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Slime Rancher

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Slime Rancher
Developer(s)Monomi Park
Publisher(s)Monomi Park
Skybound Games (consoles)
Director(s)Nick Popovich
Designer(s)Chris Lum
Artist(s)Ian McConville
Victoria Joh
Composer(s)Harry Mack
EngineUnity
Platform(s)
Release
  • PC, Xbox One
  • August 1, 2017
  • PlayStation 4
  • August 21, 2018
  • Nintendo Switch
  • August 11, 2021
Genre(s)Life simulation, adventure
Mode(s)Single player

Slime Rancher is a first-person life simulation adventure video game developed and published by American indie studio Monomi Park.[1] The game was released as an early access title in January 2016, with an official release on Windows, macOS, Linux and Xbox One on August 1, 2017.[2] 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.[3] A sequel, Slime Rancher 2, was released in early access on September 22, 2022, for Windows and Xbox Series X/S.[4] A feature film adaptation is also in development.[5]

Gameplay

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In-game screenshot showing the VacPack nozzle, a few "Pink" slimes, and a "plort" (lower-left)

The game is played in an open world and from a first-person perspective. The player controls a character named Beatrix LeBeau, a rancher who moves to a planet far from Earth called the Far Far Range to live the life of a "slime 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 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.[6][7][8][9]

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, veggie, 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 is able to collect a variety of slimes, food items, and plorts by sucking them up with their vacuum tool (called a "Vacpack", a portmanteau of vacuum and backpack). 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. They also share the favorite food of each of their base slimes. These hybrid slimes are known as "Largos".[10][11][12] 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, colors, 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 (50 of their food type, or 25 of their favorite food), 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

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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.[13]

The game was initially due to enter early access after a year, but was delayed by six months.[13]

Reception

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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." [sic][11] 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."[21]

The full release of the game got a score of 81/100 on Metacritic,[14] with reviewers saying it had the ability to keep you hooked for hours.[18] Reviewers also said it was relaxing and cathartic, but quite repetitive,[17] and successfully taps into the addictive nature of farming simulators.[20]

By May 2017, the game had sold over 800,000 copies.[22] By February 28, 2019, the game had sold 2 million copies.[23] By January 13, 2022, the game had sold over 5 million copies.[24]

In Game Informer'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".[25][26] The website also gave it the award for the latter category in their Best of 2017 Awards.[27]

Accolades

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Award nominations for Slime Rancher
Year Award Category Result Ref
2017 Golden Joystick Awards Best Indie Game Nominated [28]
Xbox Game of the Year Nominated
The Game Awards 2017 Best Debut Indie Game Nominated [29]
2018 National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards Game, Original Action Nominated [30][31]
Game, Simulation Nominated
14th British Academy Games Awards Debut Game Nominated [32][33]

Film adaptation

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In August 2023, Deadline reported that a film adaptation of the video game was in the works within Derek Kolstad, Dmitri M. Johnson, and Mike Goldberg's Story Kitchen.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Slime Rancher". Steam. Archived from the original on February 23, 2022. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
  2. ^ Sykes, Tom (July 23, 2017). "Slime Rancher squelches out of early access in August". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on February 3, 2022. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  3. ^ "Slime Rancher - Viktor's Experimental Update is HERE! - Steam News". store.steampowered.com. June 18, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  4. ^ Diaz, Ana (June 13, 2021). "Slime Rancher 2 oozes out in 2022". Polygon. Archived from the original on February 3, 2022. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Kroll, Justin (August 17, 2023). "Story Kitchen Partners With Monomi Park For Film Adaptation Of Hit Videogame Franchise 'Slime Rancher'". Deadline. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
  6. ^ Usher, William (January 3, 2016). "Upcoming Slime Rancher Game Is Bizarre And Adorable". CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on February 3, 2022. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
  7. ^ Davenport, James (January 7, 2016). "The disastrous end to my first outer space slime poop farm". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on May 4, 2016. Retrieved February 7, 2016.
  8. ^ Bridgman, John (July 9, 2015). "Gettin' Wiggly With Slime Rancher". Indiegames.com. Archived from the original on February 4, 2022. Retrieved February 7, 2016.
  9. ^ Warr, Philippa (July 16, 2015). "The Sound Of Slime: Slime Rancher's Trailer". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on February 3, 2022. Retrieved February 7, 2016.
  10. ^ Whitaker, Jed (January 6, 2016). "The adorable Slime Rancher might be the next big indie hit". Destructoid. Archived from the original on February 4, 2022. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
  11. ^ a b Alexandra, Heather (October 11, 2016). "Slime Rancher Is A Great Relaxation Game". Kotaku. Archived from the original on February 2, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  12. ^ Estrada, Marcus (December 29, 2015). "Slime Rancher Gives You a Taste of the Fantasy Farming Lifestyle". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on February 3, 2022. Retrieved February 7, 2016.
  13. ^ a b Klepek, Patrick (January 15, 2019). "How 'Slime Rancher' Made a Ton of Money And Stuck to 40-Hour Workweeks". www.vice.com. Archived from the original on August 29, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  14. ^ a b "Slime Rancher for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on February 2, 2022. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
  15. ^ "Slime Rancher for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on February 3, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  16. ^ "Slime Rancher for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on February 2, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  17. ^ a b Peterson, Joel (August 10, 2017). "Review: Slime Rancher". Destructoid. Archived from the original on February 3, 2022. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
  18. ^ a b Juba, Joe (August 2, 2017). "Slime Rancher". Game Informer. Archived from the original on January 30, 2022. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
  19. ^ Byrne, Katharine (August 7, 2017). "Slime Rancher review". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on February 2, 2022. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
  20. ^ a b Alex V (August 10, 2017). "Slime Rancher Review". New Game Network. Archived from the original on February 2, 2022. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
  21. ^ Neilsen, Steve (May 29, 2017). "Slime Rancher Review". Games Mojo. Archived from the original on February 2, 2022. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  22. ^ "Author tweet". Twitter. Archived from the original on February 4, 2022. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
  23. ^ "Gooey ranch-em-up Slime Rancher has sold over 2 million copies". February 28, 2019. Archived from the original on February 2, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  24. ^ "Author tweet". Twitter. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  25. ^ Cork, Jeff (January 4, 2018). "Reader's Choice Best of 2017 Awards". Game Informer. Archived from the original on January 3, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  26. ^ Cork, Jeff (January 4, 2018). "Reader's Choice Best of 2017 Awards (Page 4)". Game Informer. Archived from the original on February 3, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  27. ^ Game Informer staff (January 4, 2018). "Game Informer's Best of 2017 Awards (Page 4)". Game Informer. Archived from the original on February 3, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  28. ^ Gaito, Eri (November 13, 2017). "Golden Joystick Awards 2017 Nominees". Best in Slot. Archived from the original on January 10, 2018. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  29. ^ Makuch, Eddie (December 8, 2017). "The Game Awards 2017 Winners Headlined By Zelda: Breath Of The Wild's Game Of The Year". GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 9, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  30. ^ "Nominee List for 2017". National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. February 9, 2018. Archived from the original on February 15, 2018. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  31. ^ "Horizon wins 7; Mario GOTY". National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. March 13, 2018. Archived from the original on March 14, 2018. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  32. ^ deAlessandri, Marie (March 15, 2018). "Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice at forefront of BAFTA Games Awards nominations". MCV. Archived from the original on March 16, 2018. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  33. ^ Makedonski, Brett (April 12, 2018). "BAFTA names What Remains of Edith Finch its best game of 2017". Destructoid. Archived from the original on April 25, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
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