Umamusume: Pretty Derby

Umamusume: Pretty Derby has been blowing up on social media lately, so people who didn’t know about it before might have seen what the gameplay is like through screenshots or videos. The heavy RNG and long career mode might be a turn-off for some, but I still urge people to try it out, especially while we’re still receiving daily log-in bonuses for the global launch. It’s definitely a game you have to experience to understand what all the hype is about.

The bottom line of it all is that Uma Musume: Pretty Derby is fun, despite the repetitiveness and some smudges. Yes, at face value, you’re managing horse girls with names lifted from real-life racing legends like Tokai Teio, Mejiro McQueen, and T.M. Opera O, but under that oddball concept is a fun sports management game. It’s the kind of experience that sounds ridiculous when you try to explain it to your friends—believe me, I tried—but quickly snowballs into something that’s hard to put down the moment you actually start playing, which, in my case, translated to me spending literal hours glued to my PC and phone, looking up guides, micromanaging stats, and watching gloriously over-the-top race cutscenes that had no business being as hype as they are.