Horse IsleReviews 47

I was banned within the first 24 hours of creating an account because they claimed I had multiple accounts when I didn't? I can't access the game and have had no answers from the help desk or whatever they call it.

I'm very glad I didn't spend any money on this game or else I'd be charging it back. Avoid at all costs, the game wasn't worth any hassle they give you for just signing up.

Utterly boring game that has no soul whatsoever, just like its moderation team. The lack of professionalism of staff, especially for a marketed kids game, is astounding. Alongside very old ways of banning, hypocritical nonsense, unwritten rules, it's pretty much a toxic high school clique who don't give a damn about logic nor can they use their own brain. Stay far away. Any other game is better than this heap of garbage.

I have been playing the game since June 15th 2019. I have spent exactly 283.8 hours on the game and spent too much money,$285 to be exact. All to have it stolen from me with no explanation whatsoever. I'm extremely disappointed and frustrated. Because today 10-1-2024 I have just found out that I've been banned for simply flagging someone who said a bad word on the game. And to be fair I still don't know IF thats the reason I was banned because they're refusing to tell me. Not only is my account banned but my entire laptop is banned meaning I can't even make a new account. Yes I did try. I HIGHLY suggest NOT supporting this game. They will only steal your money like they did to me. I have sent multiple messages to them to try and resolved the issue and they haven't given me a reason as to why my account and my laptop was banned. I'm very upset considering the hours and money I had spent on it. I truely did enjoy the game but to be robbed from the one game you have loved for years is a whole new level of disappointment and betrayal. Don't be like me. Don't trust them because you'll end up banned like me for simply trying to make the community better for kids.

I started playing this game in pre beta. Four years later, very little has changed. The game claims "infinite wilds" but it is just a repeat of the same biomes over and over, so exploring quickly loses its appeal. The graphics are childish. The mini games are monotonous. The player base is cliquey. The staff are rude and play favorites. Unless you are heavily into horse genetics, don't mind spending lots of irl money to "super" a breeding herd and your goal is to breed the highest stat (pick a breed) horse, you will rapidly run out of fun things to do. And if it's not fun, what's the point? You CAN play the game for free, but the grind to earn currency in-game is mind numbingly relentless. Again, not fun. Not to mention, this game has made the same fatal error as the two previous versions: putting the sale of currency in the hands of players, leading to game crushing inflation. I've given up on Horse Isle 3. I think Joe (the developer) has, too. It's been a year since he "took a break" to deal with irl issues. There was a 11/2022 post promising "proper game developments coming soon", but seven months later, nothing but tweaks, bug fixes and radio silence from Joe. No worries, though. There have been a whole host of new horse games released and under development that are aimed at adults, have better graphics, better game play and, OMG, an actual story line! So if HI3 has let you down, walk away. You have other, better choices.

This game will take your $100 and ban you within hours for asking if you can name your horse "pissnog" oh and they wont refund btw. Don't waste your time on this game. Others were discussing relationships in global and i got banned for talking about mine.

This game is by far the most poorly run I've ever seen throughout my years and years of gaming. The environment is incredibly toxic and dangerous to lgbtq or otherwise 'different' players. The mods are so hostile and unforgiving toward even brand new players that don't even have a grasp of the controls yet. New players are penalized for typing into the wrong chat all the time when it's a simple accident. This game is 100% inappropriate for children for the above reasons, as well as being complicated at times.

The moderators are unbelievably discriminatory, rude, and impose unwritten rules they just make up. I think the owner is well aware of their behavior and instead of addressing it, he chooses not to deal with it and let these narcissistic moderators run wild. Connie seems to be their ring leader and is particularly nasty. Even when presented with irrefutable facts and evidence, she shuts down and refuses to change her stance no matter how nonsensical. She is either incapable of admitting to making mistakes or incapable of ruling with logic. And she is encouraged by Kat who supports her blindly and at any cost.

I recently had an experience where they displayed extreme hypocrisy in that they can have elements of death in the form of horse death, cemeteries, literal bones, and more ingrained into the game, but I can't use those same items as art because they're inappropriate and somehow related to the pandemic. So not only was I discriminated against, they used the millions of dead to justify it. I was astounded by how low this was. And to make it even worse, she did not remove the other headstone art in the game. All of it that I've seen is just fine. So this was in fact discrimination. At the time of writing this, she's had plenty of time to do it.

