Umamusume: Pretty Derby

Umamusume: Pretty Derby is a beloved casual simulation game in which players recruit a diverse cast of "horse girls"—each with her own unique traits—to race on their behalf. You will train these characters and guide them through various competitions; not only can you enjoy their spectacular performances, but you can also earn generous rewards to recruit even more horse girls. Each character possesses distinct attributes and is brought to life by professional voice acting. By tailoring your training approach to the specific requirements of different races, you can gain a competitive edge on the track. Furthermore, after every race, you are treated to a special live performance by the horse girls, offering a uniquely thrilling experience.

Gameplay:

Umamusume: Pretty Derby is a sports simulation game that allows players, who are referred to in-game as "trainers", to raise and train Umamusume to compete in races whilst achieving the Umamusume's individual goals. Players collect two types of units through the game's gacha system: playable Umamusume or "trainees", and support cards that provide skills and bonuses.

The main gameplay mode, "Career", lets players choose a scenario, trainee, and support cards, then work to achieve specific goals. Players must also factor in the trainee's preferred terrain type, track distance, and running style in order to perform well. The game operates on a calendar system, with each action or turn taking up half a month, requiring strategic planning and balancing of the actions to be taken.

The calendar used is based on the real-life JRA's race schedule, with the races that players can enter being based on their real-life equivalents, such as the Japan Cup or the Arima Kinen. Succeeding scenarios would also allow players to enter G1 international races, notably the French Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and the American Breeders' Cup.

Players use turns to raise their trainee's five attributes (speed, stamina, power, guts, and wit), rest to restore energy, enter races to earn skill points and fans, infirmary to cure a negative condition, and recreation to raise the trainee's mood, which affects training effectiveness and race performance. Additionally, random events can occur during a Career attempt that may grant additional stats, skills, and buffs or debuffs, as well as positively or negatively impact the mood.

Winning G1 races, as well as reaching certain stat totals and acquiring skills, grants stats and potential skills known as "sparks". These can be passed down to trainees as "legacies", allowing them to inherit these and be strengthened in future Career attempts.

Alongside the Career, players can also partake in other game modes, including the PvP "Team Trials" and "Champions Meeting" races, where players use their best trainees to compete against each other in a set of races for various rewards, and "Legend Races", where players race against notable Umamusume to gain rewards and upgrade their trainees.

Useful Tips:

Keep your umas happy: Brightening up the mood is pretty important for your horses. The better mood your horse is in, the better they’ll perform in races and trainings. During a race, a happy horse is more likely to activate their skills, which is detrimental to your placing. Additionally, you’ll gain more stats from trainings when your horse is happier, so make sure to reach “great” as soon as possible!

Stats will vary: Every horse has their own aptitude, which dictates their track type, distance, and style. As they all differ, there isn’t a set stat line that’ll work across all of characters. For example. if your horse is running a lot of sprints, they won’t need a ton of stamina. On the other hand, a long distance runner will need more stamina as they’ll need to cover more ground.

Don’t take the gamble: In order to train, you’ll need enough energy to successfully increase any stat. If you’re low on energy, your odds at completing the training will drop. If you do fail a training, your horse’s mood will worsen, you’ll lose a few stat points, and you’ll still lose your energy.Then in turn, you’ll need to spend valuable turns that could’ve been used to increase your stats on improving your mood and regaining your energy instead. Rather than wasting your turns, play it safe and just rest.

Watch the races: Feel free to watch or skip any of the content that you want, but the main thing that makes Umamusume: Pretty Derby such an entertaining game is the races themselves. Watching your horse idle in last place to make a roaring comeback will have you out of your seat and cheering for them as if you’re at a live sporting event. If you do end up skipping the races entirely, you’ll be left wondering why people are raving about the experience.

Get your free carats and rewards: Carats are the premium currency in Umamusume: Pretty Derby, and you’ll use them to unlock horses and support cards. To get the most carats as soon as possible, look in the missions tab to see your daily, main, and special missions. There are a lot of easy missions that’ll give you a bountiful harvest of carats and other rewards!Additionally, don’t forget about the other modes like Story and Race. Story is full of, well, story. You can either watch every cut scenes or skip them altogether to receive carats. Race will have you participate in races like Team Trials or Daily Races, which will provide you with a variety of rewards.

Changelog:

Unity Cup Pretty Derby and Support Card Scouts coming soon!

A Unity Cup Pretty Derby Scout and Unity Cup Support Card Scout are set to begin at 10:00 p.m., Nov 5, 2026 (UTC)!

 The Trainee Umamusume and Support Cards spotlighted in these Scouts are featured as Scenario Link characters in the Career Scenario Unity Cup: Shine On, Team Spirit!

During the spotlight period, if you obtain a spotlighted 3 Stars Trainee Umamusume, you will receive more of her Star Pieces than usual as a bonus.

The spotlighted Trainee Umamusume and Support Cards are listed below.

