The simplest way to explain Slime Rancher is that it’s a game where you feed slimes and sell their poop for cash so you can buy upgrades to sell more poop.

Slime rancher is a game made by Monomi Park, a California based dev team founded in 2014. The game is still in Early Access, but based on the state of it now, I expect it to get a full release in just a few months. The game takes place on another planet far, far away where, similarly to the plot of Stardew Valley, the protagonist Beatrix LeBeau decides to venture out and start ranching slimes.

The game starts out relatively simple. You get a short, simple, and easy to follow tutorial, and you learn the basics in about 2 minutes. Essentially, you have to go outside of your ranch and use your Vac-Gun to suck up wild slimes.

These adorable little creatures come in all shapes and sizes, and you can keep those you like in corrals, which you can build on your land. You have to feed them to keep them happy, otherwise they will try to escape and even start to attack you. When they are properly fed with chicken, veggies or fruit, they produce a crystal material called Plorts(This caused my spouse and I to substitute the word shit with ‘plort’ since we started playing).

Each type of slime produces it’s kind of plort, and they can be sold at a market that changes everyday. If you sell a bunch of pink plort one day, the next day they will cost less. That way you have to keep track of which ones are valuable and farm those. Slimes can also be combined, by making one type eat the plort of another. This makes it so that they produce both types of plort and that doubles your profit.

The game requires you to build a variety of structures, which you tear down and build something else that suits your needs. You will need chicken coops to provide meat, Gardens for fruit and vegetables, and more. When the Lab is unlocked, you gain access to a bunch of new builds and even accessories to put on your slimes, such as a mustache or glasses.

The game is pretty big, and just when I thought I’d seen all of it, a new giant location is unlocked. They all have their own theme and they all look amazing. The art style is, like the game, simple yet curiously effective. The music, however could use some work, since I think it’s a bit too simplistic with not enough substance.

I can honestly say that I don’t regret buying this game. I’m usually insanely skeptical of Early Access games, since I’ve been burnt too many times. This is a game that everyone can play, and I look forward to the official release. Completely worth the $20.