Annual Survey 2016

Keep an eye on your inbox today - Howrse have sent round the link to their annual survey for 2016.

The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete and asks for your opinions on the game over the past year. It has questions about contests, particularly around what you liked and didn't like, as well as your thoughts on new features and how the game works across different platforms such as your smartphone. They're also after what you think the game should look like in the future. So if you're keen to share your thoughts - this is the perfect opportunity to get your feedback to the Howrse team.

It also includes a series of questions on pass purchases and the paid subscription accounts - Pegasus and VIP. I know that a lot of you have some very strong opinions about these features, so make sure your voice is heard.

Very interestingly they also asked about players who blog / have social media accounts regarding the game, (including asking for links). So hello game team if you're reading this!

Lucy

Snowball Fight

And it's time for another snowball fight on Howrse! One of the easier and shorter events, the snowball fight is simple to take part in - and the good news is it won't cost you any passes either.

From now until Monday 16th January the regular UFOs have been replaced by snowballs containing gifts. Catch one and it will give you two prizes. One is for you, and one is to gift to your friends by throwing it at them inside a snowball.

To throw a snowball, simply go to the snowball fight page, pick a gift and select a friend to throw it to.

There are some really good prizes available for the players that throw the most snowballs:

General consensus is that UFO's appear on your game once every three hours. So if you want to win the big prizes, be prepared to spend some serious time on the game over the next week. If anyone has any other advice or tips on how they find UFOs then feel free to post below.

Good luck and happy snowball hunting!

Lucy

Welcome back

Hello everyone. I'm very excited to say that Ultimate Howrse is back up and running again!

Keep your eyes peeled for new posts with all the latest news, tips, info and advice - coming soon.

Lucy

So busy!

Hello to all our readers. I'm just writing a little apology from myself and LucyLou. As you can see, we have not been posting many new stories, help and information on a regular basis.

We are both still massive fans of Howrse and play every day. However, at the moment, we are both very busy bees and cannot spare enough time to write for Ultimate Howrse as much as we'd like.

The good news is, that all of our tips and tricks are still here for you to access and use whenever you need them. And we will definitely continue adding new things to the site as often as we can.

We are just a little bit busy with lots of other things right now.

So please keep visiting us here on Ultimate Howrse and keep on sharing all your questions and news. We love hearing from you.

Happy Howrseing!

Patsy

Chinese New Year's puzzle Competition

Well, here we go - another competition from Howrse. To celebrate the Chinese New Year (it's the year of the Horse), Owlient have given us a suitably themed game to keep us amused until mid-February.

Following on from many recent competitions, this puzzle requires you to collect pieces for a number of Chinese-themed jigsaws. There are 12 puzzles in total with the number of pieces needed, increasing as you go along. Each jigsaw you finish gives you various gifts. If you complete all of the jigsaws you get to win a fabulous Qilin which is a new Divine Unicorn.

• Puzzle 1 (Goat) needs 2 pieces
• Puzzle 2 (Monkey) needs 4 pieces
• Puzzle 3 (Rooster) needs 4 pieces
• Puzzle 4 (Dog) needs 9 pieces
• Puzzle 5 (Pig) needs 9 pieces
• Puzzle 6 (Rat) needs 12 pieces
• Puzzle 7 (Ox) needs 12 pieces
• Puzzle 8 (Tiger) needs 15 pieces
• Puzzle 9 (Rabbit) needs 15 pieces
• Puzzle 10 (Dragon) needs 24 pieces
• Puzzle 11 (Snake) needs 24 pieces
• Puzzle 12 (Horse) needs 35 pieces
• TOTAL NEEDED IS 165 PIECES

A welcome change from recent contests is that this competition doesn't require us all to wake up in the middle of the night to complete tasks! Everything you need to do to win jigsaw pieces occurs just once a day (mainly). Once you've completed them, you can sit back and relax until the following day.

