Pocket Stables

Genre: Management Simulation

Players: 1

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Review:

Without a doubt the most prolific developer and publisher of Management Simulation games on Nintendo Switch is Kairosoft, who specializes in games with a retro-style isometric pixel art style, often with the word “Story” in the title. As of this writing, Kairosoft has released 60 games on Nintendo Switch, most of them Management Simulations.

After their earlier games, Kairosoft had established a few templates for their Simulation games that later games would largely follow. Game Dev Story established a Simulation-style game more focused on managing employee time and focus, Hot Springs Story established a Simulation style in line with Theme Park Simulators where you try to cater to guests’ tastes to maximize attendance and income, and Epic Astro Story established a Simulation style akin to games like Sim City, where you’re building out a town or settlement.

Pocket Stables originally released on mobile devices in 2013, then saw a port to Nintendo Switch in 2019, then to PlayStation 4 in 2020, PC in 2022, and Xbox One in 2024. And of the above templates, this game straddles the resource management of the first kind (and more specifically the more Sports-themed games in the franchise), with the venue management elements of the second kind – players are trying to properly train and improve their horses and jockeys to win races, but at the same time they’re also trying to make their grounds more attractive to visitors, as players will earn money both through competitive wins and also through the sales of concessions and services purchased by visitors.

Personally, I feel like this half-and-half approach dilutes both halves of the experience, as it’s not clear where it’s more beneficial to place your focus, and neither feels as varied and well-developed as I’d like them to be. Apart from Kairosoft’s usual lack of explanations for important gameplay elements there’s nothing especially egregious here, but neither does anything seem particularly well done.

As I mentioned above, this game makes use of Kairosoft’s signature presentation style using simple retro-styled pixel art visuals, paired with repetitive chiptune music and sound effects. Apart from the forgettable synthesized music, everything about this presentation is really endearing, though by this point we’ve seen more or less the same thing in numerous other Kairosoft games.

Overall, I don’t think that it was a very effective framework to make Pocket Stables half about training horses and winning races, and half about making your venue more attractive to visitors, as it results in neither half being done well. If either half of this formula is of greater interest to you, you have plenty of other options in Kairosoft’s catalogue to choose from.

tl;dr – Pocket Stables is a Management Simulation where players manage a stables and training ground for race horses, as well as to attract visitors and entice them to spend money. Unfortunately, in focusing on these two different elements, it does neither very well, and as a result players are likely better off playing another game in Kairosoft’s catalogue.

Grade: C

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