Leah
12-12-2007, 08:44 PM
Basic Information:
Howrse.com is a virtual pet site just for horses and ponies. You can breed and race your horses, and also manage your own Equestrian Center. Howrse was originally in French, but has been translated into English, and soon, German as
well.
Art: 7/10
Howrse has some pretty good art, but based on other pet site art I have looked at recently, they have some room to improve. The best thing about Howrse's art is the realism of the horses. All the different breeds of horses (except two, the Arabian and Thoroughbred since they look so much alike) have their own picture, and each coat that horse comes in has it's own picture as well. The breed characteristics of the actual horse can be seen in their version as well. Probably the biggest reason I docked 3 points off their art rating is their store images, they aren't the best in the world. A few examples of their art can be seen below:
Pet (Strawberry Roan Thoroughbred Adult, Cherry Bay Hanoverian Foal):
http://www.howrse.com/media/image/chevaux/akhal-teke/bai-brun-adulte-grand.jpg?38
http://www.howrse.com/media/image/chevaux/germanique/bai-cerise-poulain-grand.jpg?38
Store (Equestrian Center Store):
http://www.howrse.com/media/image/paysages/boutique-centre-equestre.jpg
Shopkeeper (Mr. Hubert):
http://www.howrse.com/media/image/paysages/m-hubert.jpg
Item (Turnip):
http://www.howrse.com/media/image/produits/navet-big.jpg
Content: features, etc: 9/10
For the first 20 days of membership, Howrse may seem boring to some people. On the 20th day of membership, you are allowed to open up an Equestrian Center. The main idea of Howrse is to get the best horse possible, which can be accomplished through selective breeding, training, and competitions. Through training and breeding, you can accomplish a "Green Star" for your horse. A green star just means that your horse has gotten the highest possible skill level in a particular field (stamina, dressage, trotting, galloping, speed, and jumping.) Each breed naturally excels in one area (which refers back to the actual breed of horse.)
Howrse also has seasons (which change each week of the month). It's very realistic, since you can only plant crops during the correct seasons, and your horses must stay in the box at night instead of the pasture when it's too cold. The current temperature varies on the season, and is displayed along with the season at the top left corner of the screen.
Managing your Equestrian center also keeps you coming back, you have to make sure you hire employees, create competitions, build stalls, plant crops, and many other things to keep your enter from going belly-up. For some people, managing finances can be tough. Personally, I've never had a problem with this, but I know of others who have.
Howrse definitely caters to members who remain active and stay with the site for a while. They offer new things for certain stepping stones in your membership. For example, for each 30 days of membership you get 1 karma point. Karma can be lost by: bidding on a horse in the auctions, and not having the money when the auction ends, not paying the vet when a foal is born, or getting in trouble on the forums. You also have riding levels, which is: you take a horse trivia quiz, if you pass, you move up a riding level. Riding Levels enable you to have jobs with Equestrian Centers and make a salary.
I believe Howrse is one of those sites that takes a while to get a hang of, but after that, you are hooked.
Staff: 9/10
The staff have always been very kind to me, I've never had a problem with any of them. I have only had to contact a staff member one time for content on a profile of a member, so I don't have very much experience with talking to their staff. When I did mail them though, I got a reply in less than 5 minutes, and the profile was quickly deleted. They offer help whenever possible on the forums, so personally, I have nothing bad to say against them.
Rewards: 10/10
There are certain milestones you can achieve for being a member on Howrse for a certain amount of time. Some of these include, gaining Karma (which allows you access to Private Sales, Breeding Farms, and the Auctions), Riding Levels, Passes (which is like account upgrades), and in game items. These rewards encourages the members to keep coming back. Also, your days of membership only include the days you get on the site.
Advertisements: 9/10
I am very impressed with the small amount of ads on Howrse. Most pages don't even have ads, but the ones that do only have 1 ad. There are two different types of ads, a 728x90 image ad, or the text "Ads by Google". Another thing I like about the ads is that when a page is loading, the site itself loads before the ad does. Personally, I hate when all the ads are loaded, and you are having to wait for the site. I have never noticed any inappropriate ads on Howrse, like I have on other pet sites. Of course, they could have no ads at all, which makes me give them a 9/10 instead of a perfect rating.
