If you’ve been waiting for the weirdest, most atmospheric skateboarding game in existence, your patience has finally paid off. Skate Story — the surreal, hellish, and strangely beautiful indie skate ‘em up from developer Sam Eng — is officially out now across multiple platforms, and it’s already being hailed as something far beyond a traditional sports title.
What Is Skate Story?
Imagine this: You’re a demon made of glass and pain, trapped in the Underworld. The Devil hands you a skateboard and offers a simple deal:
skate to the Moon and swallow it. That’s the premise of
Skate Story, a game that blends skateboarding mechanics with cosmic horror, existential dread, and a heavy dose of psychedelic weirdness.
It’s not just a skate game. It’s a
journey through a grotesque, shifting underworld, where grinding on rails feels like a ritual, and every trick is a step closer to some apocalyptic, moon-eating climax. The tone is dark, poetic, and deeply strange — think
Katamari Damacy meets
Hellblade with a punk skateboard twist.
Out Now on Multiple Platforms
Skate Story launched
day-and-date across PC (via Steam), PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2, according to the game’s official site and coverage from outlets like PC Gamer and Nintendo World Report. The Switch 2 release is particularly notable, positioning
Skate Story as one of the early standout titles for Nintendo’s next-gen console.
Players can now:
-
Wishlist and buy on Steam- Play on PS5 with optimized controls and visuals
- Experience the game on Switch 2 at launch
The game’s long development cycle — over five years since its initial reveal — seems to have paid off in spades, with critics praising its
tight, weighty skating mechanics and the way it evolves from a grounded skate sim into something far more cosmic and surreal.
Critics Are Calling It a Masterpiece
In a glowing review,
PC Gamer described
Skate Story as
“on an altogether different tier of audiovisual and presentational ambition.” The publication noted that the game starts as a thoughtful, almost meditative skate experience, but in its final act, it
“becomes a cosmic force with biblical-scale intensity.”Key points from early coverage:
- Skating feels
heavy, momentum-based, and deeply satisfying- Trick system uses
button combinations before popping into the air, making combos a matter of timing and rhythm rather than button mashing
- The game’s
closing sequence is being called one of the most ambitious and intense finales in recent indie gaming
- The tone is
occultic, poetic, and deeply weird — more art game than arcade skate sim
Why It Took So Long
Sam Eng, the game’s creator, has been working on
Skate Story largely solo, and that shows in the game’s obsessive attention to detail. The way the skater and board interact with the environment — the
weight, the momentum, the way tricks chain together — feels like the result of years of iteration.
As
PC Gamer put it:
“I could feel how much of that time was invested in capturing the weight and momentum of The Skater and their board.” That craftsmanship is what turns what could’ve been a novelty into a
genuinely compelling, almost spiritual skate experience.
What Players Should Expect
If you’re going in expecting
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, you’re in for a shock.
Skate Story is:
-
Slow-burn and atmospheric, not arcadey
- Heavy on
mood, music, and visual storytellingBut for players who love games that
push boundaries — both mechanically and thematically —
Skate Story is shaping up to be one of the most unique releases of the year.
The Bigger Picture
Skate Story’s release is also a win for
indie developers taking big creative risks. In an era where many games chase live-service models and endless content,
Skate Story is a tightly crafted, self-contained experience that
doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Its simultaneous launch on Switch 2 also signals that Nintendo is serious about supporting
bold, experimental titles on its new hardware. If
Skate Story is any indication, the Switch 2 era could be a golden age for weird, artistic games.
Should You Play It?
If you’re into:
-
Atmospheric, story-driven games-
Unique takes on familiar genres-
Games that feel like art or poetry-
Skateboarding with a side of existential dreadThen yes —
Skate Story is absolutely worth your time. It’s not just a skate game. It’s a
demon’s pilgrimage through hell on a skateboard, and it’s finally here.
Sources
1. Skate Story | Out NOW!
2. Skate Story review
3. Skate Story (Switch 2) Review
