For those who enjoy games like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater or SKATE but don't really care for the story and just want to hop in and skate for a bit, The Ramp is a perfect game. Developed by Hyperparadise, The Ramp's description on its Steam Page simply describes it as a "digital toy for skateboard loving people. Pure flow, no extra fluff." The concept is simple, the design is beautiful, and it delivers exactly what it promises.
The Ramp features four playable stages that are small and self-contained, choosing to embrace an isometric design style that causes the floating stages to feel like the mini-skate parks made for Tech Decks or the arenas used for Beyblades. The character selection, level design, gameplay loop, and soundtrack all embrace simplicity which allows players to quickly jump right into the seamless gameplay.
Much like its design principles, gameplay in The Ramp is simple as well. Hyperparadise encourages players to use a controller because the two thumbsticks, top right trigger, and "A" button are all that's used to play; also keep in mind that the button layout is designed for Xbox controllers but a PlayStation controller works just fine. The left thumbstick is used to control the direction of the skater and "A" is used to pump, which is the term used for the squatting motion skaters perform when going up or down inclines. Doing these at the right time will provide the speed needed to launch into the air, allowing players to then play with either thumbstick to spin and perform tricks before coming down. That right trigger is used to perform grinds which will also provide more speed.
Players can chill out and skate on four distinct stages: a half-pipe, a pool, a bowl, and a mega-ramp. Unlike what players may initially assume, none of these stages represent an increase or decrease in difficulty; they simply give players something new to interact with. If players want more difficulty, there is a hardcore mode that requires players to make sure they land correctly as the game will not help in any way. Other than that, The Ramp has nothing to unlock and no missions to complete.
The only tricky thing about The Ramp is the ability to accurately predict what direction the skater will go. This is due to playing on isometric stages that obscure whether the player has gone too far to the right or left, as well as the skater's direction being based on where the front and back of their body is oriented. This means that turning the stick to the right will not always make the skater turn right, so players need to be aware of what direction their skater is facing and adjust accordingly.
Overall, The Ramp is exactly what it says it is. It's designed from the ground up to entertain its players with a simple gameplay loop that can be enjoyed for a couple minutes or a couple hours. That simplicity not only makes it easy to pop in and out of, but its mechanics are incredibly addicting, and setting personal challenges becomes most of the fun. Given its low price and the hours of fun it provides, The Ramp is absolutely worth picking up and dropping into whenever one gets the urge to shred.
The Ramp is currently available for PC via Steam. Screen Rant was provided with a digital Steam Key for the purpose of this review.