Monomi Park’s Slime Rancher has cemented itself as a bonafide Indie gem since it was released in Early Access back in 2016. As a result, I’ve had a lot of time to look at it and hear people talk about it, but it had always been one of those games that just slipped my focus. When Slime Rancher Plortable Edition was announced for Switch, however, I wanted to bite the proverbial bullet and dive right in.

Slime Rancher Plortable Edition is a full port of the Slime Rancher experience, containing all the DLC and updates from the PC version of the game. It puts you in the shoes of Beatrix LeBeau, a young rancher who sets her sights on the Far Far Range, a planet a thousand light-years from Earth. She purchases a ranch that was once owned by another rancher, who has left her notes all around the Far Far Range. What do you do on your ranch? Well, you raise slimes of course.

The Far Far Range is home to all manner of slimes. Each slime has a different dietary focus, either veggies, fruits, or meat. By feeding slimes, they give you plorts (basically slime poo) which can be sold for money. However, plorts also allow you to cross-breed slimes, creating things like Pink Tabby slimes and Phosphor Rock Slimes.

If you are playing on the standard difficulty, not only do you have to manage growing crops and raising chickadoos to feed your slimes, but you also have to worry about making sure they don’t over-breed. If you cross-breed a slime with another slime type and then that crossbreed tries to breed with a new type, it will create an abomination known as a Tarr slime.

Tarr slimes will eat other slimes and can convert other slimes to Tarr slimes as well. As a result, if you aren’t careful, you can lose a whole corral full of slimes very quickly. However, if you play on casual mode and want to just relax and grow your ranch at your own pace without the worry of Tarr slimes then that is also an option.

Exploration is a big part of Slime Rancher as well. The Far Far Range is full of various types of vegetables, fruits, and different slimes to find. You’ll have to spend a lot of time ranching to get the money to unlock upgrades for Beatrix’s Vacpack, which will let you explore further, carry more items, increase your health, and more. As you explore you’ll unlock new upgrades and find rare slimes that will give you more money when you sell them.

In fact, the prices of various plorts fluctuate, so you may decide to build a silo just to store certain plorts so that you can wait until the prices are high to sell them. There are many ways to play Slime Rancher, and there are all sorts of habitats to unlock and explore as well. As you progress, you’ll even get to engage in Slime Science, which lets you develop new gadgets such as teleporters that you can use to get to hard-to-reach areas quickly.

The great thing about Slime Rancher though is that even playing on Adventure mode (the normal difficulty) you can play at your own pace. If you want to explore for long periods you can or you can stay at the ranch and grind money and resources. Slime Rancher Plortable Edition in particular plays like a dream. There were a few slow-down moments, but the controls are smooth, and the gameplay is crisp.

For a while, I’ve noticed that ports on Switch sometimes can suffer from crashes (looking at you Bloodstained), or lag in various animations. While the slowdown occurred once or twice, overall Slime Rancher Plortable Edition is a worthy port and plays very well. The idea of taking your ranch on the go is a fun one, and I think it would be great for kids or adults on a long commute or road trip.

If you like Slime Rancher on PC and want to take it on the go, or if you’ve been eyeing Slime Rancher and just haven’t gotten it yet, check out Slime Rancher Plortable Edition. With the holiday season coming up, this is also a great option for fans of things like Stardew Valley, Story of Seasons, My Time at Portia, and other casual simulation/farming games.

A Nintendo Switch review copy of Slime Rancher Plortable Edition was provided by Monomi Park for this review.

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Slime Rancher Plortable Edition

$24.99

9.5

Score

9.5/10

Pros

• Lots of Content
• Cute Visuals
• Smooth Controls
• Lots of Customization and Upgrades
• All DLC Included

Cons

• Minor Lag