Some bugs I encounted, not sure if fixed: on day 10 has trouble trigger certain interaction with an unusual npc, and caused the speed really slow.on day 14 when I try to find the way out I could go out from a certain metal-related place and got soft lock by sinking myself in the sea. Later the exit space was vanished.
This isn’t about sex, or violence. It is about the mindset that dehumanises people. That others them, so they can be killed and exploited. and, further (to my mind), about how that is done to other species, and nature. It’s about oppression and resistance to it. It’s a world taken to the extremes of fascism, racism, speciesism, capitalism, settler colonialism. How evil gets justified and institutionalised. Life becomes product.
As such, I took it as criticism of all the evils of the worst governments. I think of Israel, and how their media, press and government continually refer to Palestinians as “animals”, and have for the 75 years they have been stealing their land for a Western colony, and committing genocide. As the US did with native Americans, and Australia with Aboriginal Australians. As the British did again and again. As Europe did. All of which support, arm and defend Israel’s genocide today, whilst persecuting those who oppose genocide. No wonder US companies won’t publish this.
It is an obscene farm run by the pervert Donald Trump. His friends (perverted priests and vets) might as well be Epstein and Prince Andrew.
It reminds me of many other things. The horror of The Tank / La Cisterna (terrific Italian novel by Nicola Lombardi), crossed with Animal Farm.
The graphics for the countryside are beautiful, often photo-realistic mono that brings to mind the game Betrayer. The figures less so (why are their forearms and legs apparently burnt and scarred?)
It’s the kind of game that should be made, which makes it all the more pronounced that Steam and Epic won’t publish it. Both US outfits which allow endless violence and exploitation in games, but will not allow sex or a naked human body! That’s American perspectives for ya, priorities twisted to fuck.
I think I’ll stop buying games directly on Steam, as I stopped buying on GOG when they refused to publish Devotion (an excellent horror game, by the way, and worth buying direct from the Red Candle site). I’ll just buy keys from Humble and Fanatical, which means I still get GOG and Steam games, but without any money (or less money) going to GOG and Steam.
Worth experiencing, for sure. And it’s worth supporting the developers who tried to do something innovative, resisting authoritarianism in an increasingly authoritarian world.
And as to the “controversy”? The only controversy is that it’s about evil which is in charge of many countries at the moment. Resisting oppressive governments and cultures is difficult.
As an aside, I tried it in Linux first. It ran fine, except none of the FMVs work – just blank space. I had to boot into Windows (something I do once every six months, and detest!) to play it properly. I also wish it allowed arrow-key controls: some of us find WASD really awkward and never use it as a control scheme if we can help it.
Steam does allow nudity and actual sex occuring on screen if the dev is willing to have an AO rating (mainly for the sex on screen part) this game though is slop. horse shit if you will lol. this game isn't even a game. You do mindless repetitive tasks that aren't fun, the narrative is half baked, lacks any subtlety, is super generic, as lazy as the gameplay, the graphics are absolute dogwater, animations anyone could make in like a day, it's slop. There's enough low effort low quality games on steam as it is. We don't need more. This game cost 100k to make and it does not show at all. I can't help but wonder if that's a lie. Go support real games and leave this to rot. Nobody would ever talk about this game if it weren't banned from steam.
i like to discuss and respond to what people post. Sue me lol. Agree to disagree sure. But it’s not wrong to respond ti multiple people’s comments. They’re here to discuss. I find people only take issue when the multiple replies are negative in nature. Nobody ever questions why someone responds to multiple comments this way when it’s positive. It’s the same reason someone does that. Discussion. Someone makes a post, people comment on it.
Undeserving of the bans - I really enjoyed this (surely there’s a more fitting term than “enjoyed” but you get what I mean). Some animations in the game can be a bit janky but I see the artistic direction of the game as a whole and something tells me this contrast is at least in part intentional (obviously you’re going for dissonance when you’re doing things like the fence-jumping minigame). While I feel like it favors the game’s vibe in places and works against it in others, I think you have a super interesting approach to the visual/audio presentation overall. Wishing your studio the best.
