Skating Rink Story Review (Xbox, PlayStation & PC)

Skating Rink Story feels like a tip of the hat to old-school business simulation endeavors. Like a glass slipper (or a size eight skate, in this case), it comes across as an elegant fit—a flexible contestant with grace and subtle charm. It might not lean into the headache-inducing malarkey or the supremacy of an enchanting double swizzle snowplow, but it does take a well-needed nod to all of the aspects that make cozy world-crafting management affairs the blizzards of fun that they so clearly are. To call it a perfect pixel-coated ordeal might be a bit of a stretch. That said, I can imagine that a pocket-sized indie such as this will resonate with fans of the genre for many moons to come — and then some.

It starts with a lot of the usual bits and pieces—the foundation, the backbone of the business, and the question of how to transform a spacious ice rink into a booming hub for competitive skating and social gatherings. From the onset, you have the chance to design your own icy empire, and with it, a slippery cortex of colleagues and instructors, food stalls and recipes that can and eventually will attract more customers and, after several seasons, a local landmark for fledgling athletes. This is all textbook stuff, and frankly, a procedure that you would’ve seen hundreds of times before. You plant an ice rink, and then slowly begin to establish your workspace with various tools, upgrades, and seasonal maintenance options that can further enhance your business model.

The game itself is spread across monthly events, with the final month of each year being the ultimate test that determines whether or not your business is up to scratch. As you work towards each quarter, you earn gold from your various exploits which, in turn, can be used to unlock more rewards, recipes for your food and beverage outlets, and promote staff so that they can overcome tougher customer requests and train competitors for seasonal tournaments. Again, this is relatively straightforward stuff. A month passes by (a two-minute exercise, usually) and you gradually begin to unravel more content. More gold means additional wings for your building, and, of course, even loftier requests to tackle via an in-game social media app.

While I wouldn’t say that Skating Rink Story is a perplexing game, I would say that it fosters some rather tedious curveballs. For instance, as each year draws to a close, you do have to work toward a specific goal, which ultimately leads to a grade and a set of stats that highlight your strengths and weaknesses. That being said, the game does offer a ton of helpful advice and tutorials, therefore the odds of ever finding a financially unstable climax are slim to non-existent. And, as luck would have it, that same level of support remains intact throughout the entire duration of the campaign, meaning that you never really have to fret about the next step, or even the final hurdle at the end of each fiscal year.

All in all there are some great bones to pick at here, with a quality selection of cooking recipes, ice rink upgrades and, above all, a smooth sense of long-term progression that feels both rewarding and satisfying the more you carve away at the tip of the ice. Although still without a major challenge, the game does offer a good variety of tactical choices, as well as an in-depth customization suite that allows for you to explore various aspects of the business and bend it to your needs. Clearly, it’s still a pocket-sized game that doesn’t offer much by way of graphical design. Yet, for what it does deliver to the foreground—a minimalistic pixel-pasted sandbox with all of the usual vibrant touches and cozy embellishments of a timeless IP—it exceeds in all cases.

There’s a good amount to love about Skating Rink Story, even though it doesn’t deliver a whopping campaign with a huge amount of replay value. From what I could tell, there were numerous tiny details that made the experience a lot easier to comprehend, with a simple-to-navigate UI, built-in tutorials, and a constant point of reference to aid potential projects. To that end, I had very little to complain about. Again, it might not have lacked the glitz and glamor of a big-budget sandbox game, but it kept me occupied, and that counts for something, truly.

Suffice it to say that, if you’re a fan of early PSX world-crafting games like Theme Park World, then you’ll probably love sinking your hooks into this ice palace and all of its pixelated features. If, however, you’re an advocate for tougher, more time-demanding sandbox environments like Frostpunk, for example, then you might struggle to bond with Skating Rink Story. This isn’t to say that it’s a bad game, mind you. If anything, it’s a smaller game that simply prefers to skate in a slower lane.

Verdict

Skating Rink Story graces the tip of the iceberg as a gentle nod to old-school business sims, not just with the intent to replicate old habits and dated assets, but to expand on existing aspects to create a bigger, better and more fulfilling experience that’s both accessible to newcomers and die-hard sandbox crafters. Although still with its own supply of shortcomings, the game itself clearly makes for a solid and, more importantly, well-rounded pocket-sized sim that will more than likely appeal to the target demographic — and that counts for a great deal.

If you share a love of old-fashioned pixel artwork and lightweight business models with subtle upgradable components similar to those featured in Bullfrog Productions’ earlier works, then I’d like to imagine that you’ll enjoy carving up a handful of ice sculptures in Skating Rink Story. Again, it’s best not to expect anything greater than a pocket-sized business sim. If you can turn a blind eye to its scale and lack of room for potential innovation, however, then you’re likely to get a good kick out of this one.