Horsey Addiction!
I love video games. LOVE THEM. I know I seem like a “normal person” but the truth of the matter is that I am a gamer. I have been known to stay up at all hours trying to beat that high score. Taking to people online from all over the world is common place for me. If I failed my national exam this time around it is because my brother sent me a beautiful brand new Wii just days before the test. Part of my video game obsession includes games about horses. I have played Let’s Ride so many different times I can tell you all the movements of their dressage test. And that is not all, I have played Horse Life, Horsez, Riding Star and even Riding Academy. All these games are marketed to girls who are about 10 years old. As a 25 year old woman I am ashamed of my addiction. When the person at the check out lines scans the game and then gives me the look I automatically come up with the lie that it is for my nieces birthday. I don’t even have a niece.
The shame I feel about my love of all things horses and all video games can be overwhelming. One of my favorite parts of this game is that you don’t have to go through the checkout line so there are no looks of shame. I am sure you are asking yourself why I am admitting my addiction now. For weeks I have thought about posting about my new horse game obsessions but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Last week though the game decided to hold a contest to get there name out there using blogs. I was still on the fence.
But recently I found out that I am not alone. In fact many people out there over the age of 18 who presumably lead regular lives like I do share my obsession. I found that out by reading the message boards online for my new favorite horse game Howrse. The message boards are FILLED with people just like me! People who love horses and gaming and who are legally old enough to drive a car! The difference is that many of these people are proud be adults lost in the fantasy world of gaming, while I still hide in a little bit of shame. Howrse was clearly not designed with adults in mind with its bright colors and simple language, but it is a game that requires patients and forethought, traits that many youngsters lack.
In the game (it is 100% free for most people. They make money by people clicking on banners advertising other sites and from the select few who pay to get passes which gives you an edge in the game) you are given a horse. I choose a a Thoroughbred (I am sure you are all shocked) who is grey so he sort of looks like Gennyral. And because I am ever so cool I even named him after my precious pony. I know I know…I deserve to be mocked…mock nicely though will you.
Can you see the resemblance? I started playing a few months ago when looking around yahoo! answers. So many people would come to the horse section asking questions for the game Howrse. I was curious that a video game would be asking its players horse management questions. I had to check it out. For research purposes only of course. About 30 seconds later I created my account by giving my e-mail and started to play. They gave me a baby Gennyral. “This is cute” I thought to myself. About 2 minutes later though I couldn’t play anymore. I had already done everything I needed to do to care for the online Gennyral that day. If there is one thing they could have done to make sure that I would be back the next day it was to limit my playing time. I play video games for hours…not minutes!
So sure enough the next morning I logged on and was able to play again…for about 5 minutes. This was torture! How can they limit me like this. Most games let you play until you get sick of them. Howrse is not like normal horse games. You earn “money” by having your horse be successful at competitions. How do they get successful? By training of course. And similar to real life all the different breeds have training specialities. Thoroughbreds are genetically better at galloping races then other breeds. After a short time of membership you take a test on horse management. I just think that this is such a cool idea to integrate real horse knowledge into a virtual game. I warn you though that once you start getting to the higher levels in the game something gets lost in translation. I, a veteran horse person, an assistant farm manager, owner, and horse enthusiast cannot even pass the tests without cheats. I think that this game is on to something though. If they get their questions translated correctly and tone down the bright colors I think a lot more old folks like me might play. It is really addictive, I started out with just one and now I have a whole herd to top notch horses. Something I cannot claim to ever have in real life. And they only take a few minutes to care for each day, a horse keepers dream.
And my favorite part of the game? I can make that Gennyral immortal.
It is a cute game. For children. But I don’t care I love it! If you want to join don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. You can even add me to your friends list, skya7, but please do me a favor. Lets just keep this addiction between us. I am sure some psychoanalyst somewhere has a lot to say about my now admitted horse game addiction.