Hi devs. I saw that you updated the GOG version. Please keep in mind to not unpublish old builds after an update because on GOG it is possible for the user to rollback to older versions but only if you don't unpublish older builds - which is something GOG asks for in their devdocs as well. Since you apparently do still update the game I really want to suggest making the censoring an optional toggle. This way everybody could experience the game the way they want. Thank you!
I really enjoyed this game. It was short and sweet (wrong use of the word sweet, because this game didn't pull many punches). I donated some extra money towards the game because of how silly the ban was for this game on Steam. Help indie developers keep making weird games and push the boundaries of gaming and story telling.
it is absolutely imperative that more weird, strange, and perverse artsy games exist — especially ones that provide strong critiques of christofascism. for all the fuss people kicked up about this game, it's rather tame (the worst parts are implied, censored, or happen offscreen), but it still punches hard enough to make you uncomfortable and enough to compel you to play all the way through
i know 'walking sim' type games aren't everyone's cup of tea but i thoroughly enjoyed horses, my friends who watched me play did as well, i highly recommend it!
That was a fuckin drug trip, it feels like somthin ripped out of early 2010s flash horror, solid 8.5/10, some slight bugs like durin one of the riding segments the hitbox's were flipped so it made it less smooth but it did make me remember where my door is, the code puzzle was obtuse too but that adds to the flash aspect, i wish this game makes enough money, Buona fortuna!
The general censorship of this game baffles me from platforms such as Steam and Epic Games, but from a developer standpoint any kind of controversary can only help spread the word. And for an indie game that's only a good thing. Yes, there's metaphors akimbo with Horses. Yes, there's scenes that make the player feel uncomfortable and yes, there's moralistic 'decisions' that make the player feel like an unsuspecting Milgram experiment participant...but that's really the point.
Any game that makes the player think and ask themselves questions after the credits have rolled is always going to be championed in my books. Support this dev and play Horses for yourself before jumping on any bandwagons.
Now, where's my beautiful stud? Daddy's got to rub himself.
Just played through the whole game on steam deck(played flawlessly using proton experimental) overall it was a decent art house style game. My biggest wish is it had more then one ending adding more weight to what felt like decisions through the playthrough. Otherwise it was fine if you want something weird.
played it twice, I feel adding the option would only enhance its depravity and uneasiness of the game. Just like we got the option for all the manhunt games. Why create such a great game, have all these warnings about what it entails .. parental advisory warnings only to blur a portion of what should cement and add to its graphical shock? Just my 2 cents. Still a great game but I feel having that option to consenting adults who want that extra shock value.. we should be offered that option. 9/10 game
I bought Horses on GOG. Great game! Game runs great on Steam Deck, I run a Bazzite Linux desktop with an RTX 5070TI, and the game will start without the visuals, but you can hear it. I'm trying to figure out a workaround with proton for Bazzite Nvidia. I really appreciate the work you've done for gaming!
Excellent game.Wanted to note 2 bugs: -When I did the lighter fluid, I went over the edge of the window and that made the window pop down into the bottom corner of the screen, and I couldn't drag it back so I had to quit the game. -On day 14, I walked off the map. I was at the cut fence and the boarded up part showed up but the wire didn't.
The final puzzle could be improved by making the player wait until they have the key to open both cabinets in the bedroom. By the time I had the second part of the puzzle, I had already dismissed the first part and forgot about it. I came here to find the code after watching the video five times, looking for hidden numbers.
I liked this a fair bit. I'd recommend Edwin's review on RPS for anyone who wants a deeper dive into this. I'm not sure I got as much as he did from the game, but even on a surface level, the game's ability to juggle juxtaposing tones effectively is brilliant.
