Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch – Gameplay Trailer, New Info and Gamescom Press Roundup
Things have been busy for Horse Tales recently: The game was exhibited at Gamescom in Cologne in late August, and during the same time, Microids released a brand new trailer for the game. Where the initial announcement teaser focused on showcasing the game’s atmosphere and world, the gameplay trailer gives a lot more insight into various of the game’s features. Without further ado, have a look at it right here:
The video shows a glimpse at Washing, Grooming and Petting mechanics in the game: You might be happy to hear that these care interactions are optional in that the game never forces you to do them right away. Riding around on a dirty and unkempt horse has some disadvantages, but depending on your playstyle you may be fine with tolerating them. Getting your horse dirty can also be avoided by not crashing into obstacles or splashing through mud puddles, and riding through water can even get some of the worst dirt off without a detour to the washing station.
I’ve watched this trailer so many times by now but I still get chills when the music builds to a crescendo over the prospect of building out and customizing the Emerald Valley Estate with a wide variety of building styles and decorations: I cannot wait what for players to get creative with this and show off their farm layouts, or optimizing their building slot usage for the maximum number of horses.
At Gamescom in Cologne, Horse Tales was exhibited at the Astragon booth in the public area, not far from big players in the industry such as Ubisoft and Bandai Namco. It’s been quite amazing to see my own horse game be playable at such a huge event, and to show it directly to press representatives and explain to them why our game is so special in this constantly undervalued niche genre. (I could have done without promptly catching Covid and being utterly out of commission for a week straight right afterwards, but oh well, that was an obvious risk when intending a large scale event.)
As a result of our event presence and the new trailer, there has also been a handful of lovely press coverage about Horse Tales these past few days, that I recommend having a look at:
Gamescom 2022 Let Me Live Out My Horse Girl Dreams — The Gamer
Horse girls rejoice: an open world horse game that isn't RDR2 — PC Gamer
The Galloping Return of the “Horse Game” — The Mary Sue
Giddy up with Horse Tales – Emerald Valley Ranch, an open world equestrian adventure — Destructoid
Angespielt: Horse Tales – Rette Emerald Valley! (gamescom 2022) — Nat Games (German)
Neue Einblicke ins Spiel 🐴 Horse Tales: Emerald Valley — Kaddi Gaming (German)
I was particularly excited about the articles from The Gamer and The Mary Sue: The latter was my primary source for pop culture and intersectional feminism for years, and to learn that a writer there is a fan of my work is absolutely lovely. The article on The Gamer is slightly more down-to-earth about Horse Tales’ overall placement in the wider games market, but for those of us in the know about how horse games usually get made, having one described as “earnest” and “with respect for the creatures at its centre” is (sadly?) quite revolutionary.
I’m really excited to see more reactions to the game, both from press as well as from players. I’m well aware we’re not delivering the perfect horse game to satiate everyone’s horse game desires but I am convinced we are raising the bar for what this genre can (and should) be.
French Publisher Microids and German Developer Aesir Interactive Horse Tales – Emerald Valley Ranch, an equestrian open world adventure. As the project’s creative producer, I’m excited to share our teaser trailer and give you all some exclusive new insights into what to expect from the game.