Pet games in general have gathered much momentum in the world of free online games. So much so, that searches online are no longer limited to pet games alone. The interest for pet games has broadened to encumber individual themes like dog games, and horse games for kids. Arcade websites all over the net feature such pet games on a category of their own, yet themes for horse games for kids have gone as far as deserving entire websites dedicated to the flash game genre.

Within the horse games for kid’s genre, some online horse game titles have managed to stand out from the rest due to the special interest they have raised among their young audience. Such an example would be the kid’s horse game “Lisa and Bandit”. As the title insinuates, this game is about a young girl and her horse. The application starts off with the two of them just standing in the forest in expectancy of some user intervention. Pleasing graphics and detailed animation give this game a realistic look. We need to emphasize the quality of the animation of this game; it excels most of the other game titles in the business.

Simple use of controls and rudimentary story line make this kid’s horse game easy enough that almost anyone with the ability to click on the space bar in the keyboard can play. Controls are limited to the right arrow key for movement and pressing the space bar every time an obstacle approaches so that the horse, bandit, will jump over it. There are 9 levels in the game, which automatically increase as you ride further, or for longer periods of time. The obstacles to jump over increase in size and frequency, although sometimes you won’t be able to tell whether the obstacles are approaching faster or you are going faster. In the end, it will just be harder to play, and you will need acute reflexes to hit the space bar in your keyboard.

The first few levels are really pleasing to play because of their low level of difficulty. It will take the player a while to go pass level three. However, as I mentioned before, the real kick comes from the horse jumping animation provided by this game. Once the player hits the space bar to induce the horse to jump, you can’t help the awe in watching the horse gain momentum and jump over the obstacle. I must hand it over to the developers of this application for a job well done. Curiously enough, this game does not have a sponsor. No splash screen or credits, the only hint of a sponsor is given when the player hits the ‘back’ button after completing a game, which results in a new window to play the game somewhere else.