Winning Post 10: A New Era For Horse Racing Games?

After all those years of having a quite empty horse racing simulation game industry, it seems like we finally got a worthy game. We are talking about Winning Post 10.

If you are familiar with horse racing simulation games, then you already know the Winning Post series. However, their latest addition is designed to bring back the excitement, drama, and passion that the sport holds.

Over the years, we’ve had a couple of horse racing simulation games, but the truth is, none of them were quite good. It somehow feels that all horse racing simulation games were made with a tight budget, where the graphics, mechanics, and gameplay weren’t on the same level as other more mainstream games.

It seems like Winning Post 10 will change that. After seeing the trailer where in a close finish a horse wins by a nose, just like Mystik Dan on the 150th Kentucky Derby, it gave hope to all horse racing fans that they will finally be able to play a complete horse racing simulation game. And with the upcoming Preakness Stakes, you can check out the real-life horses and how they compare to the ones in game: twinspires.com/preakness-stakes/contenders/

Graphics

The first and most noticeable change to the Winning Post series is the updated graphics. They’ve always had the best graphics out of all horse racing simulation games, but with their latest Winning Post 10, they moved towards a more realistic gameplay experience.

Horse racing simulation games have always had trouble with the horse’s appearance. We get it, it is hard to design a horse in the game with realistic fur, mane, and movement. But games like Red Dead Redemption 2 already did it, so we know that is possible.

Winning Post 10 is not the same level as RDR2. Just look at the mechanics at RDR2, especially the interaction with the human where the lady is stuck under a horse. However, the coats of the horses, and mane movement in the wind and during the race are improved a lot.

Gameplay

The Winning Post 10 series has quite interesting gameplay modes. You can either play offline and decide to replay some popular events from the past with your own spin or go online.

After choosing the year that you want to play, you can choose the difficulty. There are six modes that range from Easy to Special.

The higher difficulty you choose, the “fighting spirit” of your horse will increase easily making it even more difficult to win races.

Breeding

The Winning Post 10 series has a long list of different breeds, and the stallion you choose depends on the year of your start. You can add real-life horses that sometimes existed on this planet and made a name for themselves.

For example, if you choose to go back to 1984, you can add Kodama or Hoyo Boy who were very impressive horses.

The breeding process isn’t that complicated and even beginners can recreate a horse that they like.

Additionally, they’ve also included Jockeys that are modeled on real jockeys that made history throughout the years. So, you can play as a horse racing superstar who made a name for himself.

You can add your own horse’s name, as well as the age of the rider, home base, and clothes you want to choose. The customization features are quite good, and they are updated from previous Winning Post games.

Horses Stats

Once you breed your horse, it’s not going to be champion obviously. You need to train it and participate in races in order to gather experience that can be used to increase the horse’s stats.

It’s important to mention that higher difficulty usually gives you more EXP, making you upgrade your horse faster. With that said, it is more difficult to win races.

So, if this is your first time playing a horse simulation game, don’t stress out to start with a higher difficulty. Play it casually as you learn the game.

There are 8 horse stats that you need to pay attention to. Depending on your horse’s and jockey’s abilities, you can make a strategy that will give you the best winning chances.

Weather Conditions

Since we know that the weather plays an important role in horse racing, it is great to see that they’ve made the process more realistic by introducing dynamic weather conditions that can change due to the season or time of day.

This adds another layer of excitement to the game and makes it even more predictable.

Camera Angles

The best thing about Winning Post 10 apart from all of its features that make the game a direct copy of the horse racing industry, are the camera angles of the race.

It’s like watching a real-world race where you’ll get that dopamine boost every time you watch your horse participate in a tournament.

Final Words

The game is exciting, vibrant, and full of different features. It might be complicated to understand at the beginning, or overwhelming to people that are playing horse racing simulation games for the first time just because of the many different features.

However, once you get the hang of it, you’ll understand it better and you can dive into more complex things like creating a racing strategy.