Top tips for colourful sci-fi farming sim Slime Rancher, out on PS4 tomorrow

Hello there! I’m incredibly excited to be part of the official welcoming committee for those of you looking to find success as a slime rancher! In Slime Rancher, you play as Beatrix LeBeau: a plucky, young rancher who sets out for a life a thousand light years away from Earth on the Far, Far Range.

The range is covered with countless slimes wiggling and jiggling around every corner. Each type of slime has unique behaviours that you will need to learn if you plan on sticking around. It’s up to you to get your ranch up and running, discover the secrets of the Far, Far Range, and stake your claim in the strange business of slime ranching!

Here’s the thing. The range is filled with other intergalactic entrepreneurs who already have a leg up on the tricks of Plort Market prices, optimal largo combinations, and the best uses of a drone. I trust that you’ll be able to handle the basics, so I’m going to give you a few tips I wish I had known before I rushed out into the untamed wilds of the Far, Far Range.

Slime Rancher launches on PS4 tomorrow, so we don’t have much time! Let’s get started!

Life on the ranch

Your vacpack

You start off equipped with one of the handiest (and probably the only free thing you’ll ever get from them) pieces of 7Zee tech out there: a vacpack. Use your vacpack to transport slimes and plorts, manage crops, and defend yourself from the dangers out on the range. Keep an eye on your profits, as 7Zee will have a number of upgrades available for you to purchase once you get a handle on the basics.

While the vacpack was free, water tanks, jetpacks, and extra tank storage are not. The jetpack is one of the handiest tools if you love to explore, so grab that early on and let the sky be the limit!

Plots and corrals

Ranch plots are another handy piece of tech that will make managing slimes a breeze. If you’re having trouble keeping slimes from escaping, try saving up for high walls and air nets. A well-fed slime will happily stay in its corral, but some slimes have a tendency to hop over the top of the low corral walls (I’m lookin’ at you, tabby!) and a loose slime on the ranch can spell disaster if left unattended.

The Range Exchange

Remember those other intergalactic entrepreneurs I mentioned earlier? The Range Exchange is the best spot to meet, trade, and befriend other ranchers out there. Complete Range Exchange requests not only for the extra money and resources they provide, but to build relationships with other ranchers. A friend in need is a friend indeed, and these friends have some incredibly useful resources to offer if you can prove yourself to be a top rancher.

Bonus tip: The Lab expansion may have a high price tag, but the usefulness of all the slime science gadgets it has to offer makes it well worth the investment.

Exploring the Far, Far Range

Slimes

The Far, Far Range is the only known home to the slimes you will encounter on your adventures. There are dozens of slimes and more than a hundred different types of slime combinations (largos) you can create. Each slime has a particular diet: fruit, veggie, or meat.

Pay attention to what each slime prefers and try to find out which type of food is their favourite! If you want to make meal-time a breeze, combine a meat eater with a fruit or veggie eater and you won’t have to worry about having enough hen hens to feed your collection of hungry slimes (you can thank me for this later).

A happy slime makes for a happy (and wealthy) rancher. In addition to keeping them fed, use the music box and toys to keep them calm!

Dangers

As you explore, you may come across feral slimes, hidden treasures, and mysterious slime gates. Always be aware of your surroundings and make sure you carefully observe the behaviors of the slimes and resources around you. Keep one vac-tank stocked with food (which you can pick up as you explore!) and grab the water tank upgrade as soon as you can. Feral slimes and tarrs aren’t so tough once you figure out how to handle them.

Bonus tip: The Far, Far Range is massive and packed with secrets. Use that handy jetpack of yours to explore every nook and cranny of a zone!

Stake your claim

The rest is up to you! You can play Slime Rancher any way you’d like: focus on maximizing your profits or spend the days exploring the vast world of the Far, Far Range. You can fill your ranch exclusively with rock slimes (because they’re the cutest) or create optimal largo combinations with hard-to-find slimes (rare = $$$).

I’m really excited for the PlayStation community to experience the world we’ve created here at Monomi Park and I can’t wait to start this new adventure with you! Stay wiggly and I’ll see ya on the range!