Platform: PC

Developer: Monomi Park

Publisher: Monomi Park

Release Date: January 14th, 2016

Genre: Simulation, Action, Adventure, Indie

Nerd Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Home, Sweet Home!

I’ve always dreamed of raising a bunch of sentient slime blobs on a faraway planet! With Slime Rancher that dream is realized! You are the brand new rancher of the Far Far Range. Beatrix LeBeau is your name, raising slimes for Newbucks is your game! You must venture out into the vast wilderness, collect the various species of slimes and corral them, feed the slimes and make money.

Controls are very simple. The tutorials are very straightforward, and easy to follow. You get used to them quickly. There’s a lot of open space for you to work with as well, and you get to prioritize whatever you want right from the get-go! A very beautiful part of this game is that you get to decide what you want to work on first.

The music in the game is catchy and cute. It suits the overall atmosphere of the game. I found myself humming along quite a few times already!

There are many species of slime to collect and understand. With time and perseverance, you will need to find and corral at least a few of each kind to maximize profits! They are as follows:

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  Totes adorbes!

  Pink Slime: These joyous little blobs will eat just about anything! They are the most basic of slimes. A great first step for any new rancher.

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  Pointy

  Rock Slime: These blue, rocky slimes are herbivores by themselves, specifically veggies. Watch out for their rambunctious behavior and pointy edges!

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  Absolute cutest!

  Tabby Slime: A little grey slime, resembling a cat! These little ones are just the cutest! Fill their bellies with chickens. When you feed them, there’s a chance it might boop your nose. (Psst! There’s an achievement for that!)

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  Perfect nightlight

  Phosphor Slime: Little light blue slimes, resembling a sort of firefly, as they have wings and they glow. Sensitive to the light, they only come out at night. They love fruit, so have plenty waiting for them!

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  I do WHAT?!

  Boom Slime: Their names say it all, does it not? They explode at – what seems to be – completely random times! This is dangerous, but profit does not come to those who won’t take risks. Give them meat to keep them happy.

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  Best smelling slime

  Honey Slime: Only the sweetest (and stickiest…), fruit loving slimes around! They are easily found in a field of flowers. They are harmless by nature, but the surrounding environment they live in is less friendly.

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  Daw! So cute!

  Hunter Slime: A cousin to the Tabby Slime, these wild looking cat slimes can turn invisible! The only thing giving them away is their eyes, in many cases. This makes hunting for their prey easy for them.

• 

  *blurbles*

  Puddle Slime: Adorable and low maintenance, the Puddle Slime lives in bodies of water, but not the sea. Their diet is also water,so they often feed themselves. These little guys are pretty profitable as well.

• 

  Fallout comes to mind…

  Rad Slime: Love ’em at a distance, will ya? These guys emit radiation, and that’s obviously dangerous! But the call for cash knows no bounds! Give the Rad Slimes veggies, as great profit awaits you.

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  Sharp! … But still cute

  Crystal Slime: The most elusive and most profitable slime known to all. It’s an unstable slime. It’s a dangerous slime. It’s sharp edges will do a number on ya, but dang it! The profits from these slimes are worth all the trouble you have to go through to get them! Veggies are the key to the Crystal Slime’s heart.

Oh no! A Rockslide! XD

That’s a lot to remember, huh? Well we’re not done yet!

There is one thing that lurks in the darkness… a thing that all slimes fear. If they fear it, you definitely should! It preys on anything it can dig it’s oily claws into. That… monster… is the dreaded Tarr! These things are the product of a slime ingesting something they aren’t compatible with.

Evil thing, begone!

They look like rainbow-ey oil blobs with a look that would kill if it could. They are real monsters, as they scare the slimes and make them cry. That’s something that you don’t have to stand for! You can throw them out to sea, as they cannot swim. You can wash them away with water too. If they see you, you are food. So be ready to fight… or run… whichever comes first. They cannot be corralled, they don’t want to be raised. There is no profit to be made from monsters.

I hear you asking “But Nerdy Friend! What makes all that danger worth it?”

Slimes with matching plorts

Simple! Whenever you feed a slime, they produce a little shiny rock-like object, called a Plort. Every slime makes a unique plort, and each kind varies in value on a day to day basis, based on the market value. The more dangerous the slime, the more valuable the plort (the Tarr do not make plorts). Wanna double the output from your slimes?

Feed them their absolute favorite foods! Want even more plorts per slime? You can feed a little slime ONE plort of a different kind from the original slime to make a new kind of slime. For example, you have a Tabby Slime and a Honey Slime. You feed the Honey Slime to get a plort. feed that plort to the Tabby Slime, and you now have a larger slime that has become a Tabby-Honey Slime. Now that slime will produce a Tabby Plort and a Honey Plort! As long as it is in a corral with others of it’s kind, there are no chances of accidental Tarr-nation!

With the money made from all of your hard work, you can buy upgrades for your farm and drill and use resources for even more advancements! You can play with your slimes, put your prized slime on display, explore the rest of the Far Far Range with ease, and eventually… you can become the most successful rancher of all the Range!

Don’t Blink!

This game is still in early access on Steam, so there’s bound to be more to explore and discover when you arrive on the range. So far, I am loving every moment of this game. I have already put in over 100 hours according to my Steam account. And I plan to put in a lot more!