15 Best Xbox Series X/S Horse Riding Games

I think we can all agree that one of the greatest things that you can do in any kind of video game is ride a mount of any kind. Something about being able to travel from place to place with a horse is just so much more fun than walking. In a way, your animal companions become part of your journey as characters in their own right as they watch you go about your missions and quests. I’m sure that you’ve played a game where you can remember the name of your horse or animal friend you journey with you from beginning to end. Considering that, check out our list of the best Xbox Series X/S games that let you ride horses.

#15 Elden Ring

Another contender for game of the year, Elden Ring is the joint collaborative effort of George R. R. Martin and Hidetaka Miyazaki. It takes what everyone loves about previous souls-like games and turns it on its head in this dark and surreal game. You have the option to play with your friends in a kind of drop-in co-op that requires certain prerequisites beforehand but allows you to beat bosses with your friends. It’s been one of the titles that everyone has been talking about since release and it would only be a treat for yourself if you decide to pick it up with your friends and summon them in-game to try and survive together. Another great thing about Elden Ring is the fact that you get a horse relatively early on to traverse the world and fight against bosses.

#14 Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla takes the Assassin’s Creed series through a journey of Norse mythology and Viking ancestry. You play as Elvior who has the ability to dual wield weapons, ride horses into battle, and the stealth necessary to be an assassin. This game includes an incredible open world filled with NPCs that can provide you with different missions and rewards and a dynamic day and night system that factors in weather effects. The aspect of assaults and raids returns from Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and allows you to take on areas for military control by charging enemies into battle and defeating military leaders. There are tons of mini-games to take advantage of as well including drinking contests, brawling, and more.

#13 Far Cry 6

Far Cry 6 is an open-world first-person shooter that takes on a rendition of the Cuban story of resistance and revolution. You play as Dani Rojas who is a former conscript in the Yaran military turned guerilla fighter who initially yearns to escape Castillo’s violent crackdown on Yaran civil society for the American city of Miami. It seems like a mouthful but the story is delivered with a great narrative and includes characters that rival the villains and antagonists of games before. You have the option to travel across the world using a variety of different means including car, plane, and even horseback. There are a lot of topics discussed within the narrative that also makes this one of the most intense stories told within the franchise.

#12 Kingdom Come Deliverance

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is an action role-playing game set in an open-world environment and played from a first-person perspective. It utilizes a classless role-playing system that allows the player to customize their skills and take on roles such as warrior, bard, thief, or a hybrid of these. Abilities and stats will grow depending on what the player does and says through branched dialogue trees in this intense narrative. During conversations, the time a player takes to make a decision is limited and has an effect on their relationships with others which will change the way that players react to you throughout. Reputation is based on player choices and therefore can bring consequences both good and bad. You also have the ability to traverse across the map on horseback where you are also able to attack enemies using bows or swords.

#11 Black Desert Online

Black Desert Online is an MMORPG that revolves around the conflict of two rival nations in a high-fantasy setting. The story involves an endless war that was brought on by a plague that was spread onto the land by merchants and other vendors. Much of the story centers on the idea of trading and profiting off of the sale of what is known as Black Stones while players involve themselves in castle sieges and raids. The combat is very fast-paced and involves manual aiming and dodging which is something not commonly seen in games like these. There are also mounts that you can ride throughout the open world that requires care and feeding as they can be killed since they cannot be stored in your inventory or other safe places.

#10 Conan Exiles

Conan Exiles is a survival game where players have been convicted of a crime and are cast out of their homes as exiles. They are rescued by Conan himself and are faced with navigating the harsh world of the Exiled Lands. The landscape is harsh and the animals and other people you will face will be brutal. You start off by creating your character based on different in-game races. Since it is a survival game, many things need to be taken into consideration for your health including food and water. Religion also plays an important role with several religions being available to learn from to gather different skills and abilities based on those gods. You can also take advantage of riding on horseback to travel across the landscape as the final game is somewhere around 53 kilometers from end to end.

#9 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

I remember being in high school when this game came out and being so excited that I and most of my friends took that Friday off from school just to play it at our separate homes. You play as the Dragonborn who must train in order to stop the dragon Alduin from unleashing chaos across Tamriel. There are plenty of quests to take advantage of as well as an intense character creation system and a herd of mods you could install on PC for the most elite experience. This game is also among the few in history to be released for just about every platform available since its release so if that isn’t a testament to its greatness, then I don’t know what is. Craft weapons, steal from villagers, and shout at dragons in this RPG adventure that has carved a space for itself in the fantasy genre. One of the best things about this game is the mechanics of horseriding that allows you to quite literally travel up mountainsides and even jump off of tall ledges without sustaining any injuries if you practice hard enough.

