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Eleven Table Tennis Review
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Eleven Table Tennis Review – VR Ping Pong for Hours

A ping pong game good enough that pros play it, but easy enough for beginners.

Eleven Table Tennis Review is virtual ping pong at its finest! Eleven table tennis is from Indie developer Fun Labs. They wanted to focus on a very realistic game, yet fun to play. In fact, there is tons of feedback online about people getting so immersed in the game they forget they were in VR and accidentally lean on the virtual table! 😀 Let’s get started on this Eleven Table Tennis Review.

What is Eleven Table Tennis?

Eleven Table Tennis has been described as “The Ultimate Table Tennis Simulator. ”  Pick up your ping pong ball and racket and start hitting some balls with your friends or against a computer.

Who Make Eleven Table Tennis?

Eleven Table Tennis is created by For Fun Labs They are a smaller indie developer but have spent over 5 years creating the physics behind Eleven Table Tennis.

Which Headset is Eleven Table Tennis Available On?

Eleven Table Tennis is available on Steam VR, Oculus Rift, and Oculus Quest.

Steam Logo 1 - Eleven Table Tennis Review - VR Ping Pong for Hours Oculus rift 2 - Eleven Table Tennis Review - VR Ping Pong for Hours MetaQuestLogo - Eleven Table Tennis Review - VR Ping Pong for Hours

 

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Eleven Table Tennis Gameplay Review

The game starts with a multi-lingual selection screen. You can play Eleven table tennis in English, Chinese (China), Dutch, French (France), German, Hindi, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, Spanish (Spain), Swedish! A truly multi-lingual game. After selecting the language, you calibrate your room setup, things like the height of your floor.

After the initial setup, you are presented with the main room and the tutorial starts. The game walks you through the various parts of learning how to serve and the basic rules.

If you don’t know the rules, You hit the ball onto YOUR side of the court, over the net, and then the ball must bounce on the other side of the table, on your opponent’s court. Whoever doesn’t return after a bounce, misses, or hits the net gives the other player a point. Pretty straightforward. I recommend spending some time on the serving tutorial if you are new to the game. 725 - Eleven Table Tennis Review - VR Ping Pong for Hours

You use both of your controllers to play Eleven table tennis.  One is a paddle, the other you use for serving. It is pretty fun to fake throw the ball in the air with one controller and line up with the other to hit it. The controls are basic and just work. Several users online have printed out 3D paddle attachments to up their game, but these are of course optional.

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There are 3 different environments to play in the apartment where you start, a ski lodge and an arena.  You can also switch up your avatar to be any number of different things.

Eleven Table Tennis is HARD and it should be723 - Eleven Table Tennis Review - VR Ping Pong for Hours

The AI opponent you play against is one tough cookie. Even playing on easy mode, I was rarely able to get a point in on my first few tries. The serving is definitely the trickiest part initially. After playing through a few games, I was able to get a decent back and forth going. I kept with playing though and was eventually able to beat the AI on Easy after several hours.

Yes, hours.  This is not some “Wii sports you just swing the racket and then they miss for fun” dealio.  Time flew by and I didn’t even notice. Other users, I discussed this with recommended continuing playing with the AI up the difficulty ranks to help improve.

I have to say that developers spent a lot of time working on the physics of this game. The balls behave and act like they are supposed to. It bounces where it should. There is TONS of feedback about how many updates the developers have released as well as a very active discord server they participate in.

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This brings me to the worst part of the game. The menus and UI will be noticeably lacking. I frequently got lost in the menu and had a hard time figuring out how to get back to the main screen. I hope they continue to work on this. There is also a strange bug on the Oculus Quest 2, where if you “quit” the game it returns you to a system UI that is not the main Oculus Quest 2 screen. I imagine this will be fixed shortly.

For a pretty impressive game, this is an indie project, and the developers have spent the majority of the time working on the game itself. There is no levels or campaign mode, but they really are not needed.

Eleven Table Tennis Mini Games

There are several different mini-games for you to play too. Beer pong, Quadrants, Wall, and more. Beer pong is legit beer pong. If your friends have the game you can sync up and do some beer pong from across the country. It’s a fun time.

Quadrants I had a lot of fun with. The robot server shoots balls towards you and you need to hit it back and make sure the ball lands in the teal-colored areas on the table. This helps you get better at returning the balls to different spots on the table. Each one you miss you lose a life. There is a leader board.

Wall is a great idea if you are looking to get your heart rate up and do a workout. The robot server shoots constant balls at you with little pauses in between. You also can adjust these settings. It keeps you on your toes.

