The “horse-girl racing game” Umamusume: Pretty Derby has found its way into Steam’s top sellers of 2025. It is certainly quite odd to see such a niche and unique game in the same category as free-to-play giants like Team Fortress 2, Naraka Bladepoint, and Wuthering Waves. This free-to-play title started as a mobile game in Japan and was released on Steam in Summer 2025.
Admittedly, it has a lot of elements that Western gamers don’t necessarily jive with. But despite being a gacha game, it has amassed quite an audience due to its unique style and engaging gameplay. In fact, it was good enough to find its way on our best free 2025 sports games roundup. According to Steam, the game currently has over 13,000 concurrent players at the time of writing, and it peaked at over 87,000 players at launch.
An Addictive Mix That Proved Successful
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The Western audience was introduced to this game by streamers and YouTubers hopping on the “weird horse waifu” meme aspect of the game. It pulled in nearly 100,000 viewers on Twitch, and that’s one of the reasons so many people were willing to try it. However, don’t let the name and a first glance at the presentation fool you. This is quite a polished game that blends visual novel storytelling with a roguelite training sim.
Your task is to assign workouts, manage stamina, and gamble on RNG events for stats. It almost plays like a high-stakes Derby where one bad pull tanks your horse girl’s speed. PvP leaderboards and events keep the game competitive, and there are obviously the dice roll training elements that give it that gambling thrill. Is it a serious, respectful game that everyone will appreciate? Absolutely not. But that doesn’t stop it from being fun.
Races involve 18 thrilling horse fields with great physics, tactics, and commentary. It’s the strategy of a horse derby but with anime flair. This is a mix that hooked millions in Japan, and its addictiveness is proving to work globally. I wasn’t expecting to talk about this game today, nor did I ever imagine it would be in the Steam top 100, but here we are. Just goes to a show that sometimes, all you need is a good game that’s willing to be silly.