This was my first time using Itch.io's Linux launcher, which it seems just downloads the Windows files and runs them with your default Wine binary, which is more than likely awful for gaming. Notably, the FMV's straight up didn't work for me. Running this with Proton fixes that and the game ran absolutely fine otherwise.
Anyone who doesn't like this is a clown and an idiot and loves censorship. Congrats on admitting you've turned into your own 60 year old republican parents, more for the rest of us with taste.
I don't know if I believe anyone here is a real person, this was one of the worst games I think I have ever played in my life. Doesn't have anything of value to say aside from vague platitudes that fascism and sexual assault are bad (while also not treating any of the sexual content with any kind of reverance). It having absolutely zero interesting gameplay elements is secondary to how sloppy and messy the rest of the game is. Its like a parody made by someone who absolutely dispises early film.
yeah no shit?? if you don't treat the message with sincerity though you're just stating the obvious while not making any worthwhile contribution to a topic, making covering the topic worthless.
if you think the game tackles it well, fair enough; but make that clear. responding with this dishonest shit makes it feel more like you dislike fascism for the moral aesthetics rather than the immediate danger such dangerous ideologies put on human society at large.
We live in a time where the message 'fascism and sexual assault are bad' is clearly not so obvious and widely accepted as it should be. See: the President of the United States. Is Horses subtle? No. But is this a time where we can really afford subtlety? If Horses makes one person question their complicity in what's happening in the world, then it's a good thing. If its message is way below your level of political discourse, good for you.
I am on Linux and got it working without issue by adding it to Steam as a non-steam game and forcing it to run via Proton experimental. Hope this is helpful!
Thanks to payment processors and online stores for the advertisement I guess... Chances are I wouldn't have heard of the game without the idiotic bans, now I'm buying it and your whole discography if only to show support. Stay strong and keep creating!
Im sorry i dont know if i am dumb but i dont understand what should i do on day 14 ;_; i think i am supposed to find the code to the door but i cant find it
appreciating the game but I genuinely have no idea what how I'm supposed to figure out this last Thing before the ending which is putting a bit of a damper on things
edit literally minutes later sorry I'm stupid I figured it out
In vague terms if this is about the code I still cannot figure it out and it really put a damper on my enjoyment. I get it comes from the VHS but I'm too stupid
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Some bugs I encounted, not sure if fixed: on day 10 has trouble trigger certain interaction with an unusual npc, and caused the speed really slow.on day 14 when I try to find the way out I could go out from a certain metal-related place and got soft lock by sinking myself in the sea. Later the exit space was vanished.
Stay weird, Santa Ragione 💙
I'm not sure how to receive the demo?
I love this game but i'm stuck, with a code to insert, any solution please?
Yes i saw the dvd, the doll is connect but i don't understand.
There is a diagram on the door of the doll's cupboard and the items from the video should be referenced with the numbers there.
If it does not help, 8692.
thx
to be honest this is type of a game which is so cluncky that its absolutely unenjoyable to play on the level of actual gameplay
Could I explain in words what I just played? No. That was certainly a game that I have now played, and witnessed with my eyes.
I was unnerved from title to credits. Worth the money!
just completed it. thank you for not being afraid to show uncomfortable and disturbing things in media! a true artist!
Thank you!
My random thoughts, having just completed it.
This isn’t about sex, or violence. It is about the mindset that dehumanises people. That others them, so they can be killed and exploited. and, further (to my mind), about how that is done to other species, and nature. It’s about oppression and resistance to it. It’s a world taken to the extremes of fascism, racism, speciesism, capitalism, settler colonialism. How evil gets justified and institutionalised. Life becomes product.
As such, I took it as criticism of all the evils of the worst governments. I think of Israel, and how their media, press and government continually refer to Palestinians as “animals”, and have for the 75 years they have been stealing their land for a Western colony, and committing genocide. As the US did with native Americans, and Australia with Aboriginal Australians. As the British did again and again. As Europe did. All of which support, arm and defend Israel’s genocide today, whilst persecuting those who oppose genocide. No wonder US companies won’t publish this.