Collecting jigsaw pieces means you need to do the following:

• Log on to Howrse (1 piece a day - usually)
• Groom a horse (1 piece a day)
• Win a competition (1 piece a day)
• Remove a horn form a Unicorn (1 piece a day)
• Clicking on a puzzle UFO (1 piece a day - as far as we know!)
• Watching a video (1 piece a day - as far as we know!)
• Open a HOP (Unlimited pieces per day)

Now we have done little bit of maths for you. How possible is it to actually win a Qilin? Well, if you really, really want one and have a fair bit of money to spend, then you could buy heaps of HOP's but that would cost you a lot of cash.

So, if you don't buy HOPS and you don't have Unicorns horns to remove (or don't want to) , can you  still actually win that elusive Qilin?

In short - no. Assuming Howrse don't change things during the course of the puzzle competition and based on what we know,  we think you will only be able as far as the Dragon Puzzle (puzzle 10).

If you DO remove a Unicorn horn each day, then you will get as far as the Snake Puzzle (puzzle 11).

So, if you do all the daily tasks (grooming, watching a video etc) AND remove a Uni horn each day, then you will still need over 30 HOP's to win that Qilin. Boo!

Of course, it's likely that Howrse will offer bonus jigsaw pieces in HOP's later in the competition so this will make things a little bit easier. However, whichever way you look at it, winning a Divine Unicorn is not going to be easy ... or cheap.

But it's not all doom and gloom. There are plenty of BM items to win along the way as well as ageing points and equus. And, you can even win Horseshoe Studs which are usually only available with a VIP account. Now that is pretty cool.

So, even if a Qilin is out of your reach, you can still relax and enjoy picking up plenty of goodies to keep you happily Howrse-ing!

Patsy

VIP Account - who is it really for?

Owlient have been testing an addition to the standard Howrse game, amongst some selected players. This new 'VIP Account' is intended aimed at players who have either been playing on Howrse for a long time and/or bought a lot of passes.

The VIP Account is, effectively, an extension of the Pegasus Account. It's designed as a new alternative to the existing version of the game. But it's not cheap.

Here are some of the things you get:

• Create 'official' breeding teams with up to 20 players
• Allow players to make coverings of each other's horses
• Buy horses automatically
• Buy several horses with a single click
• An increased probability of breeding a Unicorn
• The ability to BLUP horses before they are 10 years old
• Preselect the quantity of food to be given to your horses
• Greater customisation of your Profile page
• All the existing perks from the Pegasus Account

Testing of this new facility took place in early October and in mid October, testers where sent a survey to complete, with their feedback on the VIP Account.

So, how much does this 'in-depth' addition to Howrse cost? Well it's priced at a pretty hefty 10 passes per month. That's a considerable investment and effectively increases the sense that playing the game this way is really just a subscription service. 

In recent years, Owlient have greatly simplified and changed the playing experience of Howrse. Three to five years ago, the game was much more about the subtle complexities of breeding horses. 

Now it is a continuous cycle of competitions, challenges and games where players can win shiny prizes, including an ever-expanding range of 'special', wild or divine horses. The subtle parts of the game, have been hugely simplified in order to keep players focused on the 'fun' part - winning things, as opposed to the game-playing part of breeding horses and developing equestrian centres.

This is fine for those players who want instant results and rewards for, well, anything at all! Then there are those players who enjoy the complex and subtle world of BLUP, skilling, training and managing EC finances. And so Owlient have spotted an opportunity - give these players something to get their teeth into .... at a price.

So the choice is yours. If you prefer an 'arcade' style game - pretty, shiny and instant, stick with the existing, free version of the game. However, if you crave a little more depth and challenge to your Howrse experience, then choose the VIP Account. And start saving for your 120 passes a year.

Patsy

Piñatas for starters

Well it's piñata crazy at the moment on Howrse. It seems like hardly a day goes by without a new competition arriving. So, we were wondering what you thought about all these competitions? Do you enjoy them? Or do you think there are just a few too many?

LucyLou and I remember back three or four years ago when Howrse only had about four competitions or promotions each year. Now they seem to happen pretty much constantly.

So another question would be - do you think you would still play the game if there were hardly any competitions?

We'd love to know what you think.

In the meantime, enjoy those piñatas...

Patsy