Must-Read: Polygon Analyzes Assassin's Creed Horses with an Expert of Equine History

Polygon writer Simone de Rochefort and Horse Historian Professor Donna Landry take a close look at the horses in the Assassin’s Creed games: The recent titles Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla all use the same horse model regardless of their vastly different settings and cultural context.

De Rochefort and Landry draw comparisons between this horse type and modern breeds, and go through the games’ Viking, Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece settings to discuss how horses in those regions and time periods might have looked.

I absolutely love this deep dive and am incredibly happy that for once, I am not alone in reporting on video game horse accuracy. The article is an absolute must-read for TMQ fans, horse history enthusiasts and equestrian gamers. Go read it, and let Polygon know if analytical horse content is something you want to see more of!

Click right here: Polygon: A horse expert weighs in on the Assassin’s Creed pony debate (that we started)

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The Best Horse Games to Play on PC and Console in 2025
The Best Horse Games to Play on PC and Console in 2025

Are you new to horse games and not sure where to start? Find out what’s the latest and best, and what you may have missed!

Recommended: Indie developers are trying to make horse games that don’t suck. It’s not easy
Recommended: Indie developers are trying to make horse games that don’t suck. It’s not easy

Earlier this year, I was interviewed by Cheyenne Macdonald for the tech and gaming site Engadget. I only just realized that Cheyenne ended up interviewing a handful of devs from the teams of Astride and Unbridled: That Horse Game and that the resulting article was published a few months ago!

I can only recommend having a look for yourself:

Game Release: Tales of Rein Ravine is Now Available on Steam For Free
Game Release: Tales of Rein Ravine is Now Available on Steam For Free

Tales of Rein Ravine is a new horse game now available in Steam Early Access at no cost. While “an intriguing story - more mature than typical in its genre” is planned for the future, the Early Access version of ToRR doesn’t have much narrative content yet, but lets you take riding lessons and explore.

Preview: I tried the VR Edition of Rival Stars Horse Racing and it's Looking Pretty Good
Preview: I tried the VR Edition of Rival Stars Horse Racing and it's Looking Pretty Good

Between my talk at devcom and a ton of interesting horse game related conversations, I’ve had an absolutely splendid time at gamescom in Cologne this year. One highlight that I want to tell you all more about is this though: I got to try the upcoming VR Edition of Rival Stars Horse Racing! 

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"Why Doesn't the Industry Make Good Girls' Games?" – A Video Essay into the History and Market of "Girly Games"
"Why Doesn't the Industry Make Good Girls' Games?" – A Video Essay into the History and Market of "Girly Games"

Moon Channel, a YouTube creator of gaming video essays, has released a fantastic video tackling the history and market of so-called “girl games” – video games deliberately marketed to and targeted at young female players.

Chariot Racing in Games – Horses, Representations and Untapped Potential
Chariot Racing in Games – Horses, Representations and Untapped Potential

Noa Leibson is an art historian, life-long rider and writer of equestrian fiction and non-fiction. I finally managed to take her up on her offer to give us all some fascinating insight into ancient historical chariot racing, the men and women (!) who participated in it, and how video games like Assassin’s Creed: Origins succeed and fail in their representations of this fascinating sport. 

Horse Games That Should Exist – Vol III
Horse Games That Should Exist – Vol III

We sometimes about “horse games” as if that term described a specific genre. In reality, while many classic horse games do fit into the farm buildup and simulation genre, the concept of “game that features horses prominently and has lots of mechanics relating to them” is not tied to that setup at all. In this article and the two previous volumes in this series, I try to broaden people’s horizons a little as to what could be cool horse games.

8 Common Horse Mistakes I Want Game Developers to Stop Making
8 Common Horse Mistakes I Want Game Developers to Stop Making

As a surprise to literally no one, I have a lot of thoughts on what the creators of games with horses in them could be doing better. Every horse game player has dreams and ideas and could start listing all the features that their ideal horse game would have in an instant. Let’s ignore the dream projects today and focus on a handful of fairly basic, relatively easily fixable* mistakes that horse game developers should really stop making.

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