New features

I've already mentioned how I dislike the layout, but another thing that's been tripping me up: why did you switch the "view all" and "mark as read" buttons? I don't need to view all 35 notifications of "your EC bought a carrot" when my Kirin has dropped her perk, but I keep accidentally doing so because that button used to be the "mark as read" button instead.

Hello to whoever is in charge of that dreadful choice you made to take away our preffered way of playing our beloved Howrse game. I won't stop asking to please consider ALL the loyal players who truly love this game to at least give us the option to choose which format we want to play and please do it quickly if you truly appreciate us give it some thought. It would mean the world to us and I would be devastated if I could no longer play. Thank you in advance for your consideration.

This! And the blurry top bar is flashing as you scroll, super unfriendly for people with sensory issues, epilepsy, migraines, etc.

I see Howrse removed the star rating for 10th June unless it was never there to start with

Maybe try playing classical on your phone browser set to desktop mode to at least get rid of the irritating bar? The only problem is that you must have the precision of a neurosurgeon when clicking menus etc...

Don't get your hopes up about reverting. We've had changes in the past with more negativity than this like adding tax, and the best response we got was an admin telling us that it will happen whether we like it or not because the game must be updated and that was the only thing that could stop the endless stream of complaints. Howrse has a track record of not caring about player feedback no matter how negative it is.

That said, the chances of them reverting shouldn't be 0 because this is going to cost them far more than what it's worth and I can only assume that they're in need of money if they're throwing out the 2 most expensive divines (slepinir/balios) back to back and requiring players to pay real money to competitively play events (ephemerals). Once upon a time, we only got 1 big divine a month so we could save up in between... chasing players away like this will cost them any chance of getting that precious money. So the chances of them reverting can't be 0.

Also, if people really are giving overwhelmingly negative feedback on Facebook too, then maybe they will do something because their reputation is also going to go south. I'm sure that they will value that even if they don't value our feedback...

As a side note... it looks like we lost Oathkeeper as their name in old posts has changed to retired breeder... RIP... pretty sure they were a pass buyer, so it's a loss for Howrse too. And that's just one player of the many... you see, Howrse? This is what happens when you ruin things that didn't need to be touched in the first place. So stop ruining things that don't need to be touched

The bar is the same on classical so that won't help those who, like me, find it an annoyance. I always play on classic and am on a tablet now with the bar following me down the page. It does so on a PC too. I think if they would just fix that, some of the complaints would go away as we often get used to changes after a while. I do realise there are other issues too for those playing on mobile or with sight or physical difficulties and hope Howrse rethinks some of the changes.

“What’s new from the latest update”

ENJOY this new experience?? MORE user-friendly???

Come on...

"Hi. We made our game look like dog water for no reason because the higher-ups basically said we had to, and we spent no time actually implementing this to look good or be usable across any device. Enjoy your new experience "

Thanks! I won't!

Oathkeeper's been gone for at least a year now, ever since the changes to the Great Challenge and lottery where they completely got rid of the server draws and just automatically set it at 2 or 3 (can't remember) draws per day. They might've left for other reasons but I remember it was around that time.

I mean, now Howrse just doesn't do the Great Challenge at all so I guess we're down to NO draws per day... forever.

I was wondering why they left... good thing they did before this hit, just more disappointment

Came to comment on the new see probabilities button. Why isn't there one for the jackpot fragments? Also, drop the 100% fragments because you're guaranteed them as compensation for losing. They are not a reward. The only fragment reward % that should be on there is the jackpot fragments. The compensation shouldn't be included at all. All it will do is confuse players until they figure out that you are not actually guaranteed to hit the jackpot every time you use a luck item.

It helps on your phone zoomed out because you don't need to scroll so it doesn't follow, except in the forums because they're really long. I don't notice it when zooming in either unless I start scrolling up, so it basically disappears if you play classical on your phone. I only play classical and only on my phone browser set to desktop because I hate the scrolling that comes with other devices and I'm even less interested in mobile. The only problem is if you can't tap precisely or if you can't see zoomed out. But there's no more scrolling for stuff like working your horses because everything is laid out because the phone view is basically in portrait. So you have the same screen as a PC, but longer hence so little scrolling and no bar following you around. And working horses goes SO MUCH faster because you don't have to scroll up and down to train and groom. I tried it once and only once on my laptop.. never again. Although, HRs look weird and shifted over, but that can be ignored. Otherwise, the only difference in controls is hovering with a mouse translates to tapping and holding on a phone.
Also, if you do that thing where you select go to classical from mobile if it's still an option or if you try the URL thing, Howrse will switch you back to mobile after a few hours. That doesn't happen if you set your browser to desktop mode. That said, I'm not sure if the new site change changed that, so it could be outdated info now.

