Game Announcement: Barbie Horse Ride and Rescue by PikPok is coming to Mobile, Steam and Switch 2
Disclaimer: This article is about a game I work on as a consultant.
PikPok, the New Zealand studio behind Rival Stars Horse Racing, and Mattel, Inc have exciting news for horse game players today: Barbie Horse Ride and Rescue is a brand new horse game coming to mobile devices on June 16th 2026, with a release on PC and Switch 2 to follow in 2027.
I’ve been doing consultation work on this project for well over a year already, and I’m thrilled to finally be able to talk about this game publicly.
In the announcement press release, the game is described as
an authentic and immersive equestrian experience for older teens and adults. As they uncover the mysteries of Moonrise Valley, players will rescue and ride charming horses, and express their unique style in fashion challenges, with plenty of options for customization and roleplay.
You can already pre-order on Apple, pre-download on Google Play or Wishlist on Steam.
Similar to Rival Stars, Barbie Horse Ride and Rescue will be free to play with a subscription option and in-game purchases on mobile, but come to PC and Consoles as a premium (read: “pay once”) product without further microtransactions.
Putting together clothes and tack for horse and rider is a big part of Barbie Horse Ride and Rescue
The Pikpok team understands that every horse game needs a photo mode
There’s a lot about this project that’s really fresh in the horse game space, that I’m personally really excited about. Most notably:
Barbie Ride and Rescue has a strong fashion and dress-up component, which I think is a really neat take on horse games and I’m super curious to see how that will resonate in the community.
Personally, I do not have the patience for mobile games with in-game monetization, and I vastly, vastly prefer a pay-once premium version that I can play on PC. I hugely appreciate that PikPok gives us that option again with this game and I’m more than happy to wait a while longer for it.
That the game is aimed at “older teens and adults” makes it vastly more interesting to me than say, Barbie Horse Trails, which had a much younger target audience.
I’m a sucker for nicely stylized horses, okay. I’ve seen horse stylization get weird on various occasions, and I think by contrast, the PikPok team has done a really excellent job of making their horses look adorable AND authentically equine.
I also appreciate a horse game with a focus on Western Riding and Western aesthetics, which has been a bit underused and underrepresented in the horse game renaissance of the past few years.
I could go on about what I personally am excited about when it comes to this project, but I think you’ll best see for yourself very soon, once the game becomes globally available on mobile this Summer! I’ll attach a few more screenshots below, simply because I am here for this aesthetic and these deserve to have eyeballs on them.
