## Description

_Pippa Funnell: The Golden Stirrup Challenge_ is a single player adventure
game based on horse riding.

There’s a back story to this game which revolves around rivalry between riding
schools, the well funded Beechwood Academy which has used its financial muscle
buy out smaller schools and the Sycamore Academy in Tuscany, Italy run by Jade
and Patrick. There’s also another story arc involving hidden treasure.

The game starts with Flora arriving at The Sycamores, she makes quite an
entrance by crashing her scooter in the animated introduction and has to be
rescued as the first act in the game. Once she’s installed at the school the
player sets up her timetable with training activities, and free time which can
be either personal or on the horse farm caring for her horse. It’s in the
personal free time that Flora hunts for the treasure by exploring, talking to
people, and reading books in the library.

As the game develops Flora’s training in the disciplines of Dressage, Show
jumping and Cross-country progresses and, as in a real school, her progress is
monitored by weekly tests. Good results in these tests are essential if
Flora’s to enter the competitions in Italy, Alsace and China, hopefully
defeating all comers and bringing honour and prestige to The Sycamores.
The control system for these events differs. In the Dressage, for example, the
horse canters around the arena on autopilot. Scrolling across the top of the
screen is a display bar showing the correct key sequence and it is the
player’s job to hit the appropriate arrow keys as its symbol passes the
central target.
Show Jumping involves steering the horse and rider around a course following
line of pink arrows and making the jump when in the take-off zone at a time
when the horse’s mood is ‘in harmony’. Cross country is very similar but
there’s no line to follow, just keep to the track.

As with other games of this type the player has to learn about and care for a
horse, in this game it’s a foal that must be groomed and trained.

The game is played via the keyboard though a mouse is used in the menu
screens, action keys can be redefined.

Pippa Funnell: The Golden Stirrup Challenge