No more Rainbows

June 1, 2023 Gareth Griffiths

Home › Puzzles › Platformers › No More Rainbows

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👹 Platformer · First-Person · Arm Locomotion · Meta Quest · Steam · Multiplayer

🏆 NYX Best Experience · "Genre-Defining" — UploadVR · 3,500+ Meta Reviews · Hand Tracking

No More Rainbows

Your lava-filled realm used to be perfectly miserable. Now it's full of adorably cute, rainbow-spewing creatures — and there's only one thing to do about it. Use your arms to run, jump, claw and climb in the first VR platformer that truly makes the most of what VR bodies can do. Gorilla Tag-style arm locomotion meets a full-scale platformer campaign: 4 worlds, 28 levels, competitive multiplayer, and a real physical workout. Genre-defining, say the critics. Genuinely exhausting, say the players. Both are right.

$19.99 Meta Quest 2/3 Steam PC VR Squido Studio 4 worlds · 28 levels ✓ Hand tracking supported

Meta Store — $19.99 Steam

💪 This Game is a Genuine Physical Workout

No More Rainbows uses arm-based locomotion — you physically swing your arms to run, propel yourself to jump, and claw to climb. This is not a passive experience. Players consistently report genuine physical exertion during sessions, and the multiplayer mode in particular is described as "exhausting." For schools, this is a significant PE/wellbeing dimension that most VR games cannot offer. Set realistic session lengths — 20–30 minutes is typically plenty, especially for first-time players.

XR Rating

4.6

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Platform: Meta Quest 2/3 · Steam PC VR · Price: $19.99 (regular sales) · Developer: Squido Studio · Reviews: 3,500+ Meta reviews · NYX Best Experience · UploadVR "Genre-Defining"

About the Game

What is No More Rainbows?

No More Rainbows is a first-person VR platformer from Squido Studio that does something no major VR platformer had fully committed to before it: it puts you inside the body of the character and asks you to physically move to play. You are The Beast — a gruffly-likeable monster who wakes to discover their once-grim, lava-filled realm has been invaded by an army of absurdly cute, rainbow-spewing creatures. An antagonist — a silently-mocking uber-cutie — escapes through a portal, and the adventure begins.

The movement system is the game's defining innovation: like Gorilla Tag, you locomote by physically swinging your arms — pumping them to run, propelling them downward to jump, and clawing with your hands to climb walls and grab ledges. This is not a controller thumbstick experience. Your body is the input device. The result is a VR platformer that is genuinely physically engaging, deeply immersive, and — according to UploadVR — "genre-defining" for what it proves the medium can do.

Why this movement system matters: Most VR games that use arm locomotion (Gorilla Tag, Boneworks, Bonelab) are primarily multiplayer social or combat experiences. No More Rainbows is the first game to take that movement system and apply it rigorously to the structure of a classic platformer — with level design, hazard timing, hub worlds and a campaign arc built entirely around it. The result is something that feels simultaneously like a childhood platformer memory and something completely new.

Released in June 2023 and continuously updated since — with hand tracking, LIV Camera integration and a Deathmatch multiplayer mode added post-launch — No More Rainbows has accumulated over 3,500 Meta Store reviews and won the NYX Game Awards for Best Experience. It regularly appears in sale discounts to as low as $3.99, making it one of the best value VR experiences available at any price.

Features

What Makes It Special

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Arm Locomotion — Your Body Is the Controller

Swing your arms to run. Thrust them down to jump. Grab and claw to climb. No More Rainbows uses the same arm-based movement system pioneered by Gorilla Tag, but applies it to a structured platformer campaign with deliberately designed levels, hazards and timing challenges. The system is immediately intuitive — most players adapt within minutes — and creates a physical engagement with the game world that no thumbstick-based VR game can match. UploadVR calls the mechanics "masterful" in how they capitalise on VR's physicality.

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4 Worlds · 28 Levels · Hub World Design

The campaign is structured as four themed worlds — each with its own visual identity and hub area containing portals to individual levels. Crucially, the hub areas themselves contain meaningful platforming challenges that introduce new mechanics organically, rather than relegating all gameplay to the levels proper. UploadVR specifically praises the hub sections as "some of the most challenging and rewarding platforming sections of the game." New mechanics are introduced steadily across the campaign without overwhelming tutorials.

