''Slime Rancher'' is a first-person

life simulation Life simulation games form a subgenre of simulation video games in which the player lives or controls one or more virtual characters (human or otherwise). Such a game can revolve around "individuals and relationships, or it could be a simulation ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

video game developed and published by American indie studio Monomi Park. The game was released as an

early access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alph ...

title in January 2016, with an official release on

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Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, w ...

and

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on August 1, 2017. A PlayStation 4 version was released on August 21, 2018, and a Nintendo Switch version was released on August 11, 2021. A DLC named 'Slime Rancher: Secret Style Pack' was released on June 18, 2019 which added additional cosmetic appearances. A sequel, '' Slime Rancher 2'', was released in

on September 22, 2022, for

and

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. A feature film adaptation is also in development.

Gameplay

The game is played in an open world and from a

first-person perspective A first-person narrative is a mode of storytelling in which a storyteller recounts events from their own point of view using the first person It may be narrated by a first-person protagonist (or other focal character), first-person re-teller ...

. The player controls a character named Beatrix LeBeau, a rancher who moves to a planet far from

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

called the Far Far Range to live the life of a "

slime Slime may refer to: Biology * Slime mold, a broad term often referring to roughly six groups of Eukaryotes * Biofilm, an aggregate of microorganisms in which cells adhere to each other and/or to a surface * Slimy (fish), also known as the pony ...

rancher", which consists of constructing her ranch and exploring the world of the Far Far Range in order to collect, raise, feed, and breed slimes. Slimes are

gelatinous Gelatin or gelatine (from la, gelatus meaning "stiff" or "frozen") is a translucent, colorless, flavorless food ingredient, commonly derived from collagen taken from animal body parts. It is brittle when dry and rubbery when moist. It may also ...

living organisms of various sizes and characteristics. To progress she has notes left by the former owner of the ranch that help her on her journey through the Far Far Range. The game's main economic aspect revolves around feeding slimes the appropriate food items so that they produce "plorts", which can then be sold in exchange for Newbucks, which can be used to purchase upgrades to the rancher's equipment or farm buildings. Except for the basic pink slime, slimes will only eat one of the three types of food;

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

veggie Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

, and meat. Slimes have a favorite food, if they eat this food they will produce double the normal number of plorts. The player moves the character around a variety of environments and can collect slimes, food items, and plorts by sucking them up with their vacuum tool (called a "Vacpack", a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsvacuum A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective ''vacuus'' for "vacant" or " void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressure. Physicists often di ...

and

backpack A backpack—also called knapsack, schoolbag, rucksack, rucksac, pack, sackpack, booksack, bookbag or backsack—is, in its simplest frameless form, a fabric sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders ...

). They can only store a limited number of items and item types at a time and must go back to their ranch to unload their collected items before being able to collect more. The player must buy and upgrade various enclosures to house their collected slimes and farms for storing their food. Upgrades can also be aesthetic upgrades to the character's home, Vacpack, and the ranch itself. Two types of slimes can be combined and enlarged by feeding a slime a plort from another species, making them noticeably larger, combining their physical characteristics, and allowing them to produce two plorts when fed, one plort of each of their base slimes. These hybrid slimes are known as "Largos". However, if a Largo slime consumes a plort different from either species of slime it is made of, it becomes an aggressive malevolent black slime called the "Tarr", which devours all other slimes around it as well as being able to damage the player. The player can pump fresh water from ponds and springs to splash and disintegrate the Tarrs. There are different kinds of slimes in the game, which all differ from small traits like simple ears, wings, and tails, to the ability to teleport or grab a chicken via a vine that emerges from the ground. Some of the types of slimes available in game include, docile (not feral), harmful, non-farmable, and feral. Most slimes also have a Gordo version of themselves. These Gordos are extremely large and cannot move around like regular or Largo slimes. These are found across the Far Far Range. Players can shoot food items at them until they explode, to gain normal versions of the Gordo slime's species. When exploded they also produce crates containing random loot as well as either a teleporter or "slime key" which allow access to new areas or fast-travel between known areas.

Development

Development of ''Slime Rancher'' started in Popovich's apartment. As Popovich was an artist and designer rather than a programmer, he relied on other people's code to create a prototype of the game. He eventually enlisted technical director Mike Thomas to help with the programming. They worked on the game for eight hours a day, a practice Popovich used with employees of Monomi Park to avoid crunch. The game was initially due to enter

after a year, but was delayed by six months.

Reception

The Early Access version of the ''Slime Rancher'' received generally positive reviews. Heather Alexandra from Kotaku noticed some bugs, but gave the game a positive review, saying that "I'm not usually a fan of games with catharsis but when I return to my bright and goofy farm at the end of the day? I can't help but smile as wide as my slimy little friends." Steve Neilsen from Games Mojo awarded it 4.5 out of 5 stars, stating that "''Slime Rancher'' is fun and addictive game, with a fun premise and cute creatures. The cartoon style graphics look amazing, and gameplay is clever and full of cute." The full release of the game got a score of 81/100 on

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, with reviewers saying it had the ability to keep you hooked for hours. Reviewers also said it was relaxing and cathartic, but quite repetitive, and successfully taps into the addictive nature of farming simulators. By May 2017, the game had sold over 800,000 copies. By February 28, 2019, the game had sold 2 million copies. By January 13, 2022, the game had sold over 5 million copies. In ''

Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...

''s Reader's Choice Best of 2017 Awards, the game tied in third place along with '' Forza Motorsport 7'' for "Best Microsoft Game", while it came in second place for "Best Simulation Game". The website also gave it the award for the latter category in their Best of 2017 Awards.

Accolades

Film adaptation

In August 2023, ''Deadline'' reported that a film adaptation of the video game was in the works within

Derek Kolstad Derek Kolstad (born April 4, 1974) is an American screenwriter and film producer. He is the creator of the ''John Wick'' franchise, which began in 2014. He continued to write for the first two sequels of the franchise and is mainly known as a s ...

, Dmitri M. Johnson, and Mike Goldberg's Story Kitchen.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Video games 2017 video games Early access video games Biological simulation video games Linux games MacOS games Open-world video games PlayStation 4 games Single-player video games Video games about evolution Video games developed in the United States Video games featuring female protagonists Video games set on fictional planets Windows games Xbox Cloud Gaming games Xbox One games Xbox Play Anywhere games Nintendo Switch games First-person adventure games Science fiction video games Farming video games Indie games Skybound Games games