I wrote about The Ramp a few weeks backwhen I thought it looked like a cool little skateboarding game, but Iâm writing about it again now because itâs out and Iâve played it and itâs wonderful
Letâs set some expectations before we begin: The Ramp is a very small game. It costs $4.79 at launch. Itâs got a handful of skaters to choose from, it takes place on only four stages, thereâs no campaign, no licensed soundtrack, no extravaganza of sponsored content or unlockable guest stars.
What it does have are two things: an isometric viewpoint and a beautifully-tuned set of controls, with which it wants you to just sit back, unwind and skate to your heartâs content. Thatâs it! This game is a plaything, a set of four blank canvasesâeach offering slightly different challenges, from standard vert ramps to enormous jumpsâupon which youâre free to just skate however the hell you want.
Thereâs no stress over your combo score, no time limit gnawing away at you, no leaderboards and no multiplayer. If you preferred Skate over THPS because it brought things back a little closer to just the act of skating, then The Ramp takes things about as far back as they can get while still being about skating.
While the subject matter couldnât be further apart, it pushes a lot of the same buttons that Townscaper did for me, in that it takes a genre of video game Iâm very into and just strips it back to its most essential elements, where free of further consequences or layers of gameplay youâre able to justâŠenjoy them as they are.
The Ramp is a skating sandbox, then, a fantastic exploration of just how fun the act of skating, crashing (the crash physics here are bone-crunchingly cute) and getting back up again can be when youâre only doing it for yourself and the inherent joy to be found in the act itself.
Itâs out now on Steam.
