The fun workout for people who hate to work out!
Supernatural (or SN for short) has elements of a rhythm game but is clearly devoted to fitness. The basic idea is that you strike targets coming at you with bats while squatting and lunging to fit through triangles interspersed with the targets, resulting in a great full-body workout.
While this may sound like other rhythm and fitness games out there, SN is different in several key ways:
- Workouts are full of music you know and love from the 1960s through today as well as classical music favorites. Genres include Pop, various kinds of Rock, Country, Electronic, Classical, and Hip-Hop/Rap (compared to the mostly Electronic playlists found in most rhythm games). We find that working out to music we know and can sing or hum along to is so much more enjoyable and makes the workout time just fly by. In our view, this alone makes SN stand out from the others.
- Each workout has a coach who leads a warm-up and cool-down to each workout, provides tips on proper form throughout the workout, and gives motivating encouragement. The 5 current coaches are all members of the official SN Facebook group and actively interact with members.
- These are full-body workouts, engaging the upper body, lower body, and core
- You work out in gorgeous locations around the globe, such as on the path to Mt. Everest in Nepal, on a dock in the Maldives, on the Great Wall of China, at the Pyramids of Egypt, on Easter Island…and even on Mars! The virtual locations are based on real images, with the exception of a few breathtakingly gorgeous realistic-looking digital creations.
- There are new workouts every day, ranging in intensity from Low to Moderate to High and in duration from a short 7-8 minute session to a 45-minute post-Thanksgiving endurance challenge. Mix and match for your ideal workout session.
- The program adapts to your abilities, allowing re-calibration at any time that will automatically adjust the distance of the targets from your body and the depths of the squats and lunges, or you can turn the squats and lunges off altogether.
- Dedicated stretching sessions are included for those times you want an extended warm-up or cool-down, or just want to stretch out a bit longer.
- There are also short meditation sessions when you need to slow down and just breathe.
- The app connects to many heart rate monitors to show you real-time performance and tracking. (Check their website for the most recent list of compatible trackers…Fitbits are not yet supported but we hear Fitbit is working on that.)
- The SN team actively solicits community feedback and is regularly rolling out updates that incorporate that input.
Can you tell how much we love SN? We are not affiliated with SN, just fanatics whose lives were changed by this program. And we are not alone – we hear over and over from members of the SN community, including those well into their 70s, how it has turned them from someone who hates working out to athletes who can’t wait to get their SN on every day. That’s why you’ll find a special section on our site devoted to tips related to SN.
Unlike the other games we list here, SN is currently available only in North America, works only when you have an internet connection, and has a gym-like subscription-based model of $19/month or $179/year thereafter. You can have 4 profiles on one headset with that subscription. The vast majority of the negative reviews we hear about the program are about this subscription cost, with people divided on whether it’s worth the cost or not. You be the judge with their free 30-day full-capability trial!
SN also does not currently have a native multiplayer mode that lets you work out with friends, but we know of many players who join up in the Oculus party mode then go into SN to work out together. The SN user community is one of the most positive, uplifting, supportive group of people we’ve ever seen in the digital world, and you’ll be welcomed with open arms no matter how fit or experienced you are.
Get Supernatural from the Oculus Store