A Kinect alternative for PC: fitness games that need only a webcam
Updated 29 October 2026 · 5 min read
If you used Kinect to exercise in front of the screen, you may be looking for something that runs on a PC today. BodyArcade is a set of 11 short fitness games that read your body through an ordinary webcam in a browser, so there is no sensor, no adapter and no console. It is a different kind of game from the Kinect titles, and this page says where.
On this page
What happened to Kinect
Microsoft announced on 25 October 2017 that it would stop making Kinect for Xbox One, and the Azure Kinect developer kit was discontinued in October 2023. If your Kinect still works, nothing here asks you to stop using it. If you are looking for body-controlled games on a PC without hunting for a sensor, a webcam does the job, and most laptops have one built in.
Sources, read on 29 October 2026: Kinect (Wikipedia) for the dates, and Azure Kinect DK documentation (Microsoft Learn, previous versions) for what the Azure Kinect DK contains.
What a webcam reads next to a depth sensor
Microsoft’s own documentation lists a depth sensor, a video camera, a microphone array and an orientation sensor in the Azure Kinect DK. An ordinary webcam gives you a flat colour picture and no depth. BodyArcade reads that picture with Google’s MediaPipe Pose Landmarker and finds 33 points on your body, such as the shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees and ankles. It does this on your device, and the video is never uploaded.
- What it reads well: large moves of large body parts. Squats, knee lifts, jumping jacks, twists, side bends, reaching overhead and stepping.
- What is harder: fine hand positions and finger gestures, very fast moves, anything hidden behind furniture or another person, and moving towards or away from the camera, because one camera has no real sense of depth.
- What it asks of the room: light in front of you or beside you, about 2 metres clear around you and your whole body in view for the standing games.
How webcam fitness games work explains the tracking and the set-up in full.
The 11 games
BodyArcade is its own set of short games. None of them is a copy of a Kinect title, and none is a dance game. A round lasts from 90 seconds to 7 minutes, and 8 of the 11 are free.
| Game | What you do | Round | Free or Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Squat Flap | Squat and stand up to flap a bird through gaps | about 5 minutes | Free |
| Knee Sprint | Run on the spot with your knees up and race a runner | 3 minutes | Free |
| Star Catch | Reach out and touch stars with the matching hand | about 3 minutes | Free |
| Pad Work | Punch numbered pads on the beat | 7 minutes | Pro |
| Reaction Tag | Tap the green lights before they fade, skip the red ones | about 3 minutes | Pro |
| Firework Jacks | Jumping jacks on the beat | 4 minutes | Free |
| Twist Turbine | Twist your shoulders from side to side | 3 minutes | Free |
| Summit Climb | Reach up and pull down, hand over hand | 5 minutes | Free |
| Limbo Bend | Lean sideways to match tilted gates | 3 minutes | Pro |
| Pose Wall | Hold a body shape to fit a hole in a wall | about 4 minutes | Free |
| Road Run | Jump, duck and lean to dodge what comes down the road | 90 seconds | Free |
Playing with someone on the same screen
Two people can share one camera in 8 of the games, on a big screen such as a laptop, a desktop or a TV connected to one. Player 1 stands on the left and Player 2 on the right, about 1 metre apart and about 3 metres from the screen, and each of you gets your own score. For rooms with friends in other homes, see workout games to play with friends.
What is different from a Kinect game
- No sensor to find. The camera you have is the controller. You install nothing, and you need no sensor or adapter.
- Short games, not a long programme. BodyArcade is a set of quick rounds, and it adds no resistance. Use it for a warm-up, a break or a few minutes of cardio.
- One flat picture. The games are built around moves a single camera reads reliably, so they ask for big, clear moves.
- It runs in a browser. On a laptop or desktop, in Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari. Nothing is downloaded and no account is needed to play the free games.
Questions people ask
Does BodyArcade work with a Kinect sensor?
It does not use a Kinect sensor or its depth data. It reads the colour picture that a camera gives the browser, the same picture a video call would use.
Is BodyArcade a Kinect replacement?
It is a different kind of game that uses the camera you already own. It has 11 short games for legs, arms, core and cardio, and none of them is a copy of a Kinect game. If you want a long structured programme or resistance training, look at a console fitness title or weights.
Do I need to install anything on my PC?
No. Open the page in a current browser, allow the camera and play. The first time, the game downloads its pose model, about 6 MB, and keeps it on your device.
Does it work on a Mac?
Yes, on any laptop or desktop with a camera and a current browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari).
Is it free?
8 of the 11 games are free, with their seated and quiet versions and no ads. Pro adds the other 3 games, more workout plans and the harder levels. The prices page has the plans.
Keep reading
- Exercise games for PC: what a laptop or desktop needs, the games you can play at a desk and the ones that need floor space.
- Fitness games you can play in your browser: all the games, what each asks of you, and which to start with.
- How webcam fitness games work: how a browser reads your body, and how to set up your room.
Open a game, allow the camera and step back. The first round takes a couple of minutes.
Play a game