It is an obscene farm run by the pervert Donald Trump. His friends (perverted priests and vets) might as well be Epstein and Prince Andrew.
It reminds me of many other things. The horror of The Tank / La Cisterna (terrific Italian novel by Nicola Lombardi), crossed with Animal Farm.
The graphics for the countryside are beautiful, often photo-realistic mono that brings to mind the game Betrayer. The figures less so (why are their forearms and legs apparently burnt and scarred?)
It’s the kind of game that should be made, which makes it all the more pronounced that Steam and Epic won’t publish it. Both US outfits which allow endless violence and exploitation in games, but will not allow sex or a naked human body! That’s American perspectives for ya, priorities twisted to fuck.
I think I’ll stop buying games directly on Steam, as I stopped buying on GOG when they refused to publish Devotion (an excellent horror game, by the way, and worth buying direct from the Red Candle site). I’ll just buy keys from Humble and Fanatical, which means I still get GOG and Steam games, but without any money (or less money) going to GOG and Steam.
Worth experiencing, for sure. And it’s worth supporting the developers who tried to do something innovative, resisting authoritarianism in an increasingly authoritarian world.
And as to the “controversy”? The only controversy is that it’s about evil which is in charge of many countries at the moment. Resisting oppressive governments and cultures is difficult.
As an aside, I tried it in Linux first. It ran fine, except none of the FMVs work – just blank space. I had to boot into Windows (something I do once every six months, and detest!) to play it properly. I also wish it allowed arrow-key controls: some of us find WASD really awkward and never use it as a control scheme if we can help it.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Steam does allow nudity and actual sex occuring on screen if the dev is willing to have an AO rating (mainly for the sex on screen part) this game though is slop. horse shit if you will lol. this game isn't even a game. You do mindless repetitive tasks that aren't fun, the narrative is half baked, lacks any subtlety, is super generic, as lazy as the gameplay, the graphics are absolute dogwater, animations anyone could make in like a day, it's slop. There's enough low effort low quality games on steam as it is. We don't need more. This game cost 100k to make and it does not show at all. I can't help but wonder if that's a lie. Go support real games and leave this to rot. Nobody would ever talk about this game if it weren't banned from steam.
We'll agree to disagree. I thought this was fresher than a lot of games I played this year.
Not sure why you are spamming all the comments. One post where you express dissatisfaction is enough.
i like to discuss and respond to what people post. Sue me lol. Agree to disagree sure. But it’s not wrong to respond ti multiple people’s comments. They’re here to discuss. I find people only take issue when the multiple replies are negative in nature. Nobody ever questions why someone responds to multiple comments this way when it’s positive. It’s the same reason someone does that. Discussion. Someone makes a post, people comment on it.
Undeserving of the bans - I really enjoyed this (surely there’s a more fitting term than “enjoyed” but you get what I mean). Some animations in the game can be a bit janky but I see the artistic direction of the game as a whole and something tells me this contrast is at least in part intentional (obviously you’re going for dissonance when you’re doing things like the fence-jumping minigame). While I feel like it favors the game’s vibe in places and works against it in others, I think you have a super interesting approach to the visual/audio presentation overall. Wishing your studio the best.
This game isn't really all that good lmao, generated by IDF soldiers with GROK.
Hi, camera y-axis invert doesn't work during riding scenes. Is there a way to fix this?
Thank you for the report, looking into it!
This is preventing me from finishing the game because I cannot control the camera properly during a timed sequence.
Hi devs. I saw that you updated the GOG version. Please keep in mind to not unpublish old builds after an update because on GOG it is possible for the user to rollback to older versions but only if you don't unpublish older builds - which is something GOG asks for in their devdocs as well. Since you apparently do still update the game I really want to suggest making the censoring an optional toggle. This way everybody could experience the game the way they want. Thank you!
