Summary
Hand-eye coordination is a vital skill for all kinds of games, especially if you’re trying to get better at competitive shooters, or anything with fast-paced puzzle solving, bullet hell mechanics, or rhythm. Thankfully, the formula for improvement is clear: quality time spent playing games relevant to the genre you’d like to “level up” in.
If you don’t know where to start, the games found below can be the very first step in your grand quest for improved hand-eye coordination. From there, you can figure out what game you’d like to invest your time in, and the rest comes down to practice and patience.
Whether it’s taming a weapon’s spray pattern, tapping on an opponent’s head from mid to long range, placing your crosshair in a pixel-perfect spot to safely deploy a smoke grenade, or snapping to different targets when you’re taken by surprise, there’s plenty you can work on in Counter-Strike 2.
If that sounds a bit overwhelming, you can always give your hands and wrists a break byadmiring any shiny new weapon or knife skinsyou might get from a case or the Steam marketplace. Just remember to give your eyes a break after ogling that case-hardened, blue gem Karambit.
While it doesn’t take much skill or practice to get the hang of chopping down trees or smashing boulders with a rock, Rust is a game about scarcity and temporary ownership; it’s important to remember any empire, even one you build yourself, can become as stable as a tower of playing cards.
Thus, it’s reasonable to get acquainted with more accessible, early-game weapons, like wooden spears, bows, and crossbows. After getting a feel for arrow, bolt, and spear velocities, you’ll develop a good consistency for hitting headshots, and take more geared players by surprise.
Valorant isn’t that unique or special when compared to other competitive shooters, but it’s still a great way to practice a wide variety of hand-eye coordination-related mechanics, especially when you consider each Agent has their own set of unique abilities.
If you’re trying to improve as fast as possible, sticking with high-risk, high-reward characters like Jett, whose ultimate ability is only as good as the player behind it, is a good rule of thumb. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to hop into the game’s built-in aim trainer.
If you own a Nintendo Switch, Tetris 99 is an engaging, fast-paced way to train linear movements on a D-pad with your hand, and flicking your eyes back and forth, since you’ll be rotating and slamming down various shapes as quickly as possible.
While this genre might not be for everyone, you might as well give it a try if you haven’t already,since it’s one of the most popular free games on the Switch. If you’re not looking to improve your dexterity on a controller, though, you may safely skip this one.
Whether you prefer to play on a controller, or keyboard and mouse, you’ll still have to deal with an anxiety-inducing amount of projectiles being flung at you in Enter The Gungeon,a co-op Roguelike gamelargely based on bullet hell mechanics and dungeon crawling.
To level the playing field, there are a fair number of mechanisms that you can practice to avoid damage, ranging from the incredibly cost-effective method of dodge rolling, all the way to much scarcer, expendable options, like Blanks, which instantly delete projectiles around you.
Mobile (Android, iOS), PC (Windows), Mac
2007
Genre(s)
Rhythm, Indie
Osu! is a rhythm-based game that’ll have you flinging your mouse across your desk in various directions as circles and other shapes you’ll become acquainted with pop up on the screen. But where does the rhythm aspect come in?
Well, after you’ve loaded up your song of choice, you’ll have to tap a key or two on your keyboard at the right moment, in tandem with the song’s BPM. While it’s not too hard to figure out a song’s rhythm, especially music structured in a four-by-four time signature, this game requires an incredible amount of dexterity.
PC (Windows), Mobile (Android, iOS)
2011
Rhythm, Education
If you already own a guitar, or you’re looking for a reason to buy one, Rocksmith is a great way to turn learning an instrument or a new song into a minigame of sorts. If you’re not familiar with Rocksmith, it’s similar to Guitar Hero, but rather than hitting five colorful buttons, you’ll be using a real instrument.
It’s no secret that learning and playing an instrument naturally develops hand-eye coordination, but another great reason to go this route is you don’t have to know any music theory to get started; just follow along to the on-screen notes on the virtual fretboard, and learn from instant feedback.
2018
Shooter, Simulator
While Aimlabs feels similar to a game, it’s an in-depth tool for training a variety of hand-eye coordination-related skills, like snapping, tracing, or strafing, which all come together to help you become a better, well-balanced FPS player.
With plenty of modes and custom content to choose from, and a ranked, online leaderboard that’ll help instill a bit of healthy competition inside of you, honing your FPS skills has never been more approachable. Worried about the cost? No worries; this game is completely free.