Eleven Table Tennis Multiplayer Experience

Yes, Eleven Table Tennis has multiplayer. It’s a core part of the game. There are a few modes for you to play. Play against the AI version of your Oculus Quest Avatar, online with friends or online with strangers.895 - Eleven Table Tennis Review - VR Ping Pong for Hours

As you continue to play you will notice a small bell and a blue notification chime. This tells you that someone sees you online and has requested to play with you. Most people just go down the list and message everyone online. There is a large active community of players in Eleven Table Tennis, so no matter what time of day it is, I’ve been able to find someone to play with.

Table Tennis is an extremely popular sport worldwide. In fact, there are roughly 300 million people who play. A lot of these people are not able to attend a local meet-up during the pandemic, so they are able to take their sport into the VR world. You will notice this as you play multiplayer. People treat it quite professionally and ask if the other person is ready for the serve. That’s not to say you can’t still have fun playing if you are a beginner, but be aware that many users treat the game quite seriously.

Everyone I’ve played with has been very understanding that I was a new player. Everyone was polite. Your voice chat is open during this experience so you can freely talk to your opponent. Anyone you enjoyed playing with you can send a friend request to and request a re-match!

Can you workout with Eleven Table Tennis? Is Eleven Table Tennis a Fitness Game?

There are tons of fitness games in the VR stores, and Eleven Table Tennis might not be the first game that comes to mind for fitness, but let me assure you this game can get you a decent workout!

Elliptical - Eleven Table Tennis Review - VR Ping Pong for Hours

When you first start the game you will likely be missing a lot of shots. The game stops and your heart rate slows. Keep with it and you will get a good flow of hitting the ball back for extended time periods.  You are moving around a lot more than you would be sitting on the couch, even when starting.  If you stick with the game and keep a steady flow of back and forth hitting going you can expect a decent workout.

I recommend if you are new to the game and finding a hard flow happening, try some of the mini-games where the ball machine just keeps rapidly shooting. You will get your heart rate up regardless of your skill level this way.

The Virtual Reality Institute of Health and Exercise rate this game as equal to doing Ellipticals or 4-6 Kcal/Min.

Does Eleven Table Tennis cause motion sickness?

NoMotionSickness - Eleven Table Tennis Review - VR Ping Pong for HoursThere is no movement in this game beyond you serving the ping pong ball back and forth and hitting the ball with your paddle. Because there is minimal movement, there is little concern for motion sickness issues.

Eleven Table Tennis should not cause any motion sickness issues.

Final Thoughts On Eleven Table Tennis Review

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Chaos

Reviewed as a game, I generally agree with your assessment. However, most of the “active” players wouldn’t consider this a game. They consider it a sport and the VR application is the equipment by which they play.

Is it a fitness game? Absolutely. I’ve lost 30 pounds playing this game and still going. When I’m done playing after a couple of hours, my shirt is drenched and I am in desperate need of a shower. I don’t particularly like exercise but with this game the sport comes first and the exercise is just a consequence of playing. I am stronger after 6 months of this than I have been in the past 20 years. I start every play session with a 30 minute warm out, which I would never in a million years do without being forced to, but I want to play well and the warm up is a critical part of peak performance. I’ve even started eating healthier, cross training and drinking less. I want to win and this game motivates like nothing else.

As a sport, the intensity of play can surprise new players. Initially I couldn’t understand why players that were very clearly better than I was, would simply demolish me. I never thought it rude, but I did occasionally find it frustrating. However, after embracing the sport myself I now understand perfectly why people play so intensely. While you are not in-game, you are practicing against the AI and this can be incredibly difficult. There is a pace of play at high levels that is close to non stop. Players are training to win. When you drop into a game, you just keep playing at the same pace. It’s not reasonable to think that players will drop their level to yours as this breaks the rhythm and you can lose focus. With the ranking and ELO system, players are playing to win. If you want a more casual game, most players will play unranked games and here you will see them relax a bit.

This game is the most incredible technological experience that I have ever had in my life. It sells for somewhere around $20, but I would pay $500. It’s a physics simulator and it’s damn accurate. You are basically getting a ping pong table, racket, ball machine, access to an arena and joining a competitive sports league. For $20? That’s a steal of a deal. Anyone who enjoys ping pong or table tennis should buy a VR headset just for this game. It is a killer app.

10/10 in my books. They nailed it. Minor interface design flaws aside, once you know where a menu item is, the intuitiveness doesn’t really matter anymore. Once you start playing, the intensity and fear of losing a point or losing a match that you know you should win, gets your heart racing and pulls you into the reality. You are playing table tennis with a group of professional players from all over the world that are incredibly passionate about their sport. Name another application that gives you that from your living room?

Finally, the physics of table tennis are a perfect fit for VR. There is no locomotion. You are just in a room. The ball physics are incredibly real. The rackets feel and look real. Everything is 1-to-1 from reality to VR. There is nothing to pull you out of the illusion. When I step into the arena, it is real. Virtual or not, it is reality.

Last edited 3 years ago by Chaos
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