Release Date: June 26, 2025
A third-person action adventure game with clearly outlined platforming bits. In Ruffy and the Riverside we play as the titular bear. He is capable of manipulating the game world by copying and pasting textures, changing the characteristics of objects and surfaces.
Ruffy and the Riverside is a production on the border of action adventure games and platformers, based on the unusual idea of manipulating textures. It was developed by the independent German studio Zockrates Laboratories.
In Ruffy and the Riverside we watch the action from a third-person perspective (TPP).
The game provides us with an open world divided into regions, which we explore in the skin of the titular little bear - Ruffy. While travelling through the land of Riverside, the protagonist meets its inhabitants and accepts various quests from them. Apart from missions pushing the story forward, there are various side tasks waiting to be completed.
Exploring the game world involves the need to jumping on platforms, avoiding traps and bypassing terrain obstacles, riding on hay bales and rolling boulders, as well as solving environmental puzzles. We must not only demonstrate agility and reflexes, but also rely on our brain cells.
Ruffy has the power of SWAP, which allows him to manipulate the environment. Thanks to it, the protagonist can copy selected textures and paste them in another place, thereby changing the specifics of a given object. For example, we can turn water into lava (to eliminate an enemy lurking in it or destroy a wooden box floating on it), a waterfall into vines (which we can climb), a stone into a log of wood (which can serve us as a makeshift raft) or a wall into rubble (thus opening a new passage).
The icing on the cake is another unusual ability of Ruffy's, which allows him to "jump into walls", turning them into additional 2D stages straight from classic platform games. The list of attractions is topped by collectibles waiting to be found, like butterflies, coins, or dream stones.
The main character of Ruffy and the Riverside is the titular bear Ruffy, whose task is to stop the villain Groll before he manages to unleash real chaos in the Riverside land. The protagonist can count on the help of his companions, led by the bee Pip, the mole Sir Eddler, and the turtle Silja.
The graphic design of Ruffy and the Riverside is maintained in a cartoon style. The characters are presented in the form of sprites that look like stickers.
Platforms:
PC Windows
Xbox One
Nintendo Switch
PlayStation 5
Xbox Series X/S
Developer: Zockrates Laboratories
Publisher: Phiphen Games
Similar Games:
System Requirements for Ruffy and the Riverside Video Game:
PC / Windows
Minimum System Requirements:
CPU SSE2, 4 GB RAM, graphic card DirectX 10, 6 GB HDD, Windows 7(SP1)/10/11 64-bit.
Game Ratings for Ruffy and the Riverside Video Game.
Explosion Network: 10 / 10 by Jacob Hegarty
The visual nostalgia, combined with the engaging gameplay and mechanics, makes this game truly shine. It is rare to find hand-drawn adventure platformers that offer a range of puzzles and a great story; however, this game ticks all those boxes.
DualShockers: 7 / 10 by Ethan Krieger
Unfortunately, the few bosses and enemies present here are quite bland, and though the environmental puzzle-solving is initially unique and rewarding, it eventually stalls out in creativity and challenge. Overall, Ruffy ends up feeling a bit inconsistent, but it's still a cute, enjoyable indie that has me looking forward to future efforts from Zockrates Laboratories.
Digital Chumps: 8 / 10 by Ben Sheene
Ruffy and the Riverside is a joyful and quirky collectathon that attempts to bridge past and present sensibilities. Bursting with personality and a novel gameplay mechanic, should enjoy a sense of discovery and a helping of clever puzzles.
The main pros of the game
The main cons of the game
The features or elements that are missing from the game according to users
Summary
Summary generated on:
![[1:18] - Launch Trailer](https://cdn.gracza.pl/galeria/filmy/640x360/1371623156.jpg)