I just realized that you can try zooming out on your PC browser as well for the same effect, I just don't know how practical it is.

I only noticed now?! Yikes... RIP.
Yeah, I remember they did something like that. I boycott the game every time the GC comes around because I can't stand the popups, so I have no idea if they said anything about leaving in the forums. I barely log in during those irritating events and I refuse to do anything with my horses thanks to the random popup awards for "groom a horse" or "enter a competition" and now "take a horse for a ride" etc. I can't do anything in peace anymore, so I just don't play. I hate those events with a passion.

Hey guys, Oathkeeper here! Sometimes I just like to start fresh. ^^ Been doing it for 17 1/2 years now. You are welcome to message me and ask why I dropped off a little over a year ago if you like.

Day three of attempting to play using the new interface and it’s still horrible.

I have used the app for about a total of 5 minutes and that’s it because the landscape version is just horrible. There’s too much scrolling involved to be able to see anything and then you still have to zoom in and out which means even more scrolling. Definitely not more user friendly. There was nothing wrong with the limited things you could do on the app and if you needed to do something else you could always switch to classic version in the browser. If you cannot include everything in the app that you can on classic, then an app that functions for what you can include is much preferred to an app that is unusable but includes everything. You should never have to zoom in and out of an app to be able to use it. That’s pretty much the whole point of an app. Otherwise everyone would just use web pages in their browser instead of apps.

I have started just using my browser because at least I can do things using the portrait view instead. I have adjusted some of the things I do with my horses to adapt to this new interface, such as opening each horse I want to take care of in a new tab so I can take care of the horse then quickly get back to my breeding farm of horses to move on the next one without hitting 4-5 buttons to get back to my breeding farm. I also figured out how to turn off the little dots for selecting time frames so I get a drop down menu instead which helps a ton on a mobile device since you already have to zoom so much to do anything in this new interface. Having to adjust to these changes and it affecting my game is frustrating but manageable. However, this would never be possible using the app which again makes the app completely useless and much more time consuming than ever before. In addition to this, the constant zooming and eye strain which causes headaches makes playing the game absolutely horrible. I’ve been playing for very short periods of time just to accomplish some daily tasks because I can’t play for long periods of time. I know many people have mentioned needing 20/20 vision to play or the update affecting people with disabilities, but my vision is perfect and I do not have a disability and this update still negatively affects me and causes unnecessary headaches so I can’t even imagine how people who struggle with their sight or have disabilities that are affected by this update will manage to play at all.

This game is now a struggle to play on mobile devices. People who play solely on a computer seem much less affected by the changes. Yes I understand the bar following them and the blurring is still affecting people and needs changed, but overall those playing on a computer seem much less affected than those on mobile. I don’t understand how in making everything more modern you thought it would be better to make everything harder to play on mobile devices. Many people don’t have computers anymore because mobile devices made computers unnecessary in their lives. Making things more modern should mean making things more device friendly instead of making everything smaller and more difficult to use on mobile devices. Many companies have computer websites that have a mobile version that’s mobile device friendly and also have an app that people can download and use to do some or all of the things they could do on the website. I don’t understand why you went from following this modern trend to just making everything pretty much like the web version and just expecting it to be ok and saying you’re making it more modern. This update is ridiculous and a huge step backwards. You’re essentially telling anyone who solely plays on mobile devices that you don’t care if they play anymore or not and that you just want everyone to use what used to be the classic version. I understand you had to work with a timeline you were given but I don’t know how anyone ever thought these changes would be good and useful and ever even began an idea like this anyway. It would have been much better just to leave it how it was instead of wasting the time and money to make such a horrible change to the game.

Please consider changing it back to the way it was or at least actually make the app and website mobile friendly again while still allowing people to use or switch to the classic website version when it’s easier for them or needed for the device they’re using.

I like the mobile update. It’s perfect for iPad too and making me actually use this thing. A few more updates it’ll feel like a game intended for mobile. Obviously there’ll be an awkward transition period but I’m already enjoying mobile a lot more that last week.

Things I like:
-landscape was a great call

-being able to use boxes and meadows much much more

- I can see my breeding farms and organise them SO much easier

-easier and faster to work horses in General

- I can see my profile for the first time in years and even edit it



Things that are hard:
-problem with onyx / amethyst if I click next horse before clicking ufo I lose the reward.

-sliders (eg on food) are hard to use (still a huge improvement to before)

-the banner (eg if I click on topaz / xanthos) hides the top navigation buttons


Things I’d like for future updates:
-more accessibility around coat release on mobile and coat collecting. I would make ingame purchases frequently again if I could still have a chance in releases on mobile. I only play majority of games for collecting nothing else really matters to me.

