9 Things You Need To Try On SideQuest: A Beginner’s Guide
Our top suggestions for features, fixin’s, and first steps to check out once you’ve created a new account with SideQuest
SideQuest is the home of indie VR and all the hidden gems that come with it. With literally thousands of apps and games in our library—from game ports to educational apps, and everything in between—we’re the best place for VR enthusiasts to get their hands on the titles they want to see.
But there’s a whole lot more on offer at SideQuest besides the biggest and best collection of titles in VR!
Here are our top suggestions on things to do with SideQuest—and why you should check out these awesome features right now!
1. Create a SideQuest account
While you don’t need a SideQuest account to check out our catalog of games or browse and download titles on App Lab, you’ll be missing out on all of SideQuest's coolest features unless you sign up!
Once you do, you’ll be able to:
- Download our app for your headset or PC
- Experiment with advanced headset settings
- Enter free Giveaways
- Connect with your friends, build a wishlist, and leave game reviews
- Sideload a wide range of games you can’t find anywhere else
- And much more!
Haven’t got a SideQuest account yet? You can create your account right here!
2. Get SideQuest on Your VR headset!
With SideQuest on your headset, you can sideload and install almost our full catalog of apps directly into your headset without even taking it off!
And our brand-new Web Installer makes getting our in-VR app easier than ever! All you need to get started is:
- Debug Mode enabled on your headset
- A USB cable to connect your headset to your device
- A Chromium browser (Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge are ideal)
- A SideQuest account! Make one here if you haven’t got one
Once you have those sorted, you can get the SideQuest in-VR app installed in just 3 simple steps:
- Connect your headset to your device using the USB cable
- Go to ‘Get SideQuest’, select the Web Installer, and follow the quick steps
- Wait for your installation to complete!
Once completed, you’ll find SideQuest under ‘Unknown Sources’ on your headset. To find this folder, go to your app library, head to the top bar, and select filters — you’ll see ‘Unknown Sources’ listed near the bottom.
Then, just open SideQuest and start exploring!
3. Enhance your search with our filters
As soon as you head to our Games page, you’ll immediately see a list of all the categories you can use to help narrow your search: Adventure, Flying, and tons more! You can even search a category specifically for App Lab titles—something you won’t find on Meta’s Official Store.
That’s the easy part…
But did you know that you can use filters on SideQuest to help narrow your search even more—and find exactly what you’re looking for?
Using our filters, you can search for games by platform, cost, popularity, and more! Once you’ve selected a category, simply click the Filters button, select your criteria, and scroll down to see the results! Please note: the Filters button will only appear once you select a category.
This is particularly useful if you want to browse free content, sideload-only content, App Lab content, or even WebXR apps that don’t require installation and work inside a web browser. However you want to play, you’ll find it using our filters.
4. Get cozy with a new Custom Home
Bored of your standard Meta home environments? We have a whole category filled with dozens of stunning Custom Homes ready to explore.
Taking inspiration from popular movies, TV shows, video games, famous artworks, and more, updating your Quest’s home look is easy as pie. Simply choose the home you want, click ‘Sideload’, and it’ll be installed straight into the ‘Personalization’ area of your Quest settings.
You can learn more about Custom Homes—and check out a few of our faves—right here.
5. Sideload your first VR game port
SideQuest is synonymous with sideloading—unlocking your headset and being able to play any game you'd like without reasonable restriction. And what better way to start than by reliving a classic retro title?
VR game ports like Doom 3 and Quake are some of our most popular sideload-only titles on SideQuest, created by the talented Team Beef.
To get your hands on them, you’ll need to purchase the base game separately (usually found very cheap or on sale) and install our Desktop app using our Advanced Installer. Specific requirements for these titles can vary, so we’d recommend carefully reading the listing descriptions to find all the instructions you need to start playing!
To get our Desktop app and unlock everything SideQuest has to offer, follow that link or check out this video tutorial for more!
6. Tinker with advanced headset settings
Our SideQuest app allows you to access advanced settings on your Quest headset — things like video capture settings, recording resolution, changing Hz, and more. And, for the first time ever, you can change many of these advanced settings directly in your headset!
You can learn more about our in-VR app right here, or try out our Desktop app if you prefer to tinker that way.
Basically, your headset is an awesome piece of tech — and we want to help you make the most of it! So, here’s what you can adjust within our headset app:
- CPU and GPU Levels—great for boosting Quest performance
- Guardian and Proximity Sensor toggling
- Video capture size, eye, and bitrate—great for improving recording resolution
- Hand tracking frequency—which can improve hand tracking quality
- And much more!
7. Enter a Giveaway
In addition to supporting gamers and developers, we love to give a lil’ something back to everyone in our community on the regular—giving every single SideQuester the chance to win some awesome free goodies on us every week!
From game keys and SQ merch to headset accessories and even full-blown headsets themselves, we’ve always got something cool on offer. While many Giveaways are completely free to enter, some cost ‘credits’ to enter. These credits represent no real-world monetary value, and you can earn them super easily just by being an awesome SideQuester!
Here’s the full list of ways to earn credits!
To enter, head over to our Giveaways page, select the active Giveaway you want to enter, and click that button! We’ll let you know very soon if you win!
8. Leave a review for the developers
Once you’ve downloaded a game and played it through, why not use your new SideQuest account to drop a note for the developers in the form of a review on their game page? By providing honest feedback and fresh thoughts on their work, you’ll be helping the game developers make the best titles they possibly can.
The more reviews a game gets, the more attention it’ll get—sometimes leading to amazing results. Our community is the driving force behind the success of many titles—games like Puzzling Places started on SideQuest, got tons of positive feedback, then launched on Meta’s Official Store not long after. So, leaving a review can be really impactful for the developers!
It’s also the best way to earn SideQuest credits used to enter our Giveaways—you’ll get 25 for each review you post, so if you want to increase your chances of winning free goodies, start leaving helpful reviews!
9. Make a Ready Player Me avatar—and use it in Banter VR!
Instead of a standard PFP, all of our SideQuest account holders can create a custom avatar through Ready Player Me! Equipped with a huge suite of customization options, outfits, accessories, and more, you can truly make your avatar your own—and show it off on your SideQuest profile!
What’s more, once you’ve created your avatar, you can embody it in VR by jumping into Banter—SideQuest’s very own Social VR app!
Once you download Banter and head to the menu screen, you can link your SideQuest account, bring your avatar in, suit up, and even edit it on the fly! Plus, if you ever want to edit your RPM avatar before you enter Banter, you can do it through your SideQuest account!
Finally, on the off-chance you run into some problems while using SideQuest, our support team is here to help!
You can search for quick answers to our most common FAQs by heading to our Support page and checking out the forums. Or, if you need a little more personalized support, you can create your own post on the Support page forum and one of our talented SQuad members will be in touch shortly with suggestions!
About SideQuest
SideQuest represents the ultimate community in standalone VR. A place where developers and players around the globe can create, share, and get excited about the virtual reality apps they love.
Developers (like us) are free to experiment with mechanics and modes on their journey to official stores, while players can safely explore thousands of apps across the wonderful world of VR — the biggest collection all in one place, actually.
Because who needs limits, right?
[Download BANTER: our FREE Social VR game]
Let’s keep your SideQuest going…
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