I should start this by saying I am not a massive fan of horse racing. I came upon an early incarnation of this game a few years ago and have been a fan since.

The game allows for different levels of play varying from betting only mode through to training and ownership. You can jockey your own horses or combine the complex mode of owner/trtainer with a simplified training model (my own preference as somebody who has an amateur knowledge of horse racing).

The statistical level of the game has comparisons with Football Manager and it is no coincidence that both games are my 'go to games'. The game you play when you've tired of the latest new game.

The fact that this is now on Steam is a major plus as this is a game that has been regularly updated and improved. For anybody who knows very little about horse racing but loves statistical management games or anybody who loves horse racing and likes a punt now and then this is defintely worth investing in.

I have put many months into this game before it was released onto Steam. There is a lot to this game. Different game play modes and modes based on your nationality but it is primarily about spotting potentially good horses at the sales and placing horses in order to increase your stable funds so you can then afford better horses. After playing a few seasons you can then start to breed your own horses.

I would say it's definitely a game for racing fans. Others may struggle with some of the racing terminology and the sports complexities. And the game could give better help via a tutorial? The races are passable visually for a sim game but what makes them special is the realistic way they work out. You can see as the jockeys try to follow their orders and weave through the field and sometimes (maybe more often than reality) jockeys can lose a race through poor tactical choices during the race.

The game play is quite unusual for a video game in that it doesn't really end. You can play the game for hundreds of seasons if you wish. I tend to play the game quite slowly and try to follow all the form - even of the horses owned by computer controlled trainers! Playing this way can take forever to just get through a single season but it really does draw you in to the point where you feel incredibly involved. Rushing through does not provide any satisfaction for me at all.
There is a jockey mode also and other modes such as an 'AI Owner' game where you have to deal with owners rather than buying horses through sales.
There is a betting mode and some other modes I have never even looked at. In summary it's a very deep game that rewards time invested and if you have the urge for horse racing management, especially UK based (there are Australian and USA modes also) and are willing to put some time in then there really is no better offering out there. To balance this I would say if you have no interest in horse racing then this game is probably not for you.

To the reviewer who complained there is no way to save the game. Have you tried the save button? lol.

I own races horses in RL and even though this game is a far cry from real life, it is very entertaining. On those long nights sitting in the office in the foaling barn waiting for a mare to foal, I thoughly enjoy playing this game. It is a fun way to pass the time. I like playing the owner game because of the simplified bredding consept and trying to target specific distances with the offspring but I think I am more enetrtained by the trainer game and trying to make good with the horses that clients send to you and hoping that after an Open House, I can attract clients with better horses. It is very possible in the Owner game to have a stable full of super horses by the time your 3rd crop of foals hit the track but with the Trainer game, it can be difficult to draw in those Super horses to sweep the all important Grade 1 races to boost income so you can rise through the trainer standings. I have won almost all the big G1 races but after playing many seasons in both the trainer and owner games, one G1 still eludes me, the Melborne Cup. The aquisition of that 2 mile monster than can win that race just seems to evade me. I will win that race one day but until then, I will just keep playing.

Starters Orders 6 is a great horse racing SIMULATION game. Don't expect the shiny visuals and arcade-style gameplay of the Gallop Racer series here. As others have stated, this is more or less the horse racing equivalent of the Football Manager series with lots of spreadsheet-style screens and menus... but if the thought of a realistic menu-based thoroughbred stable management simulator gets you even slightly moist, then you've found the right game.

What you'll like:

Breeding - Breeding your own horses in Starters Order 6 is as simple as selecting a stallion and mare from a long list of available candidates and telling them to GET IT ON. If you own both horses, it's free of charge, otherwise you'll have to pay a nominal fee based on the racing success of the stallion or mare that you select. Just like in real life, you never know what's gonna pop out later. You can breed as many or as few horses as you want in a racing season and provide all of them with new names when they become two year olds.

Auctions - You can buy and sell horses in auctions. Wanna buy that unproven two year old for $100K? Trying to sell off that ten year old with the bucked shins? There's a market for everyone in this game.