-not mobile related but straight getting rid of DAs / somehow fixing the pass trafficking issue. It is major. It’s unfair and drove me away from the game.

-also not related to mobile but more ways to interact with community outside of forums -deeper than things like piñata clicks.

Having to play from my phone today and the headache forming from continuous squinting to see things is insane. I'm constantly having to zoom in to do anything which is time consuming and slowing me down greatly. This whole layout stuff should be optional, I'd much prefer the previous layout for both desktop and mobile. If I needed to do something specific on mobile I could switch to the classic version. Some people can only play from their mobile and this update will only serve to make a percentage of them not want to play. If I could only play from my phone 100% I would quit or do the absolute bare minimum and put no real effort into the game. If Howrse choose not to listen to the player base this time it could spell slow disaster for the game.
I'm here to play classic howrse not an over done, delusional, fantasy land howrse app, seriously I wouldn't touch the app with a ten foot pole.
My only motivation to log in is to read this forum

had to come on desktop to say that unfortunately this game on mobile is no longer accessible to me. having nerve damage in my hands and the buttons being so small, as well as a required landscape option- this game is completely unplayable for me now. not only is mobile hard to even see, it is so unbelievably not user friendly.

I have been only logging in the past few days since the update for a few brief minutes to see if they would listen to all the users concerns about the top banner following us around... I still don't like the way the menu bar menus flash as you accidentally hover over either but the top banner follow around as you scroll is a literal EYESORE... again...

I am seriously disappointed in howrse.
Again, I have been playing this game since I was 12, and I play it now bc the nostalgia is calming. I also have some minor vision issues and am autistic and so, like someone else has mentioned, this is REALLY the wrong audience to mess with in these kind of ways...

I also feel like the fact that it took them 2 days to send out a message announcement is seriously uncool on their part...

If I had to pick only ONE THING TO CHANGE- it would be the top banenr that follows you everywhere... Please, it physicality hurts my eyes and head and really does induce nausea...

"As is often the case with interface changes, it may take you a little while to get used to things..."
Them saying this in their message is so irritating... Yes i can get used to thing being in slightly different places, but my body and nervous system will NOT adjust to the top banner... This is fact. I am a vet student, I just finished classes covering the neurology and physiology of nausea and it is not something that you can just "get used to"


Please, Howrse, it will not impact you negatively in ANY way to redact the banner bar... In fact, people will be grateful that you actually listened to us for once. There is no shame or embarrassment in fixing a mistake, but there is fault in not fixing something you did that is negatively impacting people. Fix the bar, people will move on, forget about it, and be happy.

They were one of the players that are a fixture of the game, like going into a coffee shop and your favorite barista is there. So popular andclearly made an impact beyond the game that they show up in a Google search. So sad to see them go.

They never cared to rectify the massive mistake they made with getting rid of the beloved old trophies either, so I have zero expectations of Howrse taking any feedback about the dysfunctionality and lack of usability of this update into consideration whatsoever.

I liked being able to play the game with one hand on app/mobile. I used to be able to play while I ate breakfast. But now I need to use both hands to play it and it just takes more time now to check it. I appreciate that the slide bar for feeding is changed now to a scrolling bar same thing with training. I still prefer the old portrait mode overall though.

@Crystal Coven - I was misinformed. Scroll down a few messages below mine.

i play this game on my phone on a web browser. i’ve always hated the mobile version. now, i’ve heard about “improvements” or changes to it but i still have yet to use it. opening google chrome has always just been easier since i play different equine games and they’re all there in tabs. with that being said, the amount of scrolling and moving around to go certain places or to do simple tasks is ridiculous. if this was done on purpose to make me hate desktop mode/browser and go to the app it’s not gonna work. i rarely play on here anymore as is, im not interested in space on my phone (that doesn’t really exist, my poor iphone 14 lol) to be taken up my an app that gets used less than an hour per day.

Logged in today - that was a mistake!

It's hilarious how minuscule the changes were and yet how absolutely emetic it has been for me and the community to even look at them.

My thoughts:

I hate it, I hate it, I hate it! Please get rid of it ASAP.

I feel like I don't get upset over anything, if ever, but this has actually ruined my day. The blurry banner thing is gonna drive me nuts!

It would be nice to have to option have vertical or horizontal screen on the mobile app. The horizontal screen is terrible on my phone everything is so much smaller and the keyboard on my phone splits down the middle in horizontal view and is terrible to use and keeps disappearing. It's a bit hard to get used to and with the graphics being smaller to stretch across the screen isn't making it super fun or easy to play the mobile version anymore and I rarely play on anything else because my phone is often far more convenient.

It's also impossible to play subtly, how can I pretend be scrolling but actually be playing this game when I'm supposed to be working , and you can't multi task and play anymore with it now requiring two hands