On September 22, 2022, Monomi Park released Slime Rancher 2 the sequel to the previously award winning game, Slime Rancher. According to the creator, Monomi Park, “Slime Rancher is the tale of the young rancher who sets out for a life a thousand light years away from Earth on the ‘Far, Far Range’ where she tries her hand at making a living wrangling slimes.” 

In Slime Rancher 2, you get to continue the journeys of Beatrix Lubeau with more ancient mysteries all the while exploring various islands and discovering more slimes along the way. As Beatrix continues her adventures throughout the island, she comes across not only cute slimes, but small, ladybug-like drones. These robots are research drones that contain mysterious scattered notes written by the “Mystery Person.” These notes contain some of Slime Rancher 2 lore. You can access more by using one of the gear upgrades given to Beatrix by one of the non-player characters in the game, Mochi Miles who you can talk to through the Range Exchange. The Range Exchange is located next to the entrance of the Conservatory, which allows you to talk to several in-game characters. These characters will give you new upgrades for your gear, warp tech, and other things, all of which can be created in the fabricator, a secret lab hidden underneath Beatrix’s house. 

While Slime Rancher 2 shares a lot of similarities with the first game, the graphics compared to the first have been noticeably improved. Along with the new biomes, the new slimes are both adorable and intriguing. Cotton Slimes, Angler Slimes, Batty Slimes, Ringtail Slimes and Flutter Slimes have all been added. What’s interesting about one of these new friends is that in the Starlight Strand, Flutter Slimes exclusively eat Moondew Nectar, unlike many slimes that eat vegetation, fruit or meat. Along with Moondew Nectar, new additions to food include Sea Hens, Water Lettuce and Pomegranates. As you explore the zones on Rainbow Island you’ll come across surprises like Gordo Slimes and treasure pods. These treasure pods contain some of the blueprints for slime science gadgets and decorations and are scattered amongst each zone. Gordo Slimes are giant slimes that when found, you need to feed in order to burst them. Once they pop, hidden locations are revealed. When you burst Gordos you’ll receive tiny pots which usually contain some fruit and hens along with some coins.

 After you’ve explored these areas you might notice there are also some ways you can pass through regions. Usually you’ll find a slime statue that needs to be given the designated kind of plort (slime poop) related to what kind of slime the statue is; from there, a circular gateway will open up for you. There are a lot of good features about Slime Rancher 2, and as an early release the game itself is very well made. With that being said it is still under construction, and many people have pointed out game issues like crashing and stuttering, along with some glitches and bugs. Weirdly enough, for some there are no issues at all, or at least glitching out of the world occasionally isn’t too out of the ordinary.