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SLIME RANCHER (PS4)
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Publisher: Skybound Games.
Developer: Monomi Park. Released: August 2018. Genre: Farming. Other versions: XONE; SWI; PC. Posted 28th March 2025. By Tom Clare © 2025 |
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Have you ever dreamt of running a farm, tending to adorable slimes and exploring the fascinating and occasionally hair-raising sci-fi lands that surround it? I’d be surprised if you’d ever considered so specific a fate, but for those creative souls among you who have, Slime Rancher is the game for you. Mixing farming, first-person adventuring and a light dusting of management, Monomi Park’s effort proves an unusual and endearing success.
Heading out from her farm on a faraway planet, Beatrix LeBeau can capture and raise a kaleidoscope of slimes found in the wilderness beyond her ranch. Initially, you’ll discover ultra-common types, including Pink, Rock, Tabby and, at night time, Phosphor slimes. These deposit distinct ‘plorts’ (crystal-like secretions) when fed an item matching their culinary tastes: either fruit, veggies or meat. Plorts can be sold for Newbucks which, you guessed it, can then be spent expanding your farm and improving its amenities. As you’d expect from a farming title, you’ll need to forage and then grow food, as well as establish coops for the various hens, chicks and roosters.
Slime Rancher's colourful world is inviting fun to explore, packed as it is with unexpected treats and hazards
The stars of the show are the slimes themselves. When one slime consumes the plort of another, it morphs into a combination of the two called a Largo, that is then capable of depositing both kinds of plort. As you might expect, breeding all manner of combinations is a delight, not least because there are so many different behavioural quirks and cosmetic changes that result. Venture further afield, and you’ll discover more exotic (and often more hazardous) slimes, as things become steadily more fascinating.
With some, you’ll need to tread carefully. Rad slimes emit a harmful radiation field, Boom slimes cause localised explosions when agitated and Fire slimes will scald Beatrix if she gets too close. Then there are the more actively dangerous types: stealth-camouflaged Hunter slimes and combative, fanged Saber slimes should be actively avoided (or vacuumed!). Some seemingly docile slimes can be a risk to your farm: Quantum slimes can teleport outside their pens and go walkabout when hungry, whilst Tangle slimes have a nasty habit of sending shoots through the earth and capturing errant food and plorts left carelessly unattended.
With some, you’ll need to tread carefully. Rad slimes emit a harmful radiation field, Boom slimes cause localised explosions when agitated and Fire slimes will scald Beatrix if she gets too close. Then there are the more actively dangerous types: stealth-camouflaged Hunter slimes and combative, fanged Saber slimes should be actively avoided (or vacuumed!). Some seemingly docile slimes can be a risk to your farm: Quantum slimes can teleport outside their pens and go walkabout when hungry, whilst Tangle slimes have a nasty habit of sending shoots through the earth and capturing errant food and plorts left carelessly unattended.
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Why would this be a problem, I hear you ask? The answer is one of gaming’s most brilliant adversaries: the Tarr. These chilling, destructive, memorably awful creations are the result of a Largo consuming a third plort, different to the two that formed it. Instantly, your smiley benign slime turns into a coal-coloured monstrosity with demonic, rainbow eyes. They’ll actively attack the player, but it’s what they do to poor defenceless slimes that’s of greater concern. Accidentally create a Tarr in one of your pens, and the rest of your slimes are lambs to the slaughter, at risk of being assimilated. Whilst these ruinous slimes can be battled with a jet of water, left unchecked they can spread like a virus, eradicating large chunks of your lovingly-cultivated slime population in no time at all. Adding further to their marvellous mythos is a gentle but incredibly ominous guitar strand that starts up whenever a Tarr breakout is occurring (a reasonably regular occurrence in the wild), in tandem with their creepy glugging sound effect. Brr. It makes the blood run cold just thinking about them!
Collecting a full repertoire of slimes is not only a fun pursuit but immensely rewarding. Different plorts open up new paths and secret ruins, whilst there’s a gigantic array of hidden chests that house all manner of upgrades and goodies. Whilst most of your time will be spent feeding and tending to your slime populace, you’ll look forward to these ventures, where Beatrix is granted freedom to explore. It’s a relaxing title for the most part, but also a major time-sink, addictive enough that you’ll play for hours at time.