#8 The Witcher 3

Another one of my personal favorites on this list, Witcher 3 follows the story of Geralt of Rivia as he travels through different cities in search of his lost adoptive daughter, Ciri. Of course, there is far more to unpack than what I just explained but the depths that this game goes through to really put yourself in the world that CD Projekt Red created is absolutely incredible. You are given quests that contain NPC and dialogue options that have never been displayed in a game while also not shying away from the harsh reality of being alive during the period of time in which the game is portraying. You can also ride on Roach, Geralt’s trust horse who, although given the name because of his replaceability, is a trusted companion throughout the entire game. It also helps that there is a lot of content to take from in the form of the original Polish novels but I would highly recommend this to anyone who is a fan of fantasy roleplay.

#7 Red Dead Redemption 2 / RDO

Red Dead Redemption 2 follows the story of Arthur Morgan as he travels with several other misfits across America in the early 1900s. This is probably one of the best examples of what anyone could expect from a ‘cowboy game’ from minigames that involve gambling and shooting, to bar fights and train robberies. The open world is massive so you are able to travel using several horses that you can either tame yourself or even purchase from high profile horse breeders. Of course, you could also just steal horses directly from their owners if you’re in a pinch. The narrative is incredibly well told and players are encouraged to explore and make discoveries that really blow up the intense atmosphere. The online multiplayer, Red Dead Online, provides even more fun as you can create your personal cowboy and play with your friends in missions and heists.

#6 Darksiders 1

The Darksiders games follow the story of the four horsemen of the apocalypse with the first installment being about War. The hack and slash style of the game is reminiscent of games like Bayonetta and Devil May Cry while offering a story that manages to splay throughout several other titles. Besides the intense combat, you can also slaughter your enemies on horseback with your trusted steed, Ruin, with some enemies even being temporarily rideable according to different combos that War is able to perform. There are instances of quick-time events which really add to the fast-paced combat to deal damage or dodge enemies. You could also take advantage of finishing moves and damage cinematics with two-handed or projectile weapons for final bosses and other enemies for a theatrical way to slaughter them.

#5 Darksiders 2

Players take on the role of Death in the second Darksiders game. It has many similar elements to the first game in the sense that it is also a hack and slash game and follows the story of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. There are many different interactive puzzle elements in different dungeons and stages throughout the game. There is also an open world that you can travel across either on foot or on horseback. While War is charged with his crimes, Death, sure of his brother’s innocence, sets out on a personal mission to erase his brother’s ‘crime’ and resurrect humanity. He first travels to the Icy Veil, a dimension between the three kingdoms of Heaven, Hell, and Earth, to seek the Crowfather for proof of War’s innocence and the way to restore Earth.

#4 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

One of the greatest narratives ever told, Metal Gear Solid 5 follows the story of Punished Snake who serves as one of the many characters that don the Snake name throughout the series. The game follows gameplay similar to previous installments where Snake is tasked with infiltrating areas without the knowledge of guards and other security. The world is open and allows for travel either on foot or horseback for a more dynamic atmosphere. The game takes place after Ground Zeroes after Snake has undergone a coma that lasted 9 years and resulted in military groups trying to create a new version of the Metal Gear system that wracked games before.

#3 Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey helped change the landscape of what we can expect from an Assassin’s Creed game now. The story follows the Abstergo group as they have now become an organization that deals in historical assets via realities based on the ancestry of certain peoples. We are taken to ancient Greece where the war between Spartans and Athenians was at its peak. This game introduces castle sieges and raids that involve having to take down certain people in order to take control of areas. Players can also be involved in wars that ask them to take down multiple people and their leaders also for control of the area. There is a massive world that can be traversed either on foot or on horseback while also allowing for fast travel to already discovered areas.

#2 Mount & Blade: Warband

Mount & Blade: Warband is a sandbox role-playing game where players create their characters and set off into a medieval world where combat can happen at any moment. The game isn’t linear and doesn’t really have any set goals to follow but does allow for combat so that areas of the world of Calradia can be conquered. There is a pretty open play style that allows you to do anything from simply traveling from place to place or work for lords if you so choose to. There are also political elements that can push certain events like arranged marriages and assassinations against royalty just as you would imagine from the era itself. There are also different multiplayer modes that you can take advantage of including capture the flag mode as well as team battles. These battles can be completed on foot or on horseback depending on your level of expertise with the weapons that you choose to use.

#1 Kingdom Two Crowns

A bit different from the other games on this list, Kingdom Two Crowns is a side-scrolling pixelated adventure that asks you to build your kingdom and protect it from the enemy forces. You will discover secrets and unlock different mounts that you can use to travel from place to place. Friends can join you drop-in co-op and they can help you fight against enemies and protect your kingdom. Besides ruling your kingdom, you can also play as other monarchs in areas inspired by different locations around the world and protect those areas from enemies as well. You can build your town to be the greatest, hunt animals for food and resources, and take pride in those that choose to live there (and pay the taxes that you impose). You could even hire different kinds of workers so that you can also employ an economy of trades and goods if that’s an aspect of these kinds of games that you enjoy.