HORSES
Developer/ publisher Santa Ragione
Format PC
Origin Italy
Release 2025
Horses
producer Pietro Righi Riva and director Andrea Lucco Borlera
Andrea Lucco Borlera is not fond of his debut game’s titular beasts. He A never enjoyed riding them as a child visiting his grandfather’s farm (an inspiration for the setting of Horses although, we’re reassured, nothing appalling happened there), fearing the animals would become agitated and injure him. A few years later, during a stint as a pony handler, he recalls the social anxiety triggered by a role that demanded fraternising with the riders: “You had to talk with the people on the pony and it was a bit awkward. I didn’t know what to say.” An embarrassed chuckle and a momentary aversion of the eyes provide a glimpse of that shy teenager.
Unpleasant memories, clearly, but hardly on a par with the shocks reserved for Borlera’s protagonist in Santa Ragione’s latest slice of unhinged Italiana. We play a doe-eyed youngster just arrived at a remote ranch for a two-week summer job. Our daily routine, as dictated by the overbearing owner while he gives a tour of our new environs, involves the usual farm chores: feed the dog; water the carrots and cabbages; take care of the horses.