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If you’re looking for any specific article, I generally recommend typing “the mane quest” plus your keyword(s) into Google. The Squarespace site search is not always helpful. A full list of all my articles can also be found over here on the Horse Game Database, which is very useful if you want to quickly search all my content!
Rival Stars Horse Racing is something of a rarity in our niche: it’s a polished game aimed at adult players, that’s generally well received and getting regular content updates. For the game’s five year anniversary, I sat down for a call with PikPok CEO Mario Wynands in order to talk about the game’s history, its position in the horse game market and why it takes different approaches to different platforms.
Read More“By the 1990s, games were predominately designed with young male players in mind, featuring macho-adrenaline themes like violence, guns, and military simulations. Having never made a video game before, childhood friends Craig Laughton and Andrew Niere decided to do something different from other Australian studios by developing a horse riding game for girls.”
Read MoreFoxie Ventures’ Founder and Director Dineth Abeynayake and Product Manager Steven Ready took some time before the release to show me a preview of what their newest game would offer, and to answer a few questions about Star Equestrian’s development and its future.
Read MoreGamescom 2022 in Cologne was an exciting event and meeting the team of Korion Interactive was one of my highlights: I turned to find about five people in matching Moorhuhn T-shirts standing behind me basically going “Hi, we’re so excited that we found you, we love The Mane Quest and we’re making horse games now.”
Read MoreI’ve been eagerly following the development of The Ranch of Rivershine ever since solo game creator and TMQ community member Éloïse Laroche first announced she’d be tackling the horse game genre. Today, Éloïse releases a playable Demo for The Ranch of Rivershine on Steam. Let’s dive deeper into how she’s been building the Cozy Bee Games brand and business, and what new challenges she’s facing with her newest project.
Read MorePopular Animated Horse Asset Pack Horse Animset Pro by Malbers Animations has become a bit of a thorn in my side, as someone who always keeps an eye out for new games that include horses. From its initially completely wrong walk animation to its current issues with wobbly bendy forelegs, the suboptimal asset pack is the direct cause for many game horses looking sort of wrong. With the release of Horse Herd by 3D Bear last month, it looks like HAP is getting some much-needed competition in the animated horse asset market.
Read MoreThis article is an add-on to my recent post about upcoming Indie Horse Games: These tips were compiled while gathering info on upcoming games and noticing a few common areas of improvement. They don’t necessarily only apply to horse games but I do see it in almost every new horse game project launched by new creators without industry experience.
Read MoreEquestrian the Game was just released in Europe will be out worldwide in May 2022. I thought this was a fantastic opportunity to catch up with Molly Ericson and share some insights with you all about what the work on ETG has been like and what is next in store for the team at Kavalri Games.
Read MoreAstride is a horse game inspired by Scandinavian environments and horse breeds currently on Kickstarter. I’ve been watching the project with both excitement and a bit of scepticism throughout, so the crowdfunding launch is the perfect opportunity to take a closer look – and to have a chat with Raidho’s Co-Founder and Lead 3D-Artist Mathilde Kvernland.
Read MoreIt’s been over two years since I talked to former Product Owner Nika Bender about the making of SSO – I’m thrilled to give you all some delicious new insights. This time, I had two absolutely wonderful calls with two of the core people behind developing and managing Star Stable Online: Game Director Stacy Place and CEO Johan Sjöberg.
Read MoreSolo game creator and TMQ Community member Éloise Laroche is officially announcing her newest project today: The Ranch of Rivershine is a horse ranch management game headed for a Steam release.
Anyone who follows Éloise’s Twitter or the gamedev channel on our community discord has already seen glimpses of the work in progress, but here is our first official trailer:
Read MoreI’ve been meaning to give you all a look into the creation of Rival Stars Horse Racing ever since I first got in touch with the team for a review key in June 2020. I’m more than happy to finally present you all with some insight – just in time for the game’s much-anticipated Jumping features being released on mobile.
Read MoreLead Designer and Prodcuer Michael Hengst contacted me right after I first announced the relaase of Horse Club Adventures. Now that I’ve played the game myself, I’m thrilled to give all of you some additional insight into how Horse Club Adventures was made, what we already know about its upcoming sequel, and what Michael thinks of the horse game genre in general.
Read MoreI sat down for a chat with Katrin Haase, has long years of experience making games for children at Markt + Technik. After the many frustrations that this company’s games has let me feel, I finally wanted to know: why do these games get made and how are they produced? And perhaps more importantly: how can they ever become better?
Join me for a fascinating insight into the world of low budget horse game production.
Read MoreIn January, we learned of a new upcoming horse game based on Dreamworks’ Spirit franchise and the upcoming movie Spirit Untamed. The Mane Quest reached out to its creators in order to learn more about the game’s development. Santiago R. Bedate from aheartfulofgames takes the time to give us some interesting insight behind the scenes of Spirit Lucky’s Big Adventure.
Read MoreWe continue our series on what to keep in mind when setting out to create your own horse game: Let’s assume now that you already have a bit of gamedev experience in this field, be it as a hobbyist or as a professional.
Perhaps you are – like me – a game creator of some experience who finally wants to tackle their passion project, who finally wants to make “the thing” that you believe is missing: the good horse game.
Read MoreWhen getting into game development, it makes sense to take the first steps by yourself, to practice game creation without relying on others at first. But the moment will come when other other people become relevant: possible team mates, playtesters and eventually the public. Let’s look at some basic guidelines for how to involve other people in your passion projects.
Read MoreStarting to make a game based on the premise of “what would be my perfect horse game” rather than “what kind of game can I reasonably expect to make” has its pitfalls. Overcomplexity, feature creep and creative burnout from wanting too much are all too common among passionate newbie creators. Let’s look at some of these challenges and how you can work your way around them.
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