Account upgrades: 8/10
You can buy passes on the site. Passes are pretty much like a gift card for Howrse, you buy the passes with Paypal, or by National Call Rate. After you are a member for 50 days, you can purchase 1 pass per month with 20% of your in game currency. Things you can purchase with passes include: Making your horse immortal, enabling your mare to have twins, resuscitating a dead horse, make your horse a Pegasus, creating your own coat, and changing the coat of you horse. You can also buy things such as pass seeds, greenhouses, and fields for your Equestrian Center. There are also many other things, too many to list actually.
Game play: 7/10
The thing I don't like about Howrse is that funds that can be used on your horses are separate from the funds for your Equestrian Center.
With the Equestrian Center aspect of the game, I have no problems at all making money. The biggest moneymaker is planting crops during the correct season, then sell the harvest. This makes a very large profit. You must also purchase the seeds for the crop. You can buy fertilizer and pesticide if you want them. Crops can also be destroyed by bugs, which is the reason for pesticide.
With the horse breeding part of the game, it can be fairly hard to make money. You can put your horses in the pasture of the Equestrian Center they are boarded in for free feeding. You can sell horses in private sales and auctions. If you have a stallion, you can also give covering offers for mares. You can make 200-1500 equus for each covering. You can enter competitions, and also take part in horse riding lessons for equus. The amount you recieve per lesson depends on the quality of the Equestrian center your horse in boarded in. If you are able to manage your money, and not spend when you don't need to, then funds can be easy to take care of. I've never ran out of money, but I know of many people who have.
Overall: 9/10
My biggest complaint with Howrse is that the forums are only for Howrse-related questions. They have forums in the Equestrian Center, which are much like the clubs/guilds of other sites, but that isn't like a forum where all the members can come and chat.
Overall, I give Howrse a 9/10. As you can tell from above, Howrse has tons of features, and if you are into that kind of pet site, it's definitely one you can fall in love with.
This is my first review, and I hope I've completed everything necessary. =)
If I have left anything out, or you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
Howrse.com is a virtual pet site just for horses and ponies. You can breed and race your horses, and also manage your own Equestrian Center. Howrse was originally in French, but has been translated into English, and soon, German as
well.
Art: 7/10
Howrse has some pretty good art, but based on other pet site art I have looked at recently, they have some room to improve. The best thing about Howrse's art is the realism of the horses. All the different breeds of horses (except two, the Arabian and Thoroughbred since they look so much alike) have their own picture, and each coat that horse comes in has it's own picture as well. The breed characteristics of the actual horse can be seen in their version as well. Probably the biggest reason I docked 3 points off their art rating is their store images, they aren't the best in the world. A few examples of their art can be seen below:
Pet (Strawberry Roan Thoroughbred Adult, Cherry Bay Hanoverian Foal):
http://www.howrse.com/media/image/chevaux/akhal-teke/bai-brun-adulte-grand.jpg?38
http://www.howrse.com/media/image/chevaux/germanique/bai-cerise-poulain-grand.jpg?38
Store (Equestrian Center Store):
http://www.howrse.com/media/image/paysages/boutique-centre-equestre.jpg
Shopkeeper (Mr. Hubert):
http://www.howrse.com/media/image/paysages/m-hubert.jpg
Item (Turnip):
http://www.howrse.com/media/image/produits/navet-big.jpg
Content: features, etc: 9/10
For the first 20 days of membership, Howrse may seem boring to some people. On the 20th day of membership, you are allowed to open up an Equestrian Center. The main idea of Howrse is to get the best horse possible, which can be accomplished through selective breeding, training, and competitions. Through training and breeding, you can accomplish a "Green Star" for your horse. A green star just means that your horse has gotten the highest possible skill level in a particular field (stamina, dressage, trotting, galloping, speed, and jumping.) Each breed naturally excels in one area (which refers back to the actual breed of horse.)
Howrse also has seasons (which change each week of the month). It's very realistic, since you can only plant crops during the correct seasons, and your horses must stay in the box at night instead of the pasture when it's too cold. The current temperature varies on the season, and is displayed along with the season at the top left corner of the screen.
