You can now Wishlist Fernhoof Grove: Riding Academy on Steam
Fernhoof Grove: Riding Academy is finally available to wishlist on Steam.
In case you missed it, Fernhoof Grove has been in development for quite a while, by solo developer Jessi aka. Miaumi Games. I consider it one of the more promising WIP indie projects in the horse game space at the moment, because while I haven’t played it yet, I find that the screenshots and videos shown so far give a rather more tangible impression of what the gameplay mechanics might look like.
In preparation for Steam Horse Fest next week, Miaumi Games has finally gone ahead and published a Steam store page for their project, allowing potential players to add it to their wishlist.
The game describes itself:
Enroll in Fernhoof Academy to become a professional horse trainer. Own and care for horses, design training routines, and improve a horse’s skills through precise riding. Learn equine theory, pass riding exams, and compete in show jumping and cross country on your way to graduation.
The full description further showcases horse care including feed bucket mixing, precision based training mechanics, jump course building and customization. I also find the line “Read up on equine theory to earn an A+ on your tests” quite intriguing.
Attending a Riding Academy isn’t completely unheard of as a premise in the horse game genre – examples on our database – but it’s something we haven’t seen done in a few years at least. With training, care and competition as core features, Fernhoof Grove: Riding Academy perhaps doesn’t stand out as particularly novel on a concept level, but I’m giving it points for a lovely looking stylized art style and a (seemingly) somewhat reasonable scope. I’m hoping that Fernhoof Grove might join The Ranch of Rivershine in the ranks of “competently executed cozy horse game” one day, pending a proper review of course.
And while we’re going critically examining the project along my criteria outlined in my latest article, I’ll add that although Miaumi Games hasn’t released any previous games on Steam, they do have the adorable horse-suika game Roly-Pony in their portfolio, together with artist Maskeovo.
A release date is still to be announced, but on the game’s Discord server, Jessi has declared her intentions to start playtesting within the coming months. I’ll definitely continue to keep watch on this one, and I recommend everyone with a hankering for more horse games add it to their wishlist.
