The Ramp Review

Do a Kickflip

The most interesting thing about The Ramp is not its simplicity, its focus on momentum and inertia, but that there is no scoring system at all. Pull off a 1080, and no numbers will pop-up on screen rewarding you for this feat; though there is a dry confirmation of the number of your rotations. Combine it with a nosegrab, or roll into a grind, and no combo meter will cheer you on.

This lack of a reward system encourages creativity and progression in a way both more satisfying and profound than validation does. The sort of creativity it fosters, that of self-expression, is also much more in line with the roots of skateboarding, or the attitude you are likely to find at the local skate park. There are no medals to be won, no competition, merely the opportunity to improve one’s craft and express oneself creatively.

Indeed, the more I play The Ramp, the more interested I become in discovering new lines through the two swimming pools, or the best way to try and gain air in the half-pipe or mega ramp—not because I want to get a bigger score, but because these things are enjoyable and satisfying in and of themselves.

This satisfaction is due not only to the wonderfully freeform structure and framing of the gameplay, but the gameplay mechanics themselves. Gaining enough momentum for big jumps requires a constant shifting of body weight, bending and straightening out the knees in what becomes a meditative rhythm which makes the transition between each jump just as interesting as the jumps themselves. Of course, a string of big airs in a row is still a joyful experience in and of itself.

The sound of wheels rolling over the ground is as rich as the grinding of gravel beneath one’s feet, and the wheels kissing the lip of the ramp on take-off or landing is like biting into a crunchy apple. This tactility is the only artifice in The Ramp, but it is a welcome aesthetic expression of the unguided simplicity of the skating experience.

The ramp is not only a unique, incredibly clever take on the skateboarding genre, it’s also one that captures the spirit of skateboarding in a way that is sometimes easy to lose track of now that there are medals awarded for it in the Olympics as well a million different ways to turn it into a career or a product. The ramp, of course, is itself just such a product—but it is one which was made with love, joy and reverence for its subject.