youYears ago, Pokémon programmer Masao Taya had the idea to combine a solitaire card game with a horse racing simulator and somehow, instead of sending him home to bed, developer Game Freak let him do it. The result was Pocket Card Jockey on Nintendo 3DS and its cult success has now spawned a new version for smartphones, taking the strange concept and literally riding with it.
You play as an aspiring jockey looking to rise through the ranks by competing in a series of increasingly challenging races. To win, he must succeed in a series of solitaire rounds (using the simple Golf variation of the game), clearing the screen by matching sequences of cards. The closer you get to a completely clean slate, the more energy your horse will have for the next few furlongs of the race. He must also manage their position in the pack, using a resource called Unity to guide them between opponents or to get them closer to the inside edge when turning a corner. It’s also important to conserve energy for the final stretch, where you gain direct control of your ride, using a whip to fuel your run as you gallop towards the finish line.
What you get then is a surprisingly complex combination of simulation, strategy, and resource management. Managing all aspects of your race so that your horse reaches peak performance at exactly the right time becomes challenging, especially when taking on the most demanding Royal Derby and facing longer races that require judicious control of stamina. Each successful run earns him cash that he can spend on boost items like carrots, which improve stamina, and magical gloves that guide his tactics in solo phases. Between races you also have to choose your horse’s life path, opting between different types of events as they mature and develop.
Although the visuals aren’t quite as charming as those in the Pokémon series, the game has a nice cartoony feel to it, and the dialogue between your rider and the horse’s trainer and owner is always fun. There’s a pretty comprehensive tutorial, but it will take you a while to understand how the different gauges intersect and how to manage the flow of power from your Unity to your power meters. After each loss, you get tips on where you went wrong, but the learning curve is longer than Mongol Derby, and it always depends on the luck of the draw in the solitaire sections.
But there’s something fascinating about this eccentric game that keeps you coming back for one more run, and each time you play, you come closer to understanding the balance of stamina, energy, enthusiasm, and drive needed to push through the last furlong. Taya and her team have done a good job of porting the original dual-screen to the smartphone format, and its availability on Apple Arcade by subscription means developers haven’t had to fill the game with in-app purchases and other by-products of the game. free-to-play market.
Some people rank Pocket Card Jockey among the best 3DS titles and Ride On will not disabuse them of this notion. It’s a strange, demanding, and at times obtuse game that nonetheless delivers moments of pure equestrian delight, which is, let’s face it, something we could all do with from time to time.