Stats - All horses have fractional and positional race charts with comments, odds, and on-demand race replays, career statistics, race history, top rating and earnings lists... and even a hall of fame for your best horses. There are seasonal awards given to the top jockey, top owner, and top horses in several categories as well.

Racing - Select from over 100 jockeys with just-edited-enough names like P. Napravnik or A. Velasquez and give him or her the ride on your horse in a race. You can provide your jockey with basic instructions and auto-play the race, or take control yourself in a first person view. A good selection of the North American ABC tracks are represented, and most graded races are named as you'd expect (The Kentucky Derby, etc.). You can even ship your horses around and race in other countries - notable races from Dubai, Hong Kong, Australia, England and Japan are all here.

Variability - Each horse has his or her own personality and traits. Some run better in the slop, some will fight like mad in the stretch, some will always find the trouble spots, some are more suited to a particular surface or track, some will just stand in the gate and never do anything. You never know what you're gonna get, but it always makes you want to play more, and more, and more...

Custom Races - You can export your horses and configure custom races for them. Throw up to 40 of your favorites in a four mile event and see how many actually finish the race. Pit your distance horses against each other in an Iowa sprint for $10 million dollars. Anything goes...

Modding - You can add your own custom races to a schedule (want the Pegasus Cup in there?), or create a custom track, etc. The SO6 forums are a great resource for modding guides, and it's not too tough once you get the hang of it.


What might annoy you:

Graphics - They're fairly simple for 2017, but they get the job done. Just don't expect anything too cutting edge here and you'll be fine. They remind me of horseracegame.com or the 3D race predictions on the NBC racing telecasts (if you've seen those)

Race Commentary - It's a little strange at times - "The leader is last!" or "The leader is the leader..." OK... whatever. Don't worry, you can shut it off if it bothers you.

Money Management - It's important to manage your money (especially early in the game). You'll probably have to win a few bets or take out a few loans to stay afloat. As your stable grows and your horses start winning the money aspect will become less of a concern until you can almost forget about it completely.

Breeding Prospects - The breeding system is great, and very easy to use. However, it would be even better if the computer owners' stallions and mares carried over to future seasons. Sometimes you'll find a top horse to breed to, only to find that he or she is removed from the game the following season, so remember to get as many offspring as you can, while you can.

No Online Play - There's no built-in online play. Hopefully future Starters Orders games will make this a reality. I think there's leagues on the forums, but I've never used them.


Final Verdict

Don't buy Starters Orders 6 for the jockey mode. It won't justify the price and will leave you disappointed. If you like sports management sims (Football Manager, OOTP, etc) and have an interest in horse racing... you'll probably really enjoy it. It's challenging, rewarding, and very well-made. I bought it at $19.99 shortly after release. I'd still definitely recommend it at the current price of $34.99.

Bought this in the summer sale. Spent more for it than I do for most games--in fact, cleaned out the rest of my available Summer Sale funds to get it because Hey! Horse racing game!

Felt a little remorseful, like maybe I could have waited until it went on a better sale like I do with most stuff. Started it up to see if I'd even like it---maybe it would suck or I wouldn't like it THAT much and could get a refund.

9 hours of playtime later--all in less than 24 hours, I might add--here I am, writing this review.

Exciting? No, not really, but if you think managing things and betting on horse races and trying to build up to Something from Virtually Nothing by way of some good decision-making and a whole lot of luck, this is for you.

This is going to be one of my go-to games, never uninstalled, for a long, long, time.

I previously owned this game before it came to steam and have invested so much time into starting from scratch and building various stable dynasties. You can concentrate on flat racing, national hunt (jumps) or both if you so wish.

If you're the type of gamer who enjoys management style games such as Football Manager, Front Office, Out of the Park Baseball and enjoy jumping into and divulging statistics and prefer text and data over what others would class as 'graphical gameplay' then you'll love Starters Orders 6. The graphics are actually pretty decent if you choose to watch the races, but for me they are a nice touch that add to the racing aspect. It wouldn't bother me if the horses were simply a number going round a track. For me this game excels in its planning and number crunching.

The game really comes alive for me when you unlock the breeding barn. Trying to breed the next super horse is what keeps me playing this game year after ingame year. You can easily clock up hundreds of years of gameplay as your stable grows.

Definitely the best horse racing management game I have ever played.