I would not put any time or money into this game as I see players becoming inactive left and right. The (already tiny) community of players appears to be in decline. It's a shame because the game is a good idea but I don't know if it's going to survive with such disgusting moderator behavior along with a rewarded tattle tale system.

Also they can't figure out how to keep your screen settings on windowed after an update even though you click the box. It always takes a bunch of tries to get the game loaded correctly. And often times it crashes my computer so bad I have to hard restart it.

While the large, open world map and variety of tasks in this sandbox game are fun and engaging, the moderators of the game make it an unwelcoming place.

At least a dozen friends I've played with have been penalized or outright banned for doing things such as decorating in-game items with pride colors ("not family friendly"), standing in a circle together ("cult like behavior"), or having a username with "Trains" in it ("gender content"--because "trains" sounds like "trans"). There is a reason this game is popularly known as "The Homophobic Horse Game."

The game would undoubtedly be a lot more popular if there were publicly displayed, sensible rules and they were consistently and fairly implemented. Instead, players expect to be punished for arbitrary reasons.

Hate Connie first of all. Like everyone else, they have problems with the staff but Connie is the worst. When I made a new account years ago and had the user "KittyTacos" (I was like 13) she told me I couldn't use the user name because there aren't tacos in the game and pulled some other stuff out of her $#*!. I wish I could play again but the staff are so toxic it's crazy how they still have a base.

I love horse isle and have played since 2008, but they need to get new staff members who actually care for improving the game. I have had a glitch in the game ever since May of this year,, I have posted in forums and contacted them several times, and nothing has been done. They keep blaming my computer and settings when I have done everything on my end to ensure that it is not my computer. Also they refuse to price cap mobia and so the game's economy is gonna ruin the game.

Love the game, but the staff is horrible. I caught my child with a buddy who was talking about sex, drugs a other inappropriate things in game and had her report it and remove the bud. We also contacted support because this is a family friendly game and this individual is friends with a ton of minors on the game, and should not be saying such things.
Nothing has been done as of now to this person and the Horse Isle Staff keeps giving us the bland response of "they do it for attention" and "we are working with them".
Seems unfair when others get permanently banned for doing a lot less and not being gross around minors.

The graphics are elementary, the size is ridiculous, and finding a place you can place a club or buy a parcel is nearly impossible. It has no fulfilling objective. You'd think they would be able to create a better game after all these years but they prioritized having a godawful sized game over any actual substance.

Extremely overbearing mods who will ban you for anything and everything. Don't get too attached to your account, one accidental misstep and you're likely to recieved a temporary, or even permanent ban with 0 warning. They employ a visible "mod trust scale", and I can only imagine this has caused much distress to kids who play that accidentally acquire a low one. Just cruel to do in a game directed towards kids.
Not to mention the overt homophobia. So much as mention that you have two moms or dads and you're out. Any mention of LGBT people, or even just pronouns, is strictly forbidden. This is disgusting. LGBT people aren't inherently not child friendly. It's obvious this is based simply on the mod teams moral views, not actually to protect young players. They allow far less child-friendly concepts to get through no problem. Hell, someone in my group found a wild horse with the game generated name of "Heaven's Gait". A reference to a suicide cult that took a number of lives. That's more acceptable for kids than someone having two moms is?
There's a reason this game has quite a small user base, only those who play it exactly how the mods want them to and never try to have some fun with it survive for long.
They also give out lighter bans for those who have purchased memberships, which seems unfair. I got twice the length of ban a friend did, who was actually involved in the situation we were banned for, while I had little to no direct involvement. I was largely just standing nearby. Only difference is that I do not buy memberships and the premium in game currency.

This game is unique in its scale and the layout. The horses are varied and you can breed anything from giraffe looking abominations to your dream horse.
The only issue, some of the rules are overbearing. Players can flag at a whim and you can't really reference certain things (non offensive) or other games even, without being shot down. It's like a plastic bubble over an umbrella.
Forgetting it seems, that a large part of the player base are actually adults.

