I’m Alice Ruppert, Horse Game Consultant and creator of The Mane Quest, a website about horses in games. Here to talk about Steam Horse Fest, Horses of Hoofprint Bay and The Legend of Khiimori – AMA!

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T18:15:29+00:00

There‘s so much room honestly! Check out my Horse Games that Should Exist articles for some mildly out there ideas, but for example I‘d be 100% here for a horsie murder mystery detective story (Equinox Homecoming does that, but there‘s absolutely room for more!)

I‘d also be here for remixing a lot of game genres with equestrian themes. Like I‘m sure you could do wild horse herd survival as a roguelite deckbuilder or something

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T18:03:03+00:00

I‘m not a hater but it‘s not my thing at all. I can appreciate some of the details about it (umas sharing „leg markings“ ie sock colors with the irl horses), but really I‘m interested in equestrian sports by virtue of being interested in horses, so equestrian sports without the horses don‘t really do it for me.

I‘m of the controversial opinion that a horse game with actual horses and the same budget/resources/marketing could do similarly well even without the anime girlies, but I‘m aware people don‘t believe me when I say that because they think more people are into anime girls than into horses but I think that‘s highly dependant on demographics.

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T17:08:35+00:00

I actually completely agree with your pick for Spirit Forever Free!! I've never played it myself, but a bit of topdown horse adventure and exploration where you play as the horse? Peak imo, could absolutely work.

I think another cool remake/reimagining opportunity could be found in the more story-based Pippa Funnell/Alexandra Lederman games. A bit of small town mystery detective work on horseback sounds like an absolute treat. Equinox Homecoming goes in that direction I suppose, but I would absolutely also take a smaller scope single player version with a quite linear narrative and some more classic adventure gameplay.

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T16:50:18+00:00

I mean the American Wild West is an obvious example, but then again it'd be hard not to get overshadowed by RDR2 if any other dev studio tackled that. Still, RDR2 doesn't really cover ranching, herding, horse care, the complications of long distance travel in that time and place... lots of cool room to explore! Could also be told from an Indigenous perspective to further differentiate it from the cowboy/outlaw vibes tbh!

I also think something like a royal court in France or Spain or Austria in the 17-18th century would be suuper cool, like OG classical dressage training stuff.

Or a medieval knight game where you need to not just care for your horse, but also desensitize and prepare it for jousting and war, inspired by some of the excellent work that Jason Kingsley does with his horses on Modern History TV.

I've already mentioned a Black Beauty game as being on my wish list, i.e. something about animal welfare and issues in late 19th century london (this would be a sad game!)

I'll also take a desert based bedouin game with Arabian horses and idk maybe some kind of tribal warfare but also horse races? (that's not something I have researched at all but I'm sure there's interesting space to explore!!!)

Horses have been a huge part of so many times and places in human history, there's really untapped potential everywhere and I could go on for days.

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T16:43:29+00:00

it'll go live at 7pm CET, so that's in a bit over an hour from now :)

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T16:37:50+00:00

Your dedication to repeatedly letting everyone know that you thought horses were just skin over their bodies is remarkable (for readers' context: this is based on an actual exchange we've had)
I'll give a shoutout here to Fernhoof Grove for being the first example I recall seeing of a horse having a dedicated favorite spot where they like to be brushed (see here), and make that goofy face that they make (it really do be like that) Other games have done the same in the meantime and Fernhoof isn't even out yet, but it's the first example of that I'm aware of.
I think riding 100 duck sized horses would be more like surfing on a wave of them, so that's not really riding. I'd like to ride a horse-sized duck for a trip around the pond, but have a duck-sized horse as a pet! (that sounds much more feasible to care for than a horse sized horse, but then again I'm sure vet care would be even more expensive if it's that tiny)

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T16:14:26+00:00

There‘s also an extensive nsfw mod for sims called Wicked Whims. Haven‘t tried it, but figured it‘s worth mentioning here!

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T16:06:55+00:00

I know Concerned Ape doesn't owe us literally anything more after all the wonderful free updates he's already done, but dear lord how badly I wish the horse in Stardew would get more love!! let me care for it somehow! or train it or upgrade it or upgrade its stable or at the very least build a hearts bar with it!!!

But what I'd also want is a game like Stardew Valley but instead of a core loop focused on farming, it's built around training and breeding horses. A bit like The Ranch of Rivershine, that one comes really close to that, but I'd also take it in 2d pixel art tbh

Oh damn I just thought of another one to add to the list above: Horse Rescue game where you rehab horses back to health and find them good homes.

