A couple days ago, I sold a friend a piece of art in exchange for Slime Rancher. I've known about the game for some time- various YouTubers I watch have played, and it's always been interesting. I've tried to avoid seeing anything past the first couple of days though- as of writing this post, I've played around 3 hours (half alone, and half with my friend watching)- so I'll only be talking about the early game today.
Something about the game really pulls the player in. It's got a very cutesy, cartooney art style- not just the graphics, but the sound design too. Everything about the game is just so cheerful and happy- even the main threat, the tarrs, look like something straight out of a children's cartoon. At this point, I'm convinced even a hardened criminal would have trouble denying that a Tabby Slime, for example, is adorable.
The game also has one of the most dangerous mechanics a game can have (for me at least)- a large number of creatures that you can discover and read about as you go. I don't know why this is so appealing to me, but there are multiple flash games that I've played through multiple times just for this feature (Radical Fishing and Amorphous+, to name two). Funnily enough, it actually has a second feature that draws me in- the ability to mix those creatures together. It's a pretty simple system admittedly- from what I've seen, it keeps the colour of one creature and the "accessories" of both (cat ears, butterfly wings, rock shards, etc.). Either way, that's a dangerous combination of features, as either one is reason enough for me to play a game.
It's kinda interesting really- the two main genres of this game are essentially farming and exploring, and compared to something like Stardew Valley, it honestly doesn't do either especially well. The weird thing is, that doesn't actually feel like an issue. Exploring basically consists of buying a new piece of land, then walking around (or sometimes platforming) until you've been through it all. Usually, all you find is a Gordo Slime, a few treasure pods (which I have no idea how to open), and maybe a locked door. It still feels rewarding though, for those few times you find a new species of slime, or a new biome. I'm still excited to see what else there is to find, and I don't feel I've been everywhere I can, even just in the areas I've unlocked. The actual farming (or more accurately, ranching) part of the game isn't all that interesting either, really- you just throw food into the cages, pick up plorts and sell them- but there are upgrades to automate much of the process, so if it were too inconvenient, I could easily change that.
To summarise my thoughts about this game: it's very good-looking, and very easy to get sucked in to. It does get a bit dull around the hour-and-a-half mark (I've played exactly twice, for about 90 minutes each time), but that could very well just be me, since I get the same with most games I play alone. Fortunately, it's not the sort of dull where I think "I'm tired of this game"- it's more along the lines of "I've had enough for now". I'm still very interested to see what else the game has to offer, considering I've still only discovered maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of the slimes in the game.
Anyways, hopefully you enjoyed this post! If you've been considering getting this game, I would recommend it, especially if you can get it on sale.
