Slime Rancher 2 – Early access review

Bea+looking+over+Rainbow+Islands

Bea looking over Rainbow Islands

Leah Parkhurst, Howler Staff Writer

Developed and Published by Monomi Park, “Slime Rancher 2” is a continuation of the original indie game “Slime Rancher.” Much like the original game, “Slime Rancher 2” is a first-person, life-simulation adventure game.

It begins with Beatrix (Bea) LaBeau, the player’s character, receiving a note from a mysterious boat that washed up on the shore of her ranch. The letter contains an invitation to Rainbow Island, the setting for “Slime Rancher 2.” 

Rainbow Island consists of several unique environments. The core biomes include the Rainbow Fields, Ember Valley and Starlight Strand. Each of these locations contain its own slimes, hidden areas and sub-divisions. It is important that you. as a player, explore the islands in order to expand your ranch.

The new game introduces new slime variations, as well as bringing back several old ones. 

Much like in the original “Slime Rancher,” “Slime Rancher 2” encourages you to earn money, or newbucks, by selling the plorts your slimes produce.

Each slime produces its own kind of plort. For example, phosphor slimes produce phosphor plorts, tabby slimes produce tabby plorts and so on. It is important to have a variety of different slimes so that when the value of one slime’s plorts decreases, you are still able to sell for a good amount of newbucks.

The game tasks you with expanding the variety of slimes on your farm in order to increase your earnings and therefore increase the quality of your equipment and ranch. 

The game is available currently on Steam for $29.99. With 10,529 reviews, it holds a current rating of 10/10 stars

Currently, the game is in early access. The full release is planned to be around March of 2024, approximately 18 months after its early access release. 

Even in an early access state, “Slime Rancher 2” is incredibly promising. I suggest any fans of the original “Slime Rancher,” or life/farming simulator games, in general, give it a try.