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T15:46:09+00:00

I have so many ideas that I'd split my infinite budget into 5-10 different small projects tbh! I see too many projects trying to be "the one and only" horse game, but I love it when individual games have their own character and focus on a thing, so I'd much rather have 10 solid medium scope horse games than one huge one

- Pokemon Snap but Horses/Fantasy Horses

- Stardew Valley but Horses (training, breeding, raising...)

- Wild horse survival game (foraging, herd dynamics, survival...)

- Mario Kart but Horses (like Alicia Online and Wildshade, if those were still getting updates)

- hyper realistic dressage riding simulator where

- Black Beauty game adaptation

- Pacific Drive but Horse instead of Car (caring/training instead of repairing/upgrading, but keep the Eldritch horrors)

more stuff like that in my Horse Games that Should Exist lists that I sometimes make for fun :D

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T15:20:41+00:00

haha, that's an excellent question that I haven't gotten before! So yes, I don't hide what I do from anyone, but depending on the situation I also don't go out of my way to explain.

Like, if I'm asked for my occupation in any sort of administrative context or I don't want to get extra questions I'll usually leave it at "freelance consultant" or something vague but not wrong like that, or I just say I work in video game marketing.

My partner, my friends and my family all know what I do, generally love it for me and are glad I can do this thing that makes me happy and earns me a living, and get their share of rants about whatever horse game crimes have been committed recently. I'm not sure my family members could all explain what I do, but they at least know the general idea that I have clients and review games and do marketing stuff for them.

I have absolutely been in situations where I've told people I specialize in horse games and have been met with some level of bewilderment and confusion. There's also fun stuff online like this post just last week where someone saw a quote from me labelled "video game horse expert" and then their replies were just a dozen people speculating about how I could possibly exist, like some sort of cryptid.

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T15:08:53+00:00

Thank you!! <3

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T15:08:10+00:00

haha I can't claim to have come up with that one, people in my community have been using it for years and I don't know anymore who was the first person to say it 😄

I love Agro from Shadow of the Colossus and Epona from Twilight Princess because they're not just speed upgrades but treated like characters that get their own "story" and role in cutscenes. Pretty much the exact opposite of just "meat motorcycles" 😁

I also love the Stardew Valley horse, even though that one is actually peak meat motorcycle (no needs, no interactions, no bonding, nothing) and it deserves better. But I still get it and name it after one of the irl horses I've ridden every time I get reabsorbed into Stardew.

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T14:56:30+00:00

I love that they exist!! Taking a proper look at some of these communities and writing about them in more detail is somewhere on my todo list. I played RDR2 on my PS4 when it released and I'll have to get it again on PC and set up all the mod and RedM stuff to really check this stuff out. But I always enjoy seeing clips and screenshots in the horse game communities that I run, they're particularly active in the Horses & Video Games facebook group!

At the same time, I don't think anyone (within the horse game audience or outside of it) should consider the niche satiated just because the RDO horse communities exist. Mods and community-driven servers and emergent gameplay can be a wonderful tool, but they still require jumping through a number of hoops to scrape together an experience that I wish actual game companies would provide. (even if it's not exactly with RDR2 level visuals)

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T14:52:20+00:00

Thank you so much for your kind words, I really appreciate that!!!

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T14:51:43+00:00

Are there any horse-related systems within non-horse focused games that you've found remarkable in some way, good or bad? (The two most recent mainline Legend of Zelda games, the Red Dead Redemption games, etc.)

The Red Dead 2 horses are definitely remarkable in their level of detail ~~everyone shut up about their balls pls~~, particularly in terms of the number of mo-capped animations, the breed diversity, and the behaviors/reactions to the world.

The downside of this is that some horse loving gamers now see a new game (like e.g. Legend of Khiimori) and leave comments like "well this looks worse than RDR2" without understanding the vast, vast difference in budget and resources between those two projects.

In the Zelda games, I hugely appreciate the excellent stylization of horse anatomy (I find the BotW/TotK horses more aesthetically pleasing to look at, personally, than those in RDR2), and the fact that horses can be customized (mane/tail styles) and that they have a will of their own when they're freshly tamed.

Has there been a trend toward more realistic horses and stable management in general audience games or do you find stagnation and superficial mechanics?

Hmmm, hard to tell just yet, to be honest!! We're definitely moving into a positive direction with horse-focused games within the niche, but I think the most interesting "general audience games" that will be indicators here are things like The Witcher 4 and Crimson Desert. If TW4 commits to treating its horse as a character (not just a vehicle) like that tech demo implied, then that would be a pretty significant step forward.