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Multiplayer — Co-op, Competitive & Deathmatch

The multiplayer mode is one of the game's most celebrated and most demanding features. Platform arenas support both co-operative and competitive play — described by Metacritic critics as "creative and exhausting." A Deathmatch update added full competitive battle modes post-launch. The physicality of the arm locomotion system makes multiplayer simultaneously more engaging and more genuinely tiring than any conventional VR game — a unique combination of competitive gaming and physical exercise. LIV Camera integration makes sessions streamable with a spectator view.

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Hand Tracking — No Controllers Required

A post-launch update added full hand tracking support — meaning the game can now be played with no controllers at all, using only bare hands. Since the core movement system is already arm and hand-based, the transition to hand tracking is natural. This makes No More Rainbows one of the most capable hand-tracking demonstrations available on Quest — and removes the barrier of controller familiarity for first-time VR users who might be intimidated by traditional inputs.

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No Lives System · Adjustable Difficulty · Accessible

No More Rainbows has no lives system — you simply restart the level section when you fall or fail, with no punishment beyond lost time. Combined with adjustable difficulty settings, this makes the game accessible to a very wide range of players without watering down the challenge for those who want it. The NYX Game Awards specifically cite these features as enabling "a broad spectrum of players" to enjoy the experience. The visual style is vibrant and readable — a cartoon exaggeration of classic platformer aesthetics that works well at VR close range.

School Value

Curriculum & Educational Fit

Physical activity / PE

92%

Coordination / motor skills

88%

Enrichment / reward

96%

Wellbeing / active break

90%

Computing (game design)

72%

Age appropriateness (8+)

90%

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The PE / Active Break Angle

No More Rainbows is one of very few VR games that provides genuine cardiovascular exercise. The arm locomotion system means the player is physically working throughout — heart rate rises, muscles engage, and sessions feel effortful in a way that conventional VR games do not. For PE teachers looking to incorporate VR into active lessons, or for schools wanting to offer a high-engagement active break activity, No More Rainbows is the strongest candidate in the platformer category. The hand tracking update removes controller barriers, making it accessible for students unfamiliar with VR inputs.

No More Rainbows is not primarily a curriculum content tool — it won't teach a subject concept. Its educational value is in physical engagement and active play (genuine exercise through arm locomotion), coordination and timing (the platformer skills that transfer to motor development), and as one of the most engaging VR enrichment and reward experiences available. For Computing, the game is a useful discussion text on locomotion design — how do you make a movement system that feels natural in VR? The Gorilla Tag comparison opens conversations about embodied interaction and game feel. Suitable from age 8 upwards; the premise is cartoon-violent (stomping cute creatures) but entirely age-appropriate.

XR School Verdict

Movement innovation10/10

Physical engagement10/10

Level & campaign design9/10

Multiplayer9/10

Value for money9/10

Story / narrative5/10

Bottom line: The finest first-person VR platformer ever made — and one of the most physically engaging experiences on any headset. The arm locomotion system is genuinely genre-defining, the campaign is substantial, and the multiplayer is uniquely exhausting fun. Story is barely present (not really the point), but everything else is exceptional. A must-have for any school VR library — and essential if you want students to leave a VR session having actually exercised.

🏆 Reception

UploadVR: "A genre-defining platformer for VR" — masterful mechanics, solid campaign, creative multiplayer

Metacritic: "Will no doubt become the genre's benchmark in VR for some time"

NYX Game Awards: 🏆 Best Experience — VR Game (New)

Meta Store: 3,500+ reviews · 4.4/5 average

Players say: "Amazing parkour movement" · "Release your rage" · "Really fun with multiplayer"

Pros & Cons

✓ Genre-defining arm locomotion

✓ Genuinely physically active

✓ 4 worlds · 28 levels campaign

✓ Co-op + competitive multiplayer

✓ Deathmatch update included

✓ Hand tracking — no controllers needed

✓ No lives system — accessible

✓ Adjustable difficulty

✓ 3,500+ reviews · NYX Award winner

✓ Regularly on deep sale

✓ Quest 2/3 + Steam

✗ Story is minimal — not the focus

✗ Physically demanding — tires players

✗ Cosmetic DLC packs (optional)

Quick Info

Platform	Quest 2/3 · Steam PC VR
Price	$19.99 (regular sales)
Developer	Squido Studio
Released	June 2023
Worlds / Levels	4 worlds · 28 levels
Multiplayer	✓ Co-op + Deathmatch
Hand tracking	✓ Full support
Lives system	✓ None — retry freely
Meta reviews	3,500+ · 4.4/5
Best for	Active play · PE · Enrichment (8+)