKS
DETAILS
So I've been in love with Beat Saber โค๏ธ for more than a year now and I still can't get enough of it, especially since I started playing custom songs. The ingenuity of some of the maps created by fans made me realize that this game has almost infinite replayability but also a great potential just waiting to be unleashed. Simple (but not simplistic) rules and somewhat constrained gameplay mechanics brought to light a lot of talent and creativity among the mappers community. Hats off to them! ๐
After I got somewhat good at the game, my playing sessions got longer and longer. During those sessions I started experiencing increased activity in my brain, which shouldn't come as a surprise as I was actually doing moderate cardio workouts, with heart pumping more blood and providing more oxygen. My mind was going into this "flowing", creative state. It would generate one idea after another, how I could either improve the gameplay, tweak a mechanic or even change it altogether. ๐ง
That's how I developed this itch that I've just recently started scratching. I decided I would like to create a rhythm game of my own. Actually, rather than committing to one single idea for a full-fledged game, I was thinking more of a playground, a test bed, a sandbox for all those ideas I've been having. Central theme, of course, would be the rhythm, or music in general, which I also care about deeply. ๐ผ๐ถ
Another aspect that I would like to put a strong emphasis on is physical activity, general fitness. In Beat Saber, getting a cardio workout comes as a side-effect of playing, which is awesome but gameplay could be designed so that it more purposefully drives players' moves in order to improve their body awareness, mobility, cardiovascular function, muscle endurance and maybe even strength. ๐บ๐ช
I myself have been working as a software developer for more than a decade, mostly doing business applications (lately focusing on eXtended Reality - VR/AR/MR) but what really got me into programming, when I was around 10, was game development - something I've been quietly dreaming of doing full-time ever since. I am currently at a place in my life where I can devote a significant amount of time to a gamedev project. Hell, yeah! ๐ฅ
Beat Labs is still in very early stages. I did, however, start writing some code, so it's not like I only have a bunch of ideas without means or capacity to execute on them ๐ The reason I am talking about it now is that I don't want to repeat my mistakes of the past. Specifically, I don't want to isolate myself in a proverbial garage, working for God knows how long, trying to implement everything by myself only to finally burn out and/or completely miss the mark with the project ๐คทโโ๏ธ
This time around I hope it will be a collaborative effort, so if you would like to:
- play early versions of the game ๐ฎ
- discuss ideas and/or provide feedback ๐ก
- talk about rhythm games (especially in VR/AR) ๐ฌ
- learn game development (in Unity) along the way ๐ฉโ๐ป
- contribute your time, knowledge and experience as a programmer, an artist or in any other way ๐
feel free to reach out via Discord: join the discussion on our Discord
See you there! ๐ค
PS Beat Labs is also available to download on SideQuest:
- Beat Labs for Quest: https://sidequestvr.com/app/3832/beat-labs
- Beat Labs for Pico: https://sidequestvr.com/app/12483/beat-labs-for-pico
Updated | 6 days ago |
Status | Prototype |
Author | marek-stoj |
Genre | Rhythm |
Tags | fitness, Music, Sandbox, Virtual Reality (VR) |
Development log
- Beat Labs v0.22 released6 days ago
- Beat Labs v0.20 released28 days ago
- Beat Labs v0.19 released38 days ago
- Beat Labs v0.18 released51 days ago
- Beat Labs v0.17 released78 days ago
- Beat Labs v0.16 released83 days ago
- Beat Labs v0.15 released85 days ago
- Beat Labs v0.11 released (support for Pico headsets)99 days ago
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