{"id":120273,"date":"2026-03-27T15:08:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T15:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2026\/03\/27\/toronto-made-north-shore-explores-the-beauty-and-danger-of-skating-in-canadian-nature\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T15:09:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T15:09:44","slug":"toronto-made-north-shore-explores-the-beauty-and-danger-of-skating-in-canadian-nature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2026\/03\/27\/toronto-made-north-shore-explores-the-beauty-and-danger-of-skating-in-canadian-nature\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto-made North Shore explores the ‘beauty and danger’ of skating in Canadian nature"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Whereas hockey is a well-liked sport, particularly in Canada, there aren\u2019t many video video games that really characteristic ice skating as a central mechanic. Probably the most outstanding instance, after all, could be EA Vancouver\u2019s NHL <\/em>games<\/a>, however even then, they\u2019re relegated to the inflexible framework of enjoying hockey inside a rink.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a part of what makes North Shore\u00a0<\/em>so notable. The debut title from Toronto-based Ravine Studios<\/a> is a top-down skating recreation, placing gamers within the sneakers of a kid who explores the mysterious and exquisite titular expanse that\u2019s based mostly on Southern Ontario and Quebec landscapes.<\/p>\n

\"North<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an intriguing premise for a recreation, and it\u2019s one that pulls heavy inspiration from the Ontario upbringing of Ravine co-founder Nick Counter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI began skating once I was, like, three years previous, but it surely was at all times on ponds after which additionally [in] hockey rinks,\u201d says Counter, who grew up in numerous components of the province resulting from having household in each the Lake Huron and Rideau Lakes areas. \u201cI continued to skate ceaselessly, after which simply hung out in areas in nature, skating in nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it surely wasn\u2019t till he studied illustration at OCAD the place he realized he needed to do one thing creative that channelled his lifelong love of hockey and video video games. And after assembly programmer Dante Camarena at a tech firm a number of years in the past and dealing on a recreation referred to as Little Learning Machines<\/em><\/a>, they’d ultimately determine to department out and make one thing of their very own collectively.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe needed one other shot at attempting to make one thing [to make] the participant really feel and have this explicit expertise, and we wish to do it with integrity from starting to the tip,\u201d says Camarena. \u201cAnd with that in thoughts, that\u2019s how we ended up beginning the studio.\u201d<\/p>\n

As they seemed via Counter\u2019s previous sketchbooks, they each preferred an idea that he\u2019d had for a battle royale recreation involving skating and hockey sticks. However as they performed round with the precise mechanics of skating, they determined they might do one thing extra distinctive by pivoting to a extra exploration-centric gameplay loop that drew from Counter\u2019s experiences within the Canadian wilderness.<\/p>\n

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The Backdrop and prints on the sales space had been made by @seanislewis.bsky.social.<\/p>\n

[image or embed]<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 North Shore \u2013 Ravine Studios (@ravinestudios.ca<\/a>) January 15, 2026 at 4:38 PM<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve at all times been involved in skating, as a result of if you\u2019re on the ice, particularly at night time in these totally different locations out of town into the Canadian Defend \u2014 until you\u2019re a boater, which lots of people aren\u2019t \u2014 you don\u2019t see the panorama from this angle,\u201d says Counter. \u201cWe went with a top-down perspective for various causes, however simply seeing this sort of house that’s usually inaccessible with velocity is cool, as a result of it\u2019s like a secret place with velocity and confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Counter says the top-down view additionally affords the sport some novel presentational components.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis house permits for a lot as a result of we will take care of ice reflections. If it\u2019s completely reflective, you may be skating the clouds, mainly. If it\u2019s tough, then it\u2019s distorted. You even have the feel of the ice, after which you have got the transparency of the ice,\u201d he says. \u201cSo due to this angle, you possibly can see the whole lot under, probably, if we mean you can, after which the whole lot above, so that you truly are collapsing the peak right into a single layer, which was a giant inspiration for us early on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Via that POV, Ravine is pulling inspiration from most of the items of Canadian art work that Counter noticed as an OCAD pupil whereas visiting the Artwork Gallery of Ontario (AGO). Particularly, he says he was in awe over the \u201cnon secular\u201d high quality of Indigenous artwork and the works of artists just like the Group of Seven and Cornelius Krieghoff. \u201cI simply wish to be in that house on a regular basis, and so I made this recreation so I may be on the market extra<\/em>,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

He additionally credit a instructor whereas he was at OCAD, the Toronto-born, London, England-based painter Stephen Appleby-Barr<\/a>, for creating what he likens to \u201cCanadiana Dungeons & Dragons<\/em>\u201d that actually spoke to his nerdier pursuits. \u201cSeeing fantasy, which I really like a lot, and Canadiana, merged into these actually 10-foot tall oil work which can be lovely \u2014 that was the primary huge affect.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"North<\/p>\n

