The Ramp Review

The Ramp isn’t a game, it’s an experience. Created by a one-man “team”, there are no quests or missions, just a chance to skate and pull off cool tricks. That is it, but since there are no expectations you get to do whatever you want. The game starts you off on a basic ramp, showing you how to gain speed by alternating holding and releasing the A button; the more speed you have the higher the jump letting you complete bigger tricks. 

In the main menu, you can choose from four characters, two male and two female. Beyond this there aren’t any other customisations to be found; The Ramp is very simplistic overall. Though the goal of the game is just to skate, how many things do you need to make unique to have a good time?

Once you learn the timing to gain height you are told that you can change the direction you are facing using the left thumbstick. Be careful you don’t turn too far or you will launch yourself right off of the ramp and have to start over again at the top. The right thumbstick will determine what kind of trick you will perform; combine both thumbsticks and you can spin around to add rotations, pulling off flashier, and more varied tricks. 

Since the game doesn’t set up goals or challenges for you to reach, everything you do will be for yourself. The developer says on The Ramp’s Steam page that this is not a game, but should be considered more like a digital toy. All you do is chill out and have fun pulling off tricks, or flying off the course if you angle yourself wrong. 

Once you complete the tutorial level, three other courses will be unlocked: two of them look like they take place in empty swimming pools, complete with lounge chairs and ladders to get in and out of the pool; and the third is a ramp with two different routes that you can take, and includes a large gap to fly across and land on the remaining track. There are no tutorials here, so you will have to figure out the timing required to perform tricks on each of the courses.

The Ramp isn’t the type of game that you would sink a lot of hours into in one sitting. I feel that it works better in small bursts when you just want to relax for a while and pull off a few tricks. With no real goals to try to accomplish, it will be up to you to challenge yourself to keep playing and improve on the tricks that you can perform. You aren’t required to invest a lot of time on each playthrough, so if you are low on time and want to play something short and sweet this is a game that will fit the bill.

If you want a fun simple game that doesn’t require a ton of time to learn, The Ramp will be up your alley. This reminds me of a basic version of the half-pipe courses in 1080° Snowboarding on the N64. It’s fun to play, lacks the need for a huge time investment, and has no goals or challenges for you to complete. The Ramp is just a fun way to de-stress and spend a few minutes performing some cool tricks.