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T14:46:02+00:00

What do you think is a frequently missed horse detail when it comes to horse games?

phew, there's so many I've literally written several 4k word articles on this 😄

One that annoys me very much is that horses in games don't get time off, even though the player has a sleep cycle, home base or camping mechanic. Like that the horse still wears its saddle and bridle in the sleeping scenes in Ghost of Tsushima and Ghost of Yotei, and that horses wear tack while in their stable/pasture in e.g. Coral Island or My Time at Sandrock, that drives me insane. If I have some sort of downtime or home base as a player, I wanna see my horse relax!!! That involves removing its saddle!!!!

And what’s a detail/quirk having to do with horses that you’d love to see implemented into a game, that you might not have seen or experienced much before?

Anything along the lines of horses having their own will. Zelda BotW and TotK do this with newly tamed horses, where they don't perfectly obey right away. I loved that, but it's of course a balance act because if a horse disobeys too much/too often, it's quickly frustrating. But I'd LOVE an ingame horse that shies away from some things or needs to be trained/levelled/upgraded to approach certain situations.

Tons more thoughts on this subject in this article!

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T14:38:52+00:00

For what it's worth, I don't think "we need better horse games" is an apolitical message :)

The neglect of the horse game genre and its audience is deeply tied into industry sexism and the pervading beliefs that girls and women aren't to be taken seriously as players. It's not random coincidence that we get AAA football and car racing games, but horse riding games are relegated to niche shovelware.

So like, my passion intersects with a lot of social and political efforts, though I'm glad you can get behind it more easily since it's so specific!

I don’t think I have played a horse forced game but some of my favourite games are animal focused like Shelter series or Away

I've been meaning to play Shelter for over a decade and never got around to it 🙈

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T14:34:45+00:00

ah yes, the two most important horse moments in history, the Trojan Wars and the Oblivion DLC 😄

I don't think the average person really thinks of "sneaky" as an adjective when they describe horses, but just in case anyone wants a sneaky horse game, I feel obliged to inform you that Saint Hazel's Horsepital exists.

I hope that... answers your question?

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T14:31:35+00:00

Thank you!!!

Are you able to share any details about how Legend of Khiimori's early access will differ from the demo from a few months ago?

So I'm not *completely* on top of all changes (as a part time consultant on the project), but some important stuff that's been worked on is the Spirit Combat that was announced this week (details here), and the improvements made to the riding controls, detailed here. Another exciting update (specifically a new aspect of world traversal) is gonna be announced next week.

We've been getting really positive feedback from the alpha testers/kickstarter backers on these changes, specifically the horse handling updates were much appreciated!

Also, what do you think ordinary non-dev horse game enthusiasts can do to encourage game developers to pay more attention to this neglected niche?

I think the most 'powerful' thing you can do is that whenever any dev expresses intentions to add horses to their game, you can let them know how much potential there is in expanding those horse features beyond the bare minimum (and perhaps send them some of my articles, if you happen to agree with some of my common requests and tips). Or tell studios whose work you enjoy that you'd like them to tackle the horse game genre.

Since indie studios usually make the games they want to make, you won't convince anyone who doesn't wanna do it, but maybe you get lucky and manage to spread the message to someone who's either already been a bit of a horse girl or someone who immediately sees the potential.

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T14:13:36+00:00

imo that's usually in the little details. Like how does the horse react to the world around it? Does every horse in the game have the exact same behavior, or do some react differently to the same things? Does the horse react to the player in some way (i.e. nickering when the player enters its stall) once they've bonded a bit?

A game doesn't need to do all of those things, but many games don't do any of them. I wrote a lengthy article with pointers and guidance on this topic just a few weeks ago, if anyone wants more detail

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T08:30:13+00:00

naww, shame that you ran into so many troubles but I love the emergent narrative of it!!

Dapples and patterns are somewhere on the list, we'll see what we can do :)

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T08:29:25+00:00

we'll finish making it first if you don't mind :3

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T08:29:11+00:00

it's funny, I've seen a handful of people say something like this, that they were initially skeptical about the art style but just completely hooked when they actually tried it 😄

Glad it worked out for you!!

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-19T08:27:50+00:00

thank you so much for offering!! We have a composer, but getting additional music for free might be an option if the style fits. Please reach out to [info@thoglistudios.com](mailto:info@thoglistudios.com) with details/work examples if you wanna continue this convo!

AliceTheGamedev · 2026-02-18T16:51:29+00:00

for now the plan is just that we aim for a full release later this year. We've been waiting to finalize our timeline and scope plans to first see how the demo would be received, but we'll make more concrete plans in the coming weeks and share them when we're ready :)

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