Star Stable Online is a multiplayer online role-playing game. It is arguably the largest and most successful horse-themed game currently available. Despite having been launched back in 2011 and catering to a rather niche audience—young girls who love horses—it remains incredibly popular.
Storyline
During your vacation, you arrive on the island of Jorvik, where there exists a special bond with horses. The villains are businessmen who want to destroy the island in search of valuable resources. Naturally, you are called upon to save the island and its stables. Unlike many other horse games, SSO does not allow you to choose your character's gender. The FAQ section on the official website explains it this way: "Star Stable is a game focused on heroines, but that doesn't mean boys can't play Star Stable. There are many games where you can only choose male characters, and we want to show that girls can be heroes too."
After a few introductory quests, you can freely move around the stables of the central Moorland and the surrounding fields. The entire island will gradually open up to you as you unlock new areas. And the map, by the way, is very large.
You will learn how to care for your horse, how to participate in races around the stables, and how to earn Jorvik Shillings—the free in-game currency. Speaking of horses in this overview, you have access to a very wide selection of various horses, featuring different breeds and different coat colors.
There is also a questline where you can obtain Spirit, based on the Netflix and DreamWorks animated series Spirit Riding Free.
Game Mechanics
In this Star Stable Online overview, it's worth mentioning that the mechanics are quite simple. Controlling your horse is easy and convenient. Daily horse care is minimal—interaction is simply a matter of dragging an item (food, water, brush, etc.) onto the horse. The quests are interesting and fun, albeit linear. But for each completed quest, you receive money and experience. By gaining experience, you increase your reputation on the island of Jorvik. This gives you an advantage—a wider selection of items and equipment.
Overall, I would say that the main feature and strength of Star Stable Online is its breadth and variety. There are many things in this game: many horses, many NPCs, numerous quests, and plenty of locations.
Although it is free-to-play, Star Stable Online does require purchases—for example, to acquire new horses. This allows players interested in this type of game to download, test out, and evaluate the game before buying anything. Star Stable Online can be downloaded for PC and Mac from the game's website. You can also create a character and choose a horse right in your browser before downloading anything.
The review of Star Stable Online is coming to an end, but before you go play, you should take a look at the minimum and recommended system requirements of Star Stable Online.
