The 5 best games to start with on VS Compete

New to the arcade? These five games are the fastest way to rack up your first wins — with the strategy for each.

Twenty-eight games is a lot of doors to open when you are brand new. The good news: a handful of them are unusually beginner-friendly — quick to learn, quick to play, and quick to win with a little practice. Start here, get a few wins under your belt, and you will build the confidence (and tokens) to branch out. For each pick below you will find why it is a good starter and one concrete tip to win faster.

1. Reaction — the purest test

Reaction is the classic: wait for the signal, tap the instant it appears. No rules to memorize, no strategy to learn — just you versus your own nervous system. It is the perfect first game because the entire skill is legible in one round.

Win faster: Do not anticipate — anticipating causes false starts that cost you the round. Instead, rest your thumb lightly on the screen and relax your hand. A calm, loose hand reacts faster than a tense, hovering one. Want to go deeper? See how to actually get faster.

2. Memory — reward for paying attention

Memory flashes a pattern; you reproduce it. It rewards focus over reflexes, which makes it a great counterpoint to reaction — if twitch games are not your strength, this one might be.

Win faster: Do not try to memorize positions as pictures. Say the sequence to yourself as a rhythm or a little story ("top, top, corner, middle"). Chunking the pattern into a verbal beat is how memory champions hold more than raw staring ever will.

3. Trivia — knowledge is a skill too

If reflex games are not your thing, Trivia levels the field: it is decided by what you know and how fast you answer. It is also just fun, and a great one to play when you want to think rather than twitch.

Win faster: Speed matters as much as accuracy in head-to-head trivia. Read the question, and the moment you know it, commit — do not second-guess a confident answer. The player who trusts their first instinct usually beats the one who deliberates.

4. Quick-Draw — reflex with a twist

A high-noon showdown: draw the instant the signal fires, but draw too early and you are out. It adds a discipline layer to raw reaction, which makes winning it feel especially good.

Win faster: Discipline beats speed here. The players who lose Quick-Draw mostly lose by jumping early. Train yourself to wait for certainty — being 30 milliseconds slower but never false-starting wins more rounds than being twitchy and disqualifying yourself.

5. Rhythm — timing you can feel

Rhythm rewards a sense of beat: tap in time as prompts scroll by. It clicks quickly for most people because your body already knows how to keep time, and it is oddly relaxing to play.

Win faster: Listen more than you look. If you lock onto the audio beat and let your taps ride it, you will be more consistent than if you are visually chasing each prompt. Nod your head to the tempo — seriously, it helps.

How to use these five

Here is a simple on-ramp: play each of the five a handful of times in Free Play to find which two feel most natural. Everybody has a lane — some people are twitch players, some are memory-and-knowledge players. Lean into your strong two to bank early wins and tokens, then use those to branch into the rest of the arcade. Once you have a couple of comfortable games, read how to win your first prize to turn those wins into something shipped to your door.

Most importantly: lose without worrying about it. Early losses are just calibration. The gap between "new" and "genuinely good" at these games is a few focused sessions, not months — which is exactly what makes skill games satisfying.