 Unity Cup Scout Availability Period

 10:00 p.m., Nov 5–9:59 p.m., Nov 15, 2026 (UTC)

 Trainee Umamusume

Trainee Umamusume (Spotlight)

[Vampire Makeover!] Rice Shower

[New Year New Urara!] Haru Urara

Spotlight Trainee Umamusume 1

[Vampire Makeover!] Rice Shower

 Scout Bonus:

 [Vampire Makeover!] Rice Shower Star Piece × 90

Spotlight Trainee Umamusume 2

[New Year New Urara!] Haru Urara

 Scout Bonus:

 [New Year New Urara!] Haru Urara Star Piece × 90

 Support Cards

Support Cards (Spotlight)

SSR [Hands Up, Crook!] Taiki Shuttle

SSR [Touching Sleeves Is Good Luck!] Matikanefukukitaru

 Important Information

 1. When scouting a spotlighted 2 Stars Trainee Umamusume, the number of Star Pieces acquired will remain the normal amount.

 2. Trainee Umamusume with the same name cannot be on the same team, nor can they be selected as Legacy Umamusume at the same time in Career mode.

 3. Scout schedules and contents are subject to change without notice.

Player Comments:

I cannot have a game eating up all the space in my phone. I live this game but 25 GB is too much. And then you want me to download more, I have 10GB free space on my phone and still it’s not enough?! I’m so sad because I love this game so much it’s perfect in every way but it won’t let me play anymore without deleting everything else on my phone.

Umamusume: Pretty Derby has finally launched in the West to strong fan acclaim. While it remains a gacha game at its core, the content speaks for itself, and you do not need to rely on the gacha systems to enjoy it. With its engaging gameplay, heartfelt storytelling, and charming cast of characters, it’s a game that can easily keep you hooked for hours on end.

The game is so fun I play it every single day and even in my phone CANT stop playing,but the changes I want is increasing the chances of getting a three star and an SSR because I’ve been doing some ten pulls yet I got no SSR and no three star which pretty crazy,the gacha rates are really bad and it needs to be increased pls.i hope this can actually help out the gacha rates.

Well, I am loving this game because a lot of the umamusume actually really relate to what I do and my personality, even my zodiac sign is a horse, that’s cool right? But what makes this game even better is the character and main story’s, they are so emotional and thrilling, my personal favorite Umamusume is Oguri Cap, an Uma that loves eating (Watch Cinderella Gray) Just like I do. 

FAQs:

Q. What's a good card/deck for [uma]? For [distance]? For [running style]?

A. Check guides for detailed answers. General rules of thumb for URA scenario are: at least 2 speed cards; at least 1 wit card; long distance should have 2 stamina; medium distance should have at least 1 stamina. In the first month, don't worry about tailoring a deck towards a particular running style. But if you want to check if a support card fits your trainee uma's style, inspect their granted skills list, particularly the gold skill, and see if it matches the trainee's distance, aptitude, and/or surface. Cards that grant generic skills (distance/aptitude/style agnostic) are generally, but not always, considered better due to their versatility.

Q. 3 uma ticket. Where to find, who to use it on? Where is the random 3 ticket?

A. The pick ticket can be found in the shop. Use it on the uma you like the most that you don't already own. Random 3* ticket is granted after completing 7 days of missions. The random 3* will appear in the gacha banner section.

Q. What kind of a game is Umamusume? What should I expect in terms of gameplay?

A. Umamusume is a raising sim with a core gameplay loop of a deck-builder with roguelike elements. Using a deck of 6 Support Cards (1 borrowed from a friend/stranger), and inherited aptitudes and skills from two parent Umamusume, a new Umamusume is trained from scratch. Trained (aka Hall of Fame) umas are primarily used in daily PvP races (Team Stadium). Improving the quality of the Daily PvP team and achieving a high score will give you jewel/Carat rewards. This PvP mode is considered casual. The main competitive PvP mode is the monthly Champion's Meeting (CMs). In this mode, a team of 3 umas is assembled to race another team in a race with fixed racetrack, weather, condition, etc. Winning 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in CM grants players unique titles, Carats, and other rewards. There are multiple player pools for CM, so there is more than 1 winner; nevertheless, winning CM is difficult. There is no player input/control in races.

Q. How long do dailies take?

A. About 30 minutes. The main daily that takes time is "train 1 Umamusume."

Q. Rerolling: should I reroll? Is it easy?

A. Rerolling uma is easy, it takes two clicks. However, whether or not to reroll depends on player priorities. A casual player probably doesn't need to reroll, unless it's to get a release character they like. A competitive-focused player will probably reroll until they hit 2 (or more) good SSRs.

Q. How does cross-play work between the three platforms?

A. As long as an ID and link password are used, you can play between Steam, Android, and Apple devices without issue. However, premium currency purchased on apple will not show up in android (you don't lose the currency, it just can't be accessed).

Final Thoughts:

Umamusume: Pretty Derby continues to build on its unique blend of sports simulation and character-driven storytelling, offering a rich training system combined with stunning 3D race visuals. Players take on the role of a trainer guiding their favorite Umamusume through a demanding schedule of races, training sessions, and live performances. One of the community’s most discussed challenges lies in optimizing the balance between training intensity and maintaining the Umamusume’s motivation and condition.