V5 Ravipeli

V5 Ravipeli is a Finnish betting simulation for DOS built around harness racing – practically a national sport in Finland – and the local V5 tote betting system. The player wagers money on horses and, depending on how the races turn out, either wins or loses.

The period blurb reveals a quirky economic layer: you can carry your winnings around in your pocket, where they are "dangerously exposed to robbers and other hazards", or deposit them in a bank, where they are safer and even earn interest – though, the author hints, no bank is entirely safe either. This dry humour is typical of the Finnish homebrew games of the 1990s, distributed over BBS boards and still largely invisible to international retro sites.

The game is in Finnish, but the betting loop is easy to grasp. V5 Ravipeli runs right in your browser on OldGame.cz.