I've played Horse Isle games for a while (since 2013), and while the games are generally fine, the staff is absolutely atrocious. In all the time I've played, I've seen multiple accounts of staff abusing players, throwing down permanent bans and mutes for the smallest of issues, straight up lying, protecting harmful/toxic/predatory players, and generally have a difficult time agreeing on what actions require what level of discipline. This becomes much more obvious when you attempt to report a legitimate concern and you get banned for something completely unrelated while mods claim you are the only one doing a certain thing. There has also been mass banning/muting of players for no reason, and significant backlash from staff over players voicing legitimate concerns about how they treat their playerbase as well as what should and should not be deemed inappropriate (see the Gulag Incident of 2020). Your safest bet to avoid any and all emotional damages that could possibly occur is to steer clear of this game completely.

I started playing about 2 months ago and loved the game and would never leave it for anything! I would fully recommend the game... but CONNIE is SO rude I was enjoying the game when I got kicked off and couldn't get back on, I asked HI support and connie replied saying 'You have been banned NO one from your location is allowed to play' WTH DID I DO? Don't SUBSCRIBE! THEY TAKE YOUR MONEY AND RUN! The owners of HI3 need to boot these **** and get some decent support people.

*I did have proof of CONNIE saying this to me on support but my account was DELETED before i could even SCREEN SHOT IT!

Beware!

It seems that they are tracking computers and phones that log into your account because without giving them any info, they somehow have all of my computer information and phone information. I feel they are using this to track every players movements. This makes me very uncomfortable in a lot of ways because that in invasion of privacy. So if you do play, be careful!

My friend wrote this review and I want to share it again because Connie said "no one from your location may play this game" - this was after I made a new account from a new computer, new IP address and new email, made me instantly think they obviously have my either physical address or near to it... made me VERY uncomfortable.

- I want to add to this that I was banned within less than 24 hours meaning they obviously check the LOCATION of every IP that joins. It's a bit invasive if you ask me.

Reading all of these angry and unjust reviews makes me very angry, so I feel it necessary to give this wonderful game the review that it deserves. HI2 in particular is a very enjoyable game, although all three platforms are amazing to play. They have many educational benefits and references, teach children about finances and about problem solving, and offer a great, safe environment with their strict rules and filter. Those who evade the rules are muted, given warning violations, or banned.
I and several others and a particular instance with stalking and persona information from a player that will remain unnamed, and the Horse Isle staff quickly took care of it and permanently banned the player. Through the few support issues that I have needed to send, the Staff have been very supportive and I haven't had any complications. I have no idea why other reviewers are showing the Support Staff in a bad light, as the mods and admin are all friendly and easy to talk to.
There is no "swindling of money"; Horse Isle does not by any means force you to purchase tokens to play the game. Inflation is not the staff's fault, and one reviewer claiming a ridiculous theory of staff conspiring with players to raise prices is absolutely absurd. Inflation is a natural thing that happens in today's society, and with the game working in the way of that society (mostly) inflation is bound to happen. You are perfectly able to play the game without a subscription, with I myself doing that for many years on Eternal. It is just more fun to play being subscribed, as you can focus on other things besides quests, such as collecting horses and starting a large breeding program.
In short, this is an amazing game, with amazing support staff. I am appalled that these reviewers would want to slander the game this way, but I suppose that it goes to show that some people just have to find something to gossip about, even if it's a harmless children's game. If you follow the rules, you won't get banned. There is no favoritism. There is no unfairness. If you follow the rules, your account will not be banned, and it's as simple as that.
Thank you for reading.

The support staff literally hate the player base. Connie is by far the worst - she does nothing helpful for the game, but still has her job after all these years.

The game is marketed as family friendly but is littered with references to mature TV shows such as Game of Thrones and WestWorld. Players are allowed to freely brag about inbreeding horses with no consequences. The game itself would be tons of fun if the support team and moderators actually did their jobs as opposed to picking favorites and slandering players.

Ive been playing this game since it came out 11 years ago. I love the actual game, but the admin are terrible. You get vios for obviously innocent typos and sometimes no reason at all. Ive been viod for social media sharing, when all i said was "ill show you," which had nothing to do with social media. They've also all but abandoned us content wise. If they spent less time reading through our chats to vio what the filter doesnt catch, they might actaully have time to add more stuff. God forbid you ever have a serious problem. They wont help get your stuff back if someone makes off with it. Also, im sure we've all voiced our opinion nonstop about the cruddy artist change for years. Yet 75% of new breeds continue to look the same. And the redos are infuriating. The effort looks beyond minimal. There's potential here, i just wish i could go back to the early years.