Horses (video game)
A horror game banned from major platforms for content.
**Horses** is a 2025 horror-adventure video game created by the Italian studio Santa Ragione and filmmaker Andrea Lucco Borlera. The game follows a young man named Anselmo who works on a farm where the owner keeps enslaved humans dressed as horses. It uses experimental visual techniques including silent film motifs, intertitles, and live-action footage. Borlera, who studied film at Roma Tre University, developed the concept and directed the live-action sequences, citing surrealist filmmakers Luis Buñuel and Jan Švankmajer, as well as Yorgos Lanthimos, as influences. He also drew on childhood fears of horses and their handlers on his grandfather’s farm.
The game is played from a first-person perspective. Each day, the player receives a list of tasks attached to the farmhouse, starting with simple chores like watering crops and becoming increasingly abstract and disturbing. Tools must be collected from around the farm, and the player can carry only two at a time. Some actions trigger live-action cutscenes, and events sometimes appear as overlays on the screen. Dialogue appears as intertitles after characters speak.
Anselmo is sent to work on the farm for two weeks. He meets the farmer and his “horses”—humans kept naked except for masks, fed hay and water, ridden on shoulders, raced, and forced to pull a plow. The farmer’s dog, Fido, is also a human in a mask who acts as a guard. The farmer captures people caught having sex in nearby woods, injects them with horse fluids, and brainwashes them. A corrupt businessman, a preacher, and a vet visit to abuse the “horses.” “Horses” that have sex are beaten and castrated; the farmer wears a locked chastity belt. On one occasion, the farmer puts on a horse mask and watches a female “horse” raped by Fido while trying to masturbate.
Anselmo befriends a female “horse” named Linda, who says she is in contact with Fiero, a male “horse” who escaped and plans to free the others. Their plan fails: Fido dies, Fiero is nailed to a stake, and Linda is recaptured for torture. Anselmo frees Linda but is caught. The farmer prepares to inject Anselmo to make him the next Fido, but Linda ambushes him. Together they tie the farmer down and inject him with horse fluids. The game ends with the “horses” holding a funeral for Fiero, and Linda gives Anselmo Fiero’s mask. Anselmo leads the “horses” off the farm to freedom.
Borlera pitched
- Developer
- Santa Ragione
- Publisher
- Santa Ragione, Andrea Lucco Borlera
- Release Year
- 2025
- Genre
- Horror-adventure
- Platforms
- GOG.com, itch.io
- Notable For
- Storefront bans over content guidelines
Lore & Background
Horses was conceived by Andrea Lucco Borlera, a film graduate at Roma Tre University, who cited surrealist filmmakers Luis Buñuel and Jan Švankmajer, as well as Yorgos Lanthimos, as inspirations. The game was developed by Santa Ragione, an Italian studio founded in 2010 by Pietro Righi Riva and Nicolò Tedeschi. Development cost approximately $100,000, half raised from friends. The game was announced in June 2023 and delayed from its intended 2024 release.
In November 2025, shortly before release, Steam made a final decision not to distribute the game, citing a breach of content guidelines. The Epic Games Store followed, stating an International Age Rating Coalition questionnaire suggested an Adults Only 18+ rating, though the developer's own questionnaire suggested Mature 17+. GOG.com chose to retain the game, with its managing director stating the company believed in creative freedom. The studio reported that Steam provided an automated response indicating the game appeared to depict sexual conduct involving a minor, which the studio called vague and unfounded, speculating it stemmed from a scene of a child on a naked adult woman's shoulders, later changed to an adult.
Following release, Horses received mixed reviews. Critics praised its filmic techniques and unique premise but noted the game lacked choice and narrative subtlety. Despite the bans, sales allowed Santa Ragione to repay development debts, though not enough to fund future titles. The studio stated the inability to secure a publisher due to the ban led to an unsustainable financial situation.
Reader's Guide
Horses is significant primarily for the controversy surrounding its distribution bans, which highlighted the power of digital storefronts like Steam and the Epic Games Store to control what games reach consumers. The developer's inability to obtain clear reasons for the bans, and the conflicting age ratings from different questionnaire submissions, exposed a lack of transparency in content moderation. Critics argued the game did not contain sufficiently explicit content to merit removal, raising questions about censorship and artistic freedom. The incident also underscored the financial vulnerability of independent studios, as the bans prevented Santa Ragione from securing a publisher, leading to an unsustainable financial situation despite the game's sales covering production debts. GOG's decision to host the game, and its managing director's statement about a 'slippery slope' of content control, positioned the platform as a counterpoint to the dominant storefronts. The game itself, a first-person narrative horror about a farm where humans are enslaved as horses, was praised for its experimental imagery and surrealist influences but criticized for its execution. The controversy around Horses serves as a case study in the ongoing tension between platform policies, artistic expression, and the economics of independent game development.
Did You Know?
- Horses was developed by Santa Ragione, an Italian studio formed in 2010 by Pietro Righi Riva and Nicolò Tedeschi.
- The game was banned from Steam and the Epic Games Store in November 2025, but was released on GOG.com and itch.io.
- Steam's automated response stated the game appeared to depict sexual conduct involving a minor, which the developer called vague and unfounded.
- Sales of Horses allowed Santa Ragione to repay debts taken to produce the game, but not enough to develop future titles.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Horses (video game)?
Horses is a 2025 horror-adventure title from Italian studio Santa Ragione and filmmaker Andrea Lucco Borlera. It casts the player as Anselmo, a young farmhand trapped in a world where the farm's owner holds captive humans dressed as horses.
Who made Horses (video game)?
The game was developed and published by Santa Ragione in collaboration with Andrea Lucco Borlera, a Roma Tre University film graduate who conceived the project and directed its live-action segments.
What is the plot of Horses (video game)?
You play as Anselmo, a young man laboring on a farm whose owner keeps enslaved people in horse disguises. The experience blends experimental visuals—silent-film intertitles, live-action clips—with a horror-adventure structure.
Why was Horses (video game) pulled from major storefronts?
The title was banned from major distribution platforms because its subject matter clashed with their content policies. As a result, it became available through GOG.com and itch.io instead.
What artistic influences shaped Horses (video game)?
Borlera has pointed to surrealist filmmakers Luis Buñuel and Jan Švankmajer, along with Yorgos Lanthimos, as key inspirations. Those influences surface in the game's use of silent-cinema motifs, intertitle cards, and staged live-action footage.
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