Managing your Equestrian center also keeps you coming back, you have to make sure you hire employees, create competitions, build stalls, plant crops, and many other things to keep your enter from going belly-up. For some people, managing finances can be tough. Personally, I've never had a problem with this, but I know of others who have.
Howrse definitely caters to members who remain active and stay with the site for a while. They offer new things for certain stepping stones in your membership. For example, for each 30 days of membership you get 1 karma point. Karma can be lost by: bidding on a horse in the auctions, and not having the money when the auction ends, not paying the vet when a foal is born, or getting in trouble on the forums. You also have riding levels, which is: you take a horse trivia quiz, if you pass, you move up a riding level. Riding Levels enable you to have jobs with Equestrian Centers and make a salary.
I believe Howrse is one of those sites that takes a while to get a hang of, but after that, you are hooked.
Staff: 9/10
The staff have always been very kind to me, I've never had a problem with any of them. I have only had to contact a staff member one time for content on a profile of a member, so I don't have very much experience with talking to their staff. When I did mail them though, I got a reply in less than 5 minutes, and the profile was quickly deleted. They offer help whenever possible on the forums, so personally, I have nothing bad to say against them.
Rewards: 10/10
There are certain milestones you can achieve for being a member on Howrse for a certain amount of time. Some of these include, gaining Karma (which allows you access to Private Sales, Breeding Farms, and the Auctions), Riding Levels, Passes (which is like account upgrades), and in game items. These rewards encourages the members to keep coming back. Also, your days of membership only include the days you get on the site.
Advertisements: 9/10
I am very impressed with the small amount of ads on Howrse. Most pages don't even have ads, but the ones that do only have 1 ad. There are two different types of ads, a 728x90 image ad, or the text "Ads by Google". Another thing I like about the ads is that when a page is loading, the site itself loads before the ad does. Personally, I hate when all the ads are loaded, and you are having to wait for the site. I have never noticed any inappropriate ads on Howrse, like I have on other pet sites. Of course, they could have no ads at all, which makes me give them a 9/10 instead of a perfect rating.
Account upgrades: 8/10
You can buy passes on the site. Passes are pretty much like a gift card for Howrse, you buy the passes with Paypal, or by National Call Rate. After you are a member for 50 days, you can purchase 1 pass per month with 20% of your in game currency. Things you can purchase with passes include: Making your horse immortal, enabling your mare to have twins, resuscitating a dead horse, make your horse a Pegasus, creating your own coat, and changing the coat of you horse. You can also buy things such as pass seeds, greenhouses, and fields for your Equestrian Center. There are also many other things, too many to list actually.
Game play: 7/10
The thing I don't like about Howrse is that funds that can be used on your horses are separate from the funds for your Equestrian Center.
With the Equestrian Center aspect of the game, I have no problems at all making money. The biggest moneymaker is planting crops during the correct season, then sell the harvest. This makes a very large profit. You must also purchase the seeds for the crop. You can buy fertilizer and pesticide if you want them. Crops can also be destroyed by bugs, which is the reason for pesticide.
With the horse breeding part of the game, it can be fairly hard to make money. You can put your horses in the pasture of the Equestrian Center they are boarded in for free feeding. You can sell horses in private sales and auctions. If you have a stallion, you can also give covering offers for mares. You can make 200-1500 equus for each covering. You can enter competitions, and also take part in horse riding lessons for equus. The amount you recieve per lesson depends on the quality of the Equestrian center your horse in boarded in. If you are able to manage your money, and not spend when you don't need to, then funds can be easy to take care of. I've never ran out of money, but I know of many people who have.
Overall: 9/10
My biggest complaint with Howrse is that the forums are only for Howrse-related questions. They have forums in the Equestrian Center, which are much like the clubs/guilds of other sites, but that isn't like a forum where all the members can come and chat.
Overall, I give Howrse a 9/10. As you can tell from above, Howrse has tons of features, and if you are into that kind of pet site, it's definitely one you can fall in love with.
This is my first review, and I hope I've completed everything necessary. =)
If I have left anything out, or you have any other questions, feel free to ask.