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Writer's pictureKaeli Bartholomew

Rival Stars Horse Racing: Gameplay and Opinion


All images are from the press release kit from PikPok.

About the Game:


Breeding, owning, and jockeying racehorses isn’t easily accessible for everyone. It is either too expensive, too time consuming, or does not fit with your current lifestyle. However, games like Rival Stars: Horse Racing (made by Pik Pok) help to fill this gap.


Rival Stars: Horse Racing made it’s launch on the App Store and Google Play on April 24th, 2019. The game has already received rave reviews. Rival Stars: Horse Racing is very reminiscent of games such as Gallop Racer and Champion Jockey. The concept remains the same: you breed, train, and race horses.


However, Rival Stars: Horse Racing has a few key differences. Unlike the aforementioned games, training takes a set amount of time. That said time increases depending on the level you are training our horse towards. Thus far, I have found training times to start at 5 minutes and get all the way up to four hours.


Breeding also takes time, but you can breed at any time throughout the game rather than just during a set month because the game is not run on a calendar.


Rival Stars: Horse Racing, racehorse app gameplay and review
Screenshot from Rival Stars: Horse Racing

The racing aspect of the game is also unique. Steering your horse is done by sliding your right thumb in the direction you would like to move. There is also no “whip” option, but instead a “sprint” and “slow” button that you tap or hold with your right thumb.


Like other horse racing games, you must be strategic in the way you run the race. Trying to keep your horse in its preferred position and timing out when to use the “sprint” button in the stretch gives the player a challenge that keeps them coming back to retry.


Like real life, each horse will have its own preferred racing distance, pack position, and track surface. Racing your horse in its preferred style makes it much easier to win the race. It is very hard to win an 800m race with a horse who prefers to run at 3200m. In addition to this, each horse has a max potential that you can reach by training them in speed, acceleration, and sprint.


To improve your farm in Rival Stars: Horse Racing, the game allows you to upgrade your training facilities, your storehouse, and your breeding stall(s). It also allows you to purchase new stalls so you can keep more horses. These upgrades are done with supplies and coins that you earn by participating in races or by completing goals.


The daily and story goals help you stay motivated and give you the supplies you need to keep progressing in the game. Examples of these goals include, “Breed A Level 3 Horse” and “Upgrade Breeding Stall to Tier 5”.


Rival Stars: Horse Racing, horse racing gaming app
Choosing which horse to race in Rival Stars: Horse Racing

Rival Stars: Horse Racing also offers up competitions such as time trials that players can enter in to win roses that can be used to purchase things within the game. The game recently partnered with Breeders' Cup to do a Breeders' Cup Challenge series!


The game is free to download! You will never be bothered with a pop-up ad unless it is an ad for a horse you can purchase in the game. You can choose to watch ads after races for extra coins. You can also watch ads to lower the wait time for things such as training and breeding or to receive free materials that you can use to upgrade your facilities.


You can make in app purchases on things such as game currency and you can pay $10 a month for lucrative daily rewards and other benefits.


My Opinion on the Game:


I have been playing Rival Stars: Horse Racing since its release and personally find the game very entertaining. I like the challenge of trying to win races and am happy that watching ads is a choice for the player. The game taking time for activities such as training, upgrading, and energy refills helps to get the player to step away from the game momentarily as it would be much too hard to step away otherwise.


The graphics are also well done and everything has run smoothly for me thus far. My only complaints are about the inevitable battery drainage (which is to be expected of a game that is made this well) and the small selection of horses to purchase at any given time.


All in all, I rate the game a 5/5 and look forward to any updates that are made to the game!




 

About: Champions of the Track is a blog dedicated to growing the popularity of horse racing by sharing stories, photos, and videos of the sport. Amassing over 13,000 followers across social media platforms, Champions of the Track aims to provide engaging content to generate new fans whilst maintaining the sport’s loyal supporters.


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