I'm not sure if it could be integrated but I'd love to see some sort of future online league through steam. Now that would take this to the next level.

10/10

I read a large number of reviews before buying this game - positive and negative - and was disappointed once I bought it.
Good things:
It is very in depth and accurate with betting and racing in general.
It doesn't take up much memory so downloads quickly.
Several different modes of play so you can play from different perspectives.

The bad:
Overpriced for what it is.
Had several issues with it crashing and seemed buggy. I can't say for sure this couldn't be rectified as I didn't spend enough time on it to find out.
The typeface is ludicrously small. Like squint to see it small.
The tutuorial/help manual skips over most of the things that you actually need to have explained. Way too brief for this complex of a game.

More negatives than positives for this game.

I'm recommending Starters Orders because it's the best horse racing simulator on the market. I suspect the rest of the review will sound somewhat negative so it's important to bear that in mind. If you're looking for a "Football Manager for horse racing," as Starters Orders is so often described, this is as close as you are going to get at the present moment.

Indeed, in some ways this is a throwback to the text-only games of yore. The majority of the action takes place ensconced at the training center of your farm, preparing your horses for upcoming races, participating in auctions, selecting sires and dams for breeding, and so on. The only non-text based aspect of the game are the races themselves, which, unless you are playing in jockey mode (I never do), will only be a video for you to watch.

None of that is necessarily a bad thing, bear in mind. The allure of a game like this isn't the action, exactly, although it can be surprisingly exciting watching one of your homebreds charge down the homestretch of a graded stakes race. Instead, the pleasure is in the puzzle of it all, piecing together the clues to outwit your fellow owners, identify undervalued bloodstock, chart campaigns for your runners, and so on. Much of that can be done in real life on pen and paper. So it is here as well.

As with any uncanny valley situation, it's the deviations from the areas of the game that come closest to being realistic that are the most grating. Players are offered the option of starting in any of four geographic locations, but all of the games are heavily anglocentric. Race meets last a handful of days at most and pop up at random throughout the calendar. Only two tracks conduct meets on any given day. 12+ furlong races are common. Betting is done with a bookmaker. And then there are the peculiarities that can't be chalked up to Englishness. Claiming races are largely replaced by "selling races" in which the horses running are entered into an auction following the race, not a sale at a set price before the race. Two year old racing begins on January 1. Yearlings are not available for sale. Auctions take place every single day.

The root of the problem may be that the game attempts to encompass *every* aspect of the sport. This would be daunting on any budget, but it's folly for a smaller developer. The betting and jockey portions of the game are weak (the latter is especially jarring, as even mobile games have progressed well past what Starters Orders displays). Overseas racing includes both the flats and the hunts. Every add-on like this creates its own complexities - and this for a game that can't manage a proper tutorial (or even elimination of typos from game text).

Lest this all sound too negative, it's worth pointing out what Starters Orders does so well. The calculations that go into the racing seem, from afar, to be impressive; you can tell from watching a race when a horse is running outside of his comfort zone or was compromised by a difficult trip. The breeding engine feels similarly sophisticated. The racing itself is reasonably realistic, though nits can be picked. Several mods are readily available, though none quite solves the problems identified above.

All in all, Starters Orders is a decent time sink. If you are a horse racing fan, you could do a whole lot worse. In fact, it's the closeness to being great that vexes. With a little focus, Starters Orders could indeed reach a status among horse racing fans like that held by Football Manager among footie fans. But there's still work to be done.

I think the game is niche. You must like either management sims a lot, or know something about horse racing and like sims some. I am in the latter, so I sink so, so many hours into planning. That makes this game a fantastic investment for entertainment for cost. So, if you get into it, it will be an excellent game. I can see it not grabbing everyone though. The document in the base directory is a must read, and it really helps to browse through the usual questions on the game's site forum.

Once you get your first decent horse the whole game changes, gets much more exciting trying to build up to group 1 winners etc if you're like me and play UK calender. Breeding is a much better way controlling the quality of the horses in your yard, especially once you've got yourself at least one solid Male and Female breeder. Brilliant game, would recommend to any racing lovers that know even a little about the sport as you'll quickly learn more once you get in to the game.