I really enjoyed this game. It was short and sweet (wrong use of the word sweet, because this game didn't pull many punches). I donated some extra money towards the game because of how silly the ban was for this game on Steam. Help indie developers keep making weird games and push the boundaries of gaming and story telling.
Thank you!!!
it is absolutely imperative that more weird, strange, and perverse artsy games exist — especially ones that provide strong critiques of christofascism. for all the fuss people kicked up about this game, it's rather tame (the worst parts are implied, censored, or happen offscreen), but it still punches hard enough to make you uncomfortable and enough to compel you to play all the way through
i know 'walking sim' type games aren't everyone's cup of tea but i thoroughly enjoyed horses, my friends who watched me play did as well, i highly recommend it!
Thank you <3
Horses The Horror Game
Guys support this dev he made such a masterpiece….
That was a fuckin drug trip, it feels like somthin ripped out of early 2010s flash horror, solid 8.5/10, some slight bugs like durin one of the riding segments the hitbox's were flipped so it made it less smooth but it did make me remember where my door is, the code puzzle was obtuse too but that adds to the flash aspect, i wish this game makes enough money, Buona fortuna!
Grazie!!!
The general censorship of this game baffles me from platforms such as Steam and Epic Games, but from a developer standpoint any kind of controversary can only help spread the word. And for an indie game that's only a good thing. Yes, there's metaphors akimbo with Horses. Yes, there's scenes that make the player feel uncomfortable and yes, there's moralistic 'decisions' that make the player feel like an unsuspecting Milgram experiment participant...but that's really the point.
Any game that makes the player think and ask themselves questions after the credits have rolled is always going to be championed in my books. Support this dev and play Horses for yourself before jumping on any bandwagons.
Now, where's my beautiful stud? Daddy's got to rub himself.
Showing my support for the little guy. Great game!
Fight the power!
Thank you!
Well, Gabe Newell,goes to show, you either die a hero, or live long enough to become the villain.
Buying just to support art. Not even playing it.
At least not right now.
Purchased, on linux works great! went out of my way to pay for it when i heard what it was about and what exactly was done storefront wise
Thank you!!!
Just played through the whole game on steam deck(played flawlessly using proton experimental) overall it was a decent art house style game. My biggest wish is it had more then one ending adding more weight to what felt like decisions through the playthrough. Otherwise it was fine if you want something weird.
please provide a toggle censorship option
If you've played the game (which is great), you really don't want that.
played it twice, I feel adding the option would only enhance its depravity and uneasiness of the game. Just like we got the option for all the manhunt games. Why create such a great game, have all these warnings about what it entails .. parental advisory warnings only to blur a portion of what should cement and add to its graphical shock? Just my 2 cents. Still a great game but I feel having that option to consenting adults who want that extra shock value.. we should be offered that option. 9/10 game
show me the genitals!
Is the game uncensored and uncut? or the Steam/Epic ban made it censored?
Hi! The game is uncut, nudity is pixelated as part of its art style, not as a result of the bans.
This game pairs well with Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
Nice recc!
I bought Horses on GOG. Great game! Game runs great on Steam Deck, I run a Bazzite Linux desktop with an RTX 5070TI, and the game will start without the visuals, but you can hear it. I'm trying to figure out a workaround with proton for Bazzite Nvidia. I really appreciate the work you've done for gaming!
Thank you!
Excellent game.Wanted to note 2 bugs:
-When I did the lighter fluid, I went over the edge of the window and that made the window pop down into the bottom corner of the screen, and I couldn't drag it back so I had to quit the game.
-On day 14, I walked off the map. I was at the cut fence and the boarded up part showed up but the wire didn't.
Thank you for reporting! Will fix soon!
The final puzzle could be improved by making the player wait until they have the key to open both cabinets in the bedroom. By the time I had the second part of the puzzle, I had already dismissed the first part and forgot about it. I came here to find the code after watching the video five times, looking for hidden numbers.
Ok I am having trouble with the fence on day 10, how am I supposed to cut it?
