Slime Rancher (PC) review "Oozing coziness"

I couldn't wrap my mind around the idea of “cozy games.” I thought all games were cozy because even the harshest titles I played was still a way of blowing off steam and relaxing. The way I saw it, I tended to relax more fully when I played engaging works with fuller interaction, and such ideas often brought fair-to-heavy difficulty ratings. So for the longest time, “cozy” sounded like code for “minimally interactive” because it implied that the title was overly simple. Of course, that line of reasoning deteriorated once I finally got around to playing Slime Rancher...

Yes, it's farming sim. Yes, you feed slimes, grow crops, and breed chickens. And yes, you explore a lot. No, there are no incredible demands. No one charges you land tax, and you don't have many concerns to manage outside of feeding your slimes, harvesting their feces (called “plorts”) for cash, and using that money to expand and upgrade your grounds. There isn't even much of a campaign to speak of, as it advances through constant exploration and reading emails. That might be the game's biggest missed opportunity is hinging progress on reading correspondence. Then again, this one is meant to be cozy...

The affair starts with you on an alien planet, moving into a ranch on a vacant lot. You get an upgradable vacuum pack to carry around, and that's really it. Once you've begun in earnest, you venture forth into an open-world wilderness, advancing in a first-person view to explore, discover, tinker, and learn. The first things that catch your eye are a herd of pink slimes, some carrots, and a brightly colored fruit. You suck them up, take them back to your home, and commence farming.



Your initial plot of land starts with eight or so empty areas for you to set up pens, gardens, or even a silo for storing goods. You build corrals for silmes, which you can further improve to ensure their captivity, feed them while you're abroad, protect them from the elements, or even automatically suck up plorts after your little darlings defecate. Obviously, voiding bowels implies that you'll need to feed your livestock, so securing vegetation and different types of chickens becomes key to your success. This is where you convert a vacant lot into a garden or chicken pen so you're not required to embark on a massive journey every time you want to feed your livestock.

Here's the thing: you'll need to pay close attention to what your critters eat. The game offers numerous types of slimes, and not all of them will be satisfied with carrots. Sure, pink slimes will eat anything you throw at them, but what about rock, phosphor, or tabby variety? The first of those only noshes on veggies, but they specifically like a particular one called a “heart beet.” Sure, you could feed rocks carrots or any other veg, but they eat heartier and take bigger dumps with heart beets. The same can be said for phosphor slimes and their love for fruits, especially cube-shaped berries appropriately called “cuberries.” Lastly, the cat-like tabbies love meat, and absolutely dig a kind of chicken called a “stony hen.”

As you can tell, your adventures don't only see you gathering different varieties of slime as if this is some low-key Pokemon knockoff, but also collecting various foods to cultivate and feed to your pets. What's more is you can bolster gardens and pens as well to ensure maximum growth and a low spoilage rate. Chickens thrive better with grass and soft soil that attracts yummy bugs, and turnips and onions strangely enjoy nutritious dirt and irrigation. Weird, right?



This is where the game turned into a time sink for an obsessive upgrader like me. I spent long sessions gathering goods, bringing back food, finding new ways to increase my plort yield, and spend money. It didn't stop with my plots, either. Part of the hub allowed me to plop down a handsome sum of poop for expanded real estate, soon granting me access to a cave, a research facility, a grove, and a harbor. What's more I gained teleporters that took me to other ranchers' abodes to engage in side quests, plus short cuts into various parts of the wilderness.

Plus I could upgrade and decorate my home...

Plus I could pay for new amenities around the joint...

Plus I could contrive new devices that allowed me to harvest other types of materials, which I used to further craft new items and decorations...

All of those nifty additives stood in the way of one of my other loves: exploration. Rancher features a decently sized open world to explore with plenty of hidden nooks and crannies just waiting for curious adventurers. Also, you get a jet pack of sorts that allows you to temporarily float through the air or thrust a short ways upward, accessing high locations and clearing long gaps.

Best of all, this title doesn't tell you what to expect when venturing forth. You just search, discover, experiment, and maybe read a little journal entry left by another explorer who gives you hints regarding your weird surroundings. The initial area doesn't come with many surprises, though you do encounter some giant slimes that demand a particular food. If you feed them enough, they explode into all manner of goodies, including the aforementioned teleporters. It isn't long before they also give you keys, which you use to unlock massive doors. Plus, your ranch upgrades eventually give you technology used to open special chests scattered throughout the world.



As you progress, you enter different basic land types that offer a handful of new curves. One sends you into a collection of caverns, where you might find lava and various other hazards. Around those places, you also locate slimes that explode, emit radiation, live in and consume water (requiring you to build a pool), and even one that craps honey. Pushing beyond that region takes you to places like a jungle, some islands, and a massive wrecked temple. The game doesn't hold your hand as you access its locked gate, but drops some hints concerning what you need to enter. Plowing into that realm takes you to a complex maze of switches and force fields, and eventually to a desert and beyond.

Between obsessive and incessant upgrades and collecting, as well as exploration, I successfully sunk hours into this one without really breaking a sweat. I found myself coming home, avoiding whatever demanding title I could play, and hopping on something that was much easier on my already shattered nerves. I get it. There is a fine line a game can walk in order to provide an experience that isn't demanding, but still offers engaging play. Slime Rancher checks those boxes.

Staff review by Joseph Shaffer (December 20, 2025) Rumor has it that Joe is not actually a man, but a machine that likes video games, horror movies, and long walks on the beach. His/Its first contribution to HonestGamers was a review of Breath of Fire III.