Session: Skate Sim – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

Session: Skate Sim

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

game2022

69%

WISE Score

57%

IGDB

Brutally realistic skateboarding sim that teaches perseverance through pain—and occasional profanity.

Session: Skate Sim

game

2022

69%

WISE Score

57%

IGDB

Brutally realistic skateboarding sim that teaches perseverance through pain—and occasional profanity.

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Screenwise Verdict

Session is the Dark Souls of skateboarding games—punishingly difficult, deeply rewarding, and absolutely not for everyone.

If your teen is into skate culture or wants to understand what it actually takes to master a kickflip, this is gold. The dual-stick control system is brilliant and frustrating in equal measure, teaching genuine perseverance and motor coordination. The fact that there's zero monetization nonsense is genuinely refreshing in 2022.

But let's be real: this game is boring as hell if you're not already invested in skateboarding. And the language/drug references mean it's firmly in teen territory. The presence of racial slurs in user-created content is concerning, though not pervasive.

Bottom line: This is a meditation on practice and self-improvement disguised as a skateboarding game. Great for the right kid, unwatchable for everyone else.

Age Fit

Best for teens 13+ who are genuinely interested in skateboarding culture and have the patience for a steep learning curve. The T rating is appropriate given the language and drug references that come with authentic skate culture representation.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

Session captures authentic skate culture—the grind, the creativity, the perseverance—without glamorizing recklessness. However, the game includes profanity in custom designs (including the n-word), drug references, and suggestive themes that reflect real skate culture but aren't exactly family-friendly. The tone is more 'real street skating' than 'sanitized sports game,' which works for teens but isn't squeaky clean.

Imaginative

This is a genuine creativity sandbox for skate nerds. The dual-stick control system (each stick controls one foot) is wildly original and demands players actually learn to skate virtually. It's about self-expression, line creation, and mastering tricks through experimentation—no objectives, no scores, just you and the board. The early 90s/2000s aesthetic and focus on personal style over competition is refreshingly different from typical sports games.

Safe

ESRB rated T for Teen (language, drug references, suggestive themes). The game has users interact online but no in-game purchases, loot boxes, or predatory monetization—that's genuinely good. However, the presence of profanity including racial slurs in user-created designs is concerning, and drug references reflect authentic skate culture but aren't appropriate for younger kids. No infinite loops or compulsive mechanics; this is a pure skill-building sim.

Enriching

Session teaches genuine perseverance and motor skill development. The learning curve is brutal—you'll fail hundreds of times before landing a clean kickflip—which builds grit and patience. It's a meditation on practice, creativity, and self-improvement without external validation. That said, it's extremely niche and won't teach broader life skills beyond 'hard work pays off.' The entertainment value is high for skate enthusiasts but near-zero for anyone else.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

Authentic skate culture experience that respects the craft—no arcade nonsense, just real physics and creativity
Dual-stick controls (one foot per stick) create a genuine learning curve that builds motor skills and patience
Zero monetization garbage: no microtransactions, no loot boxes, no battle passes—just skating
Encourages self-expression and personal goal-setting without external rewards or competition pressure
Perfect for teens interested in skateboarding who want to understand what it actually takes to land tricks

⚠

What to Watch For

Language and drug references reflect real skate culture—including profanity (n-word) in some user-created designs
Extremely frustrating for beginners: expect to bail hundreds of times before landing basic tricks
Online interaction means exposure to other players' content, which isn't moderated heavily
Super niche appeal—if your kid isn't into skateboarding, they'll find this incredibly boring

Conversation Starters

"What's the hardest trick you've been trying to land? How does it feel when you finally get it?"
"Do you think this game makes skateboarding look easier or harder than you thought it was?"
"What do you like about creating your own lines versus following objectives in other games?"
"Have you seen any inappropriate designs or language while playing online? How did you handle it?"

Deep Dive

The "Dual Stick" hurdle

If your kid grew up on arcade-style titles where you press a single button to execute a perfect 360-flip, Session is going to feel like learning a foreign language. It’s a simulator in the truest sense. The control scheme assigns one thumbstick to the left foot and the other to the right foot. To do a trick, you have to physically mimic the "flick" of the board. It is counterintuitive, awkward, and—for the first three hours—infuriating.

This is the central friction of the game. Most skateboarding games are about power fantasies and high scores. Session is about the "line"—that specific sequence of tricks a skater envisions before they even drop in. There are no points, no combos, and no cheering crowds. It’s just a kid and a curb. If your teen doesn't have the patience to fail at the same set of stairs for forty minutes, they will bounce off this immediately. But for the kid who actually skates, this is the only game that respects the process of the sport.

Authenticity vs. the "T" rating

The "T for Teen" rating here isn't just about a few stray swear words; it’s a reflection of the 90s and early 2000s skate culture the developers are obsessed with. The world feels lived-in, slightly grimy, and unapologetically raw. You’ll see references to drug culture and hear plenty of profanity in the soundtrack and dialogue.

"Session's primary goal is to make you experience what skateboarding really is... achieving success through hard work, perseverance and bits of madness."

The biggest "watch out" for parents isn't the built-in content, but the user-generated side. While the game is largely a solo experience, the ability to see content or designs from other players means you might run into racial slurs or edgy imagery that the small dev team at Crea-ture Studios isn't always quick to scrub. It’s a "skate park" vibe—you’re going to hear and see things that aren't exactly PG.

Is this the right "shred"?

If you’re looking for a family-friendly afternoon on the couch, this isn't it. You’re better off checking out the best skateboard games for kids on Nintendo Switch and Xbox for something like OlliOlli World, which offers a much friendlier learning curve.

Session is for the specialist. It’s for the teen who watches skate parts on YouTube and wants to understand the physics of a grind. It’s a niche title with a polarizing IGDB score (sitting in the high 50s), which tells you everything you need to know: critics who wanted a "game" were frustrated, while players who wanted a "tool" found their holy grail.

If your kid is already obsessed with the technical side of the sport, this is the best skateboard video game for teaching them that "landing it" is a reward that has to be earned through genuine focus and muscle memory. Just be prepared for them to spend their first week staring at a digital sidewalk in total frustration.

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