These creative influences, plus his experiences exploring Canadian nature, finally formed what Counter needed to seize in\u00a0North Shore.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cComing from a nerdy recreation childhood, minimalism is necessary in video games. It\u2019s truly a rendering model. And the work\u2019s already type of been achieved, and it\u2019s culturally related,\u201d says Counter. \u201cI adore it a lot. We see the Canadian panorama painted on the AGO and on the Nationwide Gallery and stuff. However I don\u2019t know what number of video games \u2014 there\u2019s a couple of of them \u2014 that seize that in the identical type of approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

The great previous skating recreation<\/h2>\n

However after all, it\u2019s not sufficient to only have a reasonably, painterly recreation \u2014 you need it to truly be entertaining to play. Curiously sufficient, Counter says one of many early inspirations for the \u201cenjoyable\u201d of North Shore\u00a0<\/em>got here from a maybe surprising supply: Mario Kart<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to work at a studio earlier than [Dante and I] met, the place each night time after we labored, we performed Mario Kart<\/em>, and we turned actually good \u2014 like execs, mainly,\u201d he says with amusing. \u201cAnd when it got here as much as the thought of [North<\/em> Shore<\/em>], we needed to make one thing quick and reactive.\u201d<\/p>\n

From there, Camarena would report Counter skating on the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) in Toronto to higher perceive the physics of his particular person actions, on high of finding out skating footage from different skilled references. \u201cI didn\u2019t know what crossovers are!\u201d admits Camarena, referring to the stroking technique<\/a> for gaining velocity whereas moving into a curve or circle.<\/p>\n

\"North<\/p>\n

\u201cShould you\u2019ve seen the Olympics not too long ago, a lot of the routines are simply managing weight, so we had been like, \u2018Ought to we management that?\u2019 There\u2019s a sure stage of complexity you possibly can handle, and I may see the complexities in it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cProper now within the demo individuals have been enjoying [at events like GDC], there\u2019s a button that allows you to flip backwards, and swiftly you\u2019re skating backwards, after which you possibly can flip forwards [\u2026] However then, you faucet the button, you begin spinning, after which the course you spin is determined by which approach you\u2019re going through or which approach you\u2019re turning. So all of it turns into this sort of fluid dance that’s bizarre for an journey recreation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, he realized that it was necessary to not simply concentrate on ahead momentum. \u201cIt\u2019s not like a automobile the place you\u2019re going ahead, or strolling, which simply appears like going ahead. Skating has this kick<\/em> to it, so within the demo, each time you press A, you kick. However then, if you happen to maintain A, you retain your foot up,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cControlling your acceleration with a single button was the early revelation,\u201d provides Counter.<\/p>\n

However carefree skating isn\u2019t the one a part of North Shore<\/em>. The sport\u2019s official description mentions \u201cscenes of pure magnificence and hazard,\u201d which Camarena breaks right down to emotions of roughly \u201c80 per cent cozy, 20 per cent horror.\u201d In direction of the tip of the trailer, you may get a glimpse at that because the participant should fend off mysterious enemies with a looking rifle. This feeds into a bigger story that Ravine isn\u2019t fairly prepared to speak about. However the overarching concept behind all of it, Camarena explains, comes from an \u201ccompletely terrifying portray\u201d that he discovered whereas trying via Counter\u2019s portfolio.<\/p>\n

\"North<\/p>\n

\u201cIt speaks to a few of these tales that [Nick\u2019s] been telling about being out within the woods, and enjoying with your mates, and so they\u2019re enjoying with sticks, possibly swords or no matter, and one child factors the stick on the different child, and \u2018Bam!\u2019 After which the portray itself exhibits the opposite child on the bottom. There are issues we do as children which can be darkish,\u201d says Camarena.<\/p>\n

He likens this to biking round within the streets of Mexico as a boy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel that\u2019s a common expertise; if you\u2019re a child, the world feels secure, and there are locations you discover, and swiftly, issues shift as an grownup. All of the locations you had been left alone in as a child are very scary,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd never solely that, the best way you and your mates possibly performed throughout that point \u2014 was that actually that secure? The environments you had been in \u2014 had been they actually that secure?\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The purpose, Camarena notes, was to discover the \u201cinherent brutality\u201d behind the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a deep darkness within the Canadian house that\u2019s very distinctive. It\u2019s not simply the darkness of nature, however there\u2019s a historical past of the best way that this house has been developed over time,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd a part of that may be a very human darkness. And having the ability to contact on a few of that is essential. There\u2019s issue there, however we\u2019re attempting to hit it in the correct approach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

North Shore\u00a0<\/em>doesn\u2019t but have a launch date, however you possibly can wishlist the sport on Steam<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Picture credit score: North Shore<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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