Relaxing, Cute, and quite full of content. This has to have been one of the most relaxing games I've played in quite some time. There was never a time where it made me mad, bugged out completely, or made me want to stop playing. There is a light story to guide you along, with many goals for you to work to in order to improve your efficiency, and fun.
I don't normally play this kind of game so you should probably take my score with a grain of salt. However, I walked away having seen some very nice looking scenes, chilled out maintaining a ranch to raise slimes, and even get excited for a little bit towards the endgame of Hobson's story.
I will admit I would have liked to see that adventure go just a little bit further, but I see the point the author was making. It screams of a personal touch like the author dealing with personal regrets and doing so very well. I just... really wanted to see the next place.
What is here is pretty good overall, but I am happy to finish as the credits roll. I can see why others would want to go on, however and max out that ranch itself. This is a very solid title and if chilling out on your own little place in the frontier of space sounds good to you, you may just want to check it out.
If you got that farming simulation itch, this is the perfect game to use as a backscratcher.
The game's cuter than a million buttons, it's quite literally oozing charm through the screen. The style is endearing, the music is catchy and the mechanics are solid. You collect slimes, cage them and feed them to acquire 'plorts' aka slime crystals. Those slime crystals are then sold to upgrade your farm & equipment.
There is quite a large world to explore outside of your farm, new slimes & items to find and secrets to uncover. There's a hint of story told via letters and logs, nothing mind-blowing but enough to keep you motivated to explore further. You do have a life bar but dying is only a minor inconvenience, it sends you back to the farm and you lose a day as well as all the items you were carrying.
I can only think of 2 real negatives that irked while playing: First person view can be disorienting. I've fallen into water and lost track of where the heck I was when things got hectic. Not too big of a deal but if you're like me and not used to playing FPP games, be aware of that. The other problem is pacing. It's not made too clear which upgrades are useful early on and what you should focus on for steady progression. Again, not too big of a deal, there's no time limit or anything like that so even if it takes you longer to get to a certain point it's no real loss.
All in all, this is a happy fun game for max relaxed play. It will put a content smile on your face all the way through.
My kids love this game. I enjoyed for a while, too. For the price point you can't go wrong for what you're getting.
You basically run around an alien planet and catch different kinds of slimes and try and make lots of money selling the slimes. The slimes are cute bouncy little (and sometimes big) idiots that have different elemental properties and keep getting themselves into amusing troubles.
The game itself is simple, and is very relaxing. At the time of my review, the developers are still adding new things (and are now selling physical plushies of the slimes as well!) There are also still secrets to discover hidden in the alien landscape.
If you want to play a game that makes you feel good and laugh, and which doesn't require a huge time investment to learn, Slime Rancher is well worth playing.
NB: I own the game on Steam, not GOG (unless they add this one to Steam Link some day).
I didn't know exactly what to expect when I bought Slime Rancher. My kids had explained a little bit to me and said I'd like it. And I do. It's the first game in a long while I've started playing and didn't feel like I had already done it to death in previous games over the last twenty years so for that alone it deserves considerable points.
I play casually, very casually, and sometimes just get lost in raising chickens, throwing food at slimes, and farming gordos for ornaments.
Pros: Unique, original game play--doesn't feel like yet another HM game.
Exploration with loot boxes and goodies to discover including plans for tech that enhances gameplay.
It's a large world expanded with many unlockable areas.
It's open-ended.
The devs have a forum and people there do answer questions and try to be helpful.
Cons: Lack of a mini map--huge need for that. I find the overall map very useful but the game needs both.
A few aspects of the game require fairly good reflexes which I no longer have. Also, if it hadn't been for some YT walk-throughs I never would have found a few things.
There are also a few features that would be extremely useful but would be too focused to post in a review.
Oh, and the aforementioned lack of DLC for download here. That is so far a disappointment--maybe with a little prompting the devs would remedy the situation.
P.S. I suppose when you're trying to sell off hundreds of plorts you've been hoarding waiting for a good price it does get a little grindy.