Game Announcement: Is Chariot Rivals the Chariot Racing Experience We’ve Been Waiting For?
This is a very fun little follow up to a deep dive article from The Mane Quest that was published in 2023: In Chariot Racing in Games – Horses, Representations and Untapped Potential, I talked to horse historian Artemisia Clare and joined her in lamenting the existence of good chariot racing games, considering the wealth of historically accurate interesting tidbits we know about the sport.
This week, I received a wonderful update: Mobile game developer Towering Towers reached out to inform me that they had read the aforementioned article, and that it had “struck a chord” with them, just as they were finishing their jousting game Knight Lancer and were looking for their next project.
Said next project is out now on iOS: Chariot Rivals is an arcade-y top-town pixel art chariot racing game set in the Roman Empire. I’ve only given it a quick try so far, but can confirm it’s very satisfying to play, and all about getting those tight turns right. You can customize your horses, and you can win by being the only surviving chariot after smashing your competitors into a wall and just racing with a herd of chariot-less horses. Excellent.
Artemisia, who I obviously immediately informed of this game’s existence, had a very positive first impression of the game too, saying:
Beyond the fact that my humble dream of a fun, dedicated chariot racing game has come true, Chariot Rivals has also delighted me by understanding the assignment. Yes, it’s smashing good fun. But it also doesn’t ignore what I’ve always tried to get at in research: that chariot racing wasn’t a Rome-centric monolith. It features nations and characters spread out across the classical world, such as Hispania, the Celtic lands, and Egypt. And not as barbarians or caricatures, but successful racers in their own right, just as we see reflected in winning lists from the time period. Not to mention the ability to play as a female character if we so please— which felt like a nod to how many Greek women found liberation in horse training and won Olympic chariot races as trainers, or participated in female charioteer events like the Spartan Hyakinthia. Chariot Rivals has sucked me in not only because it’s a blast and I get giddy smashing people off their chariots with my team of posh palomino horses, but because it encompasses the true spirit of the sport in being widespread, integrated into many cultures, and having a passionate athlete and fanbase.
If you too want to give Chariot Rivals a try – and are in possession of a suitable iOS device – you can find a Free Version on the App Store, with the full version available as an in-app unlock for about 3 USD/EUR.
