The Darwinian platforming of Rain World [official site] left me with mixed emotions. Surviving day-to-day in its brutal ecosystem can be an unfair slog, not to mention cursed with janky controls. Yet it’s also a stunning depiction of a harsh new world, with a host of spine-chilling, adorable, and wondrous wildlife. Here’s an incomplete collection of some of the animals and plantlife I’ve encountered, often resulting in a quick and painful death, all presented in the perfect format: GIF.

Important note: a big part of Rain World is its surprising world, and discovering how each animal lives and feeds. If you want to find that stuff out for yourself, ignore the siren call of the GIFs. You’ll appreciate it more.



Disco lizards

These Komodo dragon-like beasts come in a variety of neon colours, each with their own set of behaviours. A pink lizard can climb poles, where a green one can’t. A blue lizard can clamber, gecko-like, on background walls. A red one moves super fast.

Some of them have sticky tongues. Some of them swim.

But they are often bright enough to see and avoid. Unless they are…

Camo lizards

These guys are just the worst.

Pole plant

No wait, these guys are the worst. They masquerade as one of the many poles you jump from and wait ‘til something jumps on. They do flutter red from time to time though, and can be spotted if you look closely. They will also eat other creatures that get caught in the trap, and you can use that knowledge to lure lizards towards a vicious planty death.

Popcorn plant

This isn’t an animal or dangerous, but it is the most fun source of food in the entire game. Crack one open with a spear and watch the kernals pop. I wish these existed in real life. Delicious.

Carnivorous seaweed

Not delicious. This plant will pluck you out of the water and pull you into wherever its ‘stomach’ is. But they rely totally on detecting movement. Swim past them very slowly and they won’t sense you, or just spear ‘em once and quickly dodge past as they reel. If you are swimming past, be careful there aren’t bats flying around, as that will provoke the seaweed into movement and scare you into rushing.

Shadow spiders

One of my favourites, and absolutely terrifying. These guys flutter away, scared of your approach. I don’t know if this is only because my slugcat is shining and ‘enlightened’ (don’t ask) or if they do it for every source of light, or what. But they run away nevertheless. However, should they meet other spiders as they run, they will tangle together. Another spider joins the writhing mass. Then another. Before you know it there’s a large twitching cloud of them, all moving as one, and they don’t seem to be that afraid of you anymore…

Leeches

Total jerks. These swim around in garbage water and sea water, waiting for something to swim past. Then they latch on. One or two or even three, you can handle, even if they do weigh you down and make you slow.

But four, or five, or six… forget about that juicy fruit you were looking at, kitten. You have been drowned and devoured by one of Rain World’s smallest creatures.

Popper-pops

BUT WAIT. This wonderful food chain provides a solution. These little oval-shaped things crawling on the walls will help you out with leeches. Get too close and they will start to click at you. Don’t move and they’ll ‘pop!’ knocking you out cold, but only for a second or two. You can pick them up and toss them in the leech infested water, knocking out all the leeches and giving you a chance to swim on by. Thank you, popper-pops. I don’t know if that’s what you’re called, but it’s good enough for me.

Pacifist garbage worms

These long and wobbly fellows will leave you alone if you ignore them. But they also hate the sight of any spear or weapon, and will snatch it from you the moment you come close. Be careful if you throw something at them. They won’t like you.

And garbage worms will drown animals they don’t like.

Bully squid

Absolute shiters. They swim about in the sea water of the Shoreline region and harass you as you swim. They aren’t very muscular and can rarely keep a hold of you. But their powerful jets and speed mean that they can dunk you under the water again and again, giving you no chance to catch your breath.

Skull-faced vulture

The slugcat’s worst enemy. These avian nightmares quickly descend on the landscape with nothing but a flap and maybe a puff of smoke of warning. They can hook onto all sorts of ledges and peck into crevices and small spaces. They love to surprise you.

They like to eat lizards too, however, and will pluck up the dead remains of the reptiles. You can also knock off their masks with a well-aimed spear – something I have attempted and never succeeded.

Scavengers

Either your best mates or the bane of your existence. Scavengers can run fast, climb poles and use tools just like you. They carry spears and other objects and will fight disco lizards, vultures, and just about anything else they feel unsettled by. They also have secret stashes of explosive spears and other items hidden in different regions.

But it’s possible to become pals with them. They love pearls and dropping these at a scavengers feet will make them friendly to you. But it’s easy to upset them with an accidental throw, so, er, don’t do that.

Giant garbage octopus

I know so little about these things because I avoided them as much as possible. They are the freakiest things on eight (?) legs. They will eat you.

Scissor-mouths

These yellow-eyed terrors belong in a remake of the Dark Crystal or some shit. They frolic at high speeds across a long, dark and open area known as the “Memory Crypts” and they’ll snatch you up and carry you off given the chance.

Avoid them by ducking into holes and tunnels when you hear their tell-tale snapping and clinking coming closer. Or startle them by throwing the glowing blue fruits and then high-tail it to shelter.

Gargantuan underwater beast of unknown origin and habit

I have no idea about the behaviour of this animal and I do not want to know.

That’s it for now. There are more creatures hidden away in the recesses of this creepy landscape. Given the over-challenging nature of the game, however, it might be hard to find them. But if you do come across a new beast (I have heard tell of “flying centipedes” *shudder*) please be careful. A cautious slugcat is a breathing slugcat.