Skate Story review: a fine skating game with a big message about art

First announced in 2022, Skate Story is the brainchild of New York–based game designer Sam Eng, the creator of the arcade shooter Zarvot and a 2024 recipient of the Chanel Next Prize. It doesn’t look like any other skateboarding game on the market. It doesn’t look like any other game, period. These stylized visuals — a world of glass and diamond, wherein all primary colors seem filtered through a prism — have helped Skate Story gain a lot of buzz in the independent games scene over the past few years. Following two delays, it now arrives in the twilight of 2025 as one of the more anticipated indie games of the year.