Collecting a full repertoire of slimes is not only a fun pursuit but immensely rewarding. Different plorts open up new paths and secret ruins, whilst there’s a gigantic array of hidden chests that house all manner of upgrades and goodies. Whilst most of your time will be spent feeding and tending to your slime populace, you’ll look forward to these ventures, where Beatrix is granted freedom to explore. It’s a relaxing title for the most part, but also a major time-sink, addictive enough that you’ll play for hours at time.
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Slime Rancher’s cute, plump and abundantly colourful art style is a triumph. It’s always a joy seeing tonnes of slimes frolicking around. There are plenty of places to spot them, too. Mines, hilly climbs, a forest, ancient ruins and a bunch of hidden islands all hide a multitude of secrets and interesting geographical features. Feeding slimes is super-satisfying, and some of the vegetation designs are inspired. Cuberries (essentially square strawberries), mint mangoes and phase lemons (dimension-shifting lemons favoured by Quantum slimes) are just a few of the many highlights. There are even a couple of side ventures that allow Beatrix to acquire new farms. One involves zapping Quicksilver slimes against the clock, whilst the other sees the player locating a fruit unique to the wilds, with the catch that they’re scattered around a dangerous area populated by feral slime variants.
Whilst incredibly immersive and memorable, a few quibbles deny Slime Rancher classic status. The ending, after such a colourful, heady journey of toil and discovery, is undeniably a bit of a non-entity. Whilst there’s still lots to amuse yourself with post-completion, the game’s unlockables soon give way to cosmetics which, whilst briefly amusing, add little to the experience. Those looking for the social minutiae or seasonal variety of Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon may be a little disappointed at the remoteness of the community aspect. Beatrix can tackle quests via a communicator and also receives periodic letters, but these are uninspired, and most of the characters fail to leave a lasting impact. The day/night cycle is the game’s sole measure of evolution, and strangely, it isn’t ever necessary for Beatrix to turn in for the night, save if you wish to move the clock around to 6am.
Whilst incredibly immersive and memorable, a few quibbles deny Slime Rancher classic status. The ending, after such a colourful, heady journey of toil and discovery, is undeniably a bit of a non-entity. Whilst there’s still lots to amuse yourself with post-completion, the game’s unlockables soon give way to cosmetics which, whilst briefly amusing, add little to the experience. Those looking for the social minutiae or seasonal variety of Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon may be a little disappointed at the remoteness of the community aspect. Beatrix can tackle quests via a communicator and also receives periodic letters, but these are uninspired, and most of the characters fail to leave a lasting impact. The day/night cycle is the game’s sole measure of evolution, and strangely, it isn’t ever necessary for Beatrix to turn in for the night, save if you wish to move the clock around to 6am.
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The Tarr will haunt you, and ensure you're always listening out for a tell-tale change in the music
The PS4 version suffers instances of significant slowdown, suggesting poor optimisation. The Moss Blanket (a forest) sees the action slowing to a crawl, whilst rampant slime spawning has a detrimental effect on performance and even proximity to Rad slimes causes problems. Slowdown is also a problem when the player climbs especially high with the jetpack. The views and potential for exploration is awesome, but it does result in some noticeable lag.
In the end, though, these blemishes shouldn’t dissuade players from playing this excellent farming adventure. There’s easily 40 hours worth of gameplay to be squeezed from Slime Rancher. Wisely, it doesn’t expend too much energy on storytelling, instead employing dialogues sparingly and effectively, allowing its enchanting, feature-packed world to craft an experience unlike any other. Great music, excellent mechanics and addictive gameplay ensure this lengthy endeavour is worth throwing yourself into, especially if you enjoyed Stardew Valley.
In the end, though, these blemishes shouldn’t dissuade players from playing this excellent farming adventure. There’s easily 40 hours worth of gameplay to be squeezed from Slime Rancher. Wisely, it doesn’t expend too much energy on storytelling, instead employing dialogues sparingly and effectively, allowing its enchanting, feature-packed world to craft an experience unlike any other. Great music, excellent mechanics and addictive gameplay ensure this lengthy endeavour is worth throwing yourself into, especially if you enjoyed Stardew Valley.
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VERDICT"Some performance issues aside, Slime Rancher is a bright, fun and personable farming adventure that, when it gets its claws into you, proves deceptively addictive." OVERALL: 8/10 |
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WipEout 2097 (1996, PlayStation)
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Mirror's Edge (2008, Xbox 360)
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