Find the scissors (barn), then it is a bit hard to find the exact spot to click but its there on the right from the hole.
I liked this a fair bit. I'd recommend Edwin's review on RPS for anyone who wants a deeper dive into this. I'm not sure I got as much as he did from the game, but even on a surface level, the game's ability to juggle juxtaposing tones effectively is brilliant.
This was my first time using Itch.io's Linux launcher, which it seems just downloads the Windows files and runs them with your default Wine binary, which is more than likely awful for gaming. Notably, the FMV's straight up didn't work for me. Running this with Proton fixes that and the game ran absolutely fine otherwise.
Basil that was a little rude lol
Everyone has its own taste. It is indeed a weird game, not everyone would like it’s okay
It feels more like a movie prob :)
Anyone who doesn't like this is a clown and an idiot and loves censorship. Congrats on admitting you've turned into your own 60 year old republican parents, more for the rest of us with taste.
everyone who has ever disagreed with me is in love with me btw
The downvotes in this comment section are baffling. We really are regressing
I don't know if I believe anyone here is a real person, this was one of the worst games I think I have ever played in my life. Doesn't have anything of value to say aside from vague platitudes that fascism and sexual assault are bad (while also not treating any of the sexual content with any kind of reverance). It having absolutely zero interesting gameplay elements is secondary to how sloppy and messy the rest of the game is. Its like a parody made by someone who absolutely dispises early film.
i think "fascism and sexual assault are bad" is a pretty important message actually
you piss me off so fucking much. you care about nothing.
yeah no shit?? if you don't treat the message with sincerity though you're just stating the obvious while not making any worthwhile contribution to a topic, making covering the topic worthless.
if you think the game tackles it well, fair enough; but make that clear. responding with this dishonest shit makes it feel more like you dislike fascism for the moral aesthetics rather than the immediate danger such dangerous ideologies put on human society at large.
We live in a time where the message 'fascism and sexual assault are bad' is clearly not so obvious and widely accepted as it should be. See: the President of the United States. Is Horses subtle? No. But is this a time where we can really afford subtlety? If Horses makes one person question their complicity in what's happening in the world, then it's a good thing. If its message is way below your level of political discourse, good for you.
It's somewhat peculiar how games like the POSTAL series and HATRED are allowed. However, this game somehow crosses the line.
I just bought this out of spite.
Keep on creating cool stuff, thanks for the game.
I don’t have a Windows PC but I’m buying out of solidarity. Stay strong and don’t give up.
I am on Linux and got it working without issue by adding it to Steam as a non-steam game and forcing it to run via Proton experimental. Hope this is helpful!
I also just finished the game, playing on Mac using Crossover.
Thanks to payment processors and online stores for the advertisement I guess... Chances are I wouldn't have heard of the game without the idiotic bans, now I'm buying it and your whole discography if only to show support. Stay strong and keep creating!
Such an important game! So meaningful and interesting. It's authorial and experimental in ways I had never seen in a videogame before
Im sorry i dont know if i am dumb but i dont understand what should i do on day 14 ;_; i think i am supposed to find the code to the door but i cant find it
There is a key on the floor, that'll open the closet that's been closed all game long
I found the key and used it to open the cabinet, and then used the thing in the cabinet, and still can't figure out the door code...
Edit: never mind; found a walkthrough on YouTube and saw the answer below. Ah, it's like the old school days of puzzle adventures...
wishing a very go kill yourself to steam and epic and humble, great game
saying what we're all thinking!
appreciating the game but I genuinely have no idea what how I'm supposed to figure out this last Thing before the ending which is putting a bit of a damper on things
edit literally minutes later sorry I'm stupid I figured it out
In vague terms if this is about the code I still cannot figure it out and it really put a damper on my enjoyment. I get it comes from the VHS but I'm too stupid
The VHS states: whip, bible, chastity, mute.
All those can be linked to number within the armoire in the bedroom
❤️