It's About Time We Get a Jockey and Horse Racing Simulation Game

Nowadays, top-notch horse racing games are a rarity, and it’s about time we have an in-depth double or triple-A jockey or horse owner racing simulation game. Horse Games Online - It's About Time We Get a Jockey and Horse Racing Simulation Game

If you think about it, there’s a glaring lack of horse racing games today. Though we may have a biased view (considering we’re a site that posts about horse games), we’re sure you would agree. There are no triple-A horse racing titles, only indie experiences with simplified horse racing and RPG mechanics. Quite simply, there needs to be a vast improvement before they could be considered in the same league as the best action games for guys.

However, we can’t blame publishers and developers for not diving deep into the world of horse racing. It’s a relatively niche genre, and people won’t flock to stores just to get a copy, unlike, let’s say, Call of Duty or God of War.

Is a jockey and horse racing game truly necessary?

It’s necessary, especially if we are to breathe life into a gaming genre on a slump. One of the more significant horse racing games we’ve had recently was Rival Stars Horse Racing, which was released four years ago. Even then, it’s relatively shallow compared to what we’re looking for.

Possible features and gameplay

Imagine this: a horse racing game with riding mechanics comparable to Red Dead Redemption 2. You will either play as a stable owner/manager of a riding team, sending your horses and jockeys to high-stakes competitions across the country, earning prestige for your stable as you rack up the wins and obtain media attention, kind of similar to Monster Rancher’s approach to battles and competitions. You can then spend your funds to improve facilities and buy/sire more horses. You’ll first start bringing your horses to race in small-town fairs and, eventually, make it to the national stage.

As for jockeys, it can be a career mode akin to EA Sports FC or even NBA 2K, where various stable owners hire you to ride and race their horses. You can then sell your services to the highest bidder, whether at the county or state fairs or on the national level, similar to America’s Triple Crown.

In addition, you could also go as far as taking care of the horses, like in RDR2. You could brush their coat or even give them treats like carrots and sugar cubes, much like in My Little Pony: Magic Princess.

Story and setting

Although various countries have rich horse racing scenes, the period and place is the 1930s-1970s United States is the most prominent. Horse legends like War Admiral, Seabiscuit, and Secretariat raced in this period. To see how big the sport was during this period, you might want to check out the Seabiscuit book and movie, along with clips of Secretariat’s races.

Such a time and setting would be perfect. Not only is horse racing such a big deal in those 40 years, but it also paves the way for exciting storylines. For example, as a stable manager, you could be rivals with another racing outfit, and you could even organize rivalry match races with other stables or with your own horses, akin to Secretariat and Riva Ridge.

Overall, if this ends up being a reality, then such a horse racing game could become one of the most exciting sports games for dudes.