"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. This is includiding, but not limited to, Horse Games.

Parts of the essay echo many points that I often make here on TMQ – which is no coincidence, since channel host Moony mentions me and my work on The Mane Quest as an influence in the video. I am flattered, I feel heard, and I may have cried a little from sheer validation.

I hugely appreciate this nuanced and spot-on take about this often-forgotten niche, and can heartily recommend watching it.

Featured
Horse Games and Gender – How Video Games often fail to combine Quality and Femininity
Horse Games and Gender – How Video Games often fail to combine Quality and Femininity

There has been a significant amount of progress in recent years in how female characters are included and designed.

What remains is an imbalance between how our industry tackles subject matters and activities that have a gendered connotation, which is a significant factor in the utter scarcity of well-made games about horses.

Featured
Review: Horse Club Adventures 2 - Hazelwood Stories convinces with Cozy Vacation Vibes and Improved Horse Animation
Review: Horse Club Adventures 2 - Hazelwood Stories convinces with Cozy Vacation Vibes and Improved Horse Animation

Horse Club Adventures 2 – Hazelwood Stories was developed and published by Wild River Games from Germany and released on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Xbox One in October 2022. With a few years’ delay, let’s finally look into how Horse Club Adventures 2 compares and what it offers.

Recommended: How To Market A Game urges readers to "Consider the Horse Game"
Recommended: How To Market A Game urges readers to "Consider the Horse Game"

How To Market A Game is the website and blog of game marketing consultant and strategist Chris Zukowski. This week, Chris’ latest blog post is all about horse games, summarizing some insights into our niche from yours truly. Find and read the full blog post here.

Welcome Kelpie: An Unreal Tech Showcase gives us a First Look at Ciri's Horse in The Witcher 4
Welcome Kelpie: An Unreal Tech Showcase gives us a First Look at Ciri's Horse in The Witcher 4

As part of the State of Unreal 2025 event, CD Project Red showed the world exciting new material from their w upcoming fantasy RPG The Witcher 4. The Tech Demo shown at State of Unreal introduces Ciri’s equine companion Kelpie, named after the mythological water horse.

Tiny Horse Game Jam: 8 Adorable New Horse Games you Can Play For Free
Tiny Horse Game Jam: 8 Adorable New Horse Games you Can Play For Free

I always advise people to “make and finish tiny horse games”.

Well, a bunch of community members have taken this to heart in the best of ways: They organized the first official TMQ Tiny Horse Game Jam: Of the 8 resulting games, several were made by people who had never made a game before, but who now made their small but wonderful debut titles available for all to play.

The Ranch of Rivershine is now out in Full Release – and currently 35% off!
The Ranch of Rivershine is now out in Full Release – and currently 35% off!

The Ranch of Rivershine is a standout in the horse game niche for various reasons. I’ve written about the game and talked to developer Éloise Laroche back when the game released its first playable demo in early 2023 and came away with very positive impressions, and from everything I’ve seen, the project has only improved from there. After about two years in Early Access with several game updates and patches, the game has received its final major content updates on May 23rd 2025.

A Brief Look into the History of Horse Motion Capture for Video Games
A Brief Look into the History of Horse Motion Capture for Video Games

Earlier this week I saw someone on Facebook claim that Red Dead Redemption 2 was the first video game to use motion capture for horses. While I was instantly sure that was not in fact true, the question of “What WAS the first video game to use motion capture for horses?” isn’t actually all that easy to answer.

Let’s take a look at what I’ve found:

Recommended: "How do we animate horses from scratch?" – Insights from Equinox: Homecoming
Recommended: "How do we animate horses from scratch?" – Insights from Equinox: Homecoming

I hope you’ll forgive me for what’s essentially just a “hey look, I’m doing my job!” post, but as it turns out I think my job (i.e. horse game consultation) is really fucking cool and I get to brag about it a little bit sometimes, as a treat.

Recommended: "A murder-mystery horse MMO baffled me so much that I spoke to gaming's resident horse expert"
Recommended: "A murder-mystery horse MMO baffled me so much that I spoke to gaming's resident horse expert"

Following the announcement of Equinox: Homecoming, Harvey Randall at PC Gamer began to wonder why someone would make a game like that and what is up with the horse game niche in general. Naturally, I was happy to provide some insight.

analysisAlice Ruppertgirl games, horse game history, barbie games, recommendationComment