Overview
Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship is a horse-riding adventure that combines casual simulation, exploration, and racing. Mika and Windstorm's developing friendship connects its outdoor activities with time spent caring for the horse. Riding provides the freedom to explore, while stable duties keep the focus on the animal behind those adventures.
Aesir Interactive develops the game, with Mindscape as publisher. It is available on Windows PC, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch. Its activities alternate between goal-led riding and quieter interaction with Windstorm, bringing competitive challenges and horse care into the same adventure.
What can players do on horseback?
Players can freely explore the Kaltenbach estate or take on riding tasks. The horseback gameplay includes several activities, giving outings a purpose beyond traveling through the setting:
- Complete riding tasks
- Find hidden objects
- Compete in races
- Ride alongside other horses
Racing provides a championship to pursue. Exploration offers a different focus, with searches that call for attention to the surroundings. Players can choose between working toward a riding objective and spending time investigating the estate, depending on the activity they want to follow.
Horseback exploration crosses the hills around Kaltenbach.
Mika, Windstorm, and the Alpine setting
The story follows Mika, a girl known as a horse whisperer, as she tries to befriend the black stallion Windstorm. That specific relationship anchors the adventure: the horse receiving care at the stable is also Mika's companion during riding activities.
The game draws on the Windstorm films and books. Its story premise places the developing bond between girl and horse at the center, while the playable activities turn their time together into riding, exploration, and practical care.
Kaltenbach's Alpine surroundings provide the space for those outings. Hidden locations give exploration a separate goal from collecting objects or entering races, encouraging players to investigate places beyond their immediate riding tasks.
Horse care between riding sessions
Horse care includes grooming Windstorm and cleaning his hooves. These hands-on duties sit alongside monitoring his health, training, and happiness, so the simulation covers both his physical condition and his wellbeing. Attention shifts from riding objectives to looking after the same horse between outings.
Stable cleaning extends that responsibility to Windstorm's living space. The care routine includes work on the horse himself and maintenance of the place where he rests, making the stable an active part of the game rather than simply a destination after a ride.
Playing with Windstorm in the paddock adds another way to interact outside the riding tasks. Alongside grooming and stable upkeep, this quieter activity gives the horse-riding simulation a personal focus: spending time with Windstorm includes play as well as training and competition.
