My Riding Stables
My Riding Stables is a PC version of a popular stable simulator built around horses. Download My Riding Stables to feel like a stables owner and a horse trainer.
Graphics: 3
It should be taken into consideration that, while we write this My Riding Stables review in 2019, the original game was released for Nintendo Wii in 2008, and then re-released in 2014. The changes of visuals are, in fact, cosmetic: the game has been optimized for larger screens. Now it looks like taken straight from the late 1990s, but even that time produced games that looked much better in terms of colors, fonts, landscapes, and anything. The re-release deserved some better work.
Gameplay: 4.5
Like in any farming game, it starts when you suddenly become an owner of half-abandoned stables you need to return to life. In order to do this, you repair the buildings, buy the horses, and start breeding them. Selecting horses is probably the most attractive part of the game: you can select the breed, the color, and so on. Horses attract guests who pay; you as a trainer attract horse owners, who also pay for training. The money can be spent on further upgrades or new horses.
Horses need to be fed, watered, groomed, cleaned from dirt on their skin and on their hoofs, walked out and ridden. If you have only one, it’s easier. But as you upgrade your stable and purchase more horses, taking care of them, all becomes a whole complicated procedure. Horses can be trained in order to improve their cleanliness, health, skills and so on. These upgrades will positively impact the horse’s life and the player’s score.
The pace of the game is slow: intolerably slow for those into more action, and meditatively slow for those enjoying the view (despite poor visuals). It tries to imitate real life in details, like day cycle or economy. The terminology is simplified. Professionals will misunderstand it, but amateurs and kids won’t even notice.
Controls: 4
Simulators like this never imply complicated controlling. Even in riding moments, you don’t have to mind your movements; the rest of acting is about clicking the right button or dragging the object (like washing the horse all over with a brush). It’s logical for the game meant for youngest players. With no special controllers required, it would have been easy to master if it had any guide. Unfortunately, it hasn’t, so all that’s left is trials and errors.
Replay Value: 4
As you get your first horse, you need to learn how to treat it, and sometimes its demands can take you by surprise, but that won’t be long. Then, as your stables meet new dwellers, you’ll distribute your time between multiple horses, and that makes the game more complicated and more fun, so hardly you’ll wish to rewind. Luckily, this game has no designed ending (at least, in theory).
The Bottom Line
Affording a real horse is hard for modern urban dwellers, but you can download My Riding Stables and enjoy the whole bunch of virtual horses. Due to fresh and colorful visuals, the virtual ranch becomes a place to resume your breath. Easy and attractive for kids, this game is also a great meditation for adults.
Easy but immersive gameplay;
Low system requirements.
Slow pace with much simply walking required;
Unintuitive controls;
Horse terminology treated inaccurately (excusable if made for kids).
