Imagine a life where your biggest worries are if your Tabby Slimes have enough toys or whether you should place a garden here or in the slot ten paces to your left.
Enter Slime Rancher 2, a cozy management game in which you take care of slimes and explore a mysterious island. You are quickly equipped with a vacuum and sent on your way, theoretically given all the tools you need to discover all kinds of creatures and resources to help you build up your plort empire.
This game is very laid-back, providing many trophy hunters a much-needed reprieve from harder hunts. However, it is not without its faults. In this article, we will delve into the steps needed to earn Slime Rancher 2’s platinum trophy and provide some analysis on the game from a trophy-hunting perspective.
This is not a comprehensive trophy guide, but rather a recommended progression route. It will cover the main beats of the trophy hunt as well as information for some tricky trophies. There are also some minor spoilers throughout.
- Difficulty: 2/10
- Time to Platinum: 30 hours
- Missable Trophies: None
- Overall Recommendation: Maybe
Table of Contents
Why Slime Rancher 2?
Continue the adventures of Beatrix LeBeau as she journeys to Rainbow Island, a mysterious land brimming with ancient technology, unknown natural resources, and an avalanche of wiggling, jiggling, new slimes to discover.
— PlayStation Store
My first experience with the Slime Rancher series was a brief one. I went from starting the original Slime Rancher to earning its platinum trophy within a single week in 2022. Much of the game’s details have been lost to time for me; however, what I do remember is that it was a relaxing and fun experience.
It was because of that recollection that I decided its sequel would be a great game to pick up. As a gamer, I can appreciate a good chill game. As a trophy hunter, I particularly needed one after some very difficult trophies I’d tackled recently.
I played Slime Rancher 2 by day and worked through Black Ops III Easter eggs by night. If you’re familiar with Call of Duty Zombies, you know that those are huge undertakings. I’m happy to report that I succeeded on all counts! I have since acquired the platinum trophy in Slime Rancher 2, as well as the 100% in Black Ops III. (The fact that Shangri-La bugs out in splitscreen co-op is criminal and I never want to play that map again, by the way. But that’s neither here nor there.)
I won’t lie to you, though: Slime Rancher 2 was also picked for a very calculated purpose. I needed a colorful, not-too-difficult trophy hunt to record for my first video. Hence, this game seemed like the best of both worlds. I could enjoy it on a personal level, and create content without worrying too much about performing in a mechanically demanding game when I was already worried about the various aspects of recording.
If this sounds like you—someone who is looking for a game they can turn their brain off for a bit—Slime Rancher 2 is an excellent pick. There are tons of cute slimes to discover, lots of humorous moments to experience at your own expense, and plenty of ways for trophy hunters to get clever and break things.
The Trophy Hunt
Explore
For a game like this, the obvious first step is to explore and get your bearings. Slime Rancher 2 does not provide you with any real goals, instead leaving it up to you to figure out what to do. For now, all you need to worry about is learning the game’s mechanics and checking out the nearby areas. Figure out how to navigate, use your vacuum, and avoid untimely deaths.
Don’t worry about messing anything up; there are no missable trophies. When you’re ready to have an objective to work toward, you can move on to the next step.
Build Your Ranch
One of the biggest gameplay loops in Slime Rancher 2 revolves around base management. Most importantly, you can corral slimes you find in the world, feed them, and collect their plorts for money. You can also build other supporting systems, like gardens and coops that help you manage slimes.
So much of the game revolves around your successful implementation of this gameplay mechanic. Therefore, you should work on finding a variety of different slimes and corralling them. You can choose to build other items as you see fit.
Underneath the ranch is a science lab that is also very important. You can deposit science materials and craft a variety of gadgets here. Not to mention the fact that you can upgrade your character’s abilities. It is important to balance upgrades to your farm with upgrades for yourself. Both are important for progressing through the trophy list.
I’d recommend getting the jetpack as soon as possible. It makes navigating around the world of Slime Rancher 2 much easier.
Enter the Grey Labyrinth
Through your travels, you may or may not have entered the Grey Labyrinth already. If not, getting inside is deceptively straightforward.
There are two ways to enter the Grey Labyrinth: one in Starlight Strand, and one in Ember Valley. You must pop the Flutter Gordo and Boom Gordo respectively, then complete the laser puzzle within. To do so, you need to craft some Radiant Projector items and line them up. Successfully doing so will reveal a portal that will take you to a secret dungeon.
Believe it or not, this is where the game’s story comes in. You meet a girl named Gigi, and you need to reach the Prismadome to help her. There are tons of sub-areas in the Grey Labyrinth for you to explore, and you will need a lot of Radiant Projectors to navigate around. Personally, I needed seven for some of the more complicated puzzles.
You can explore the Grey Labyrinth to your heart’s content. Many of the unique mechanics here are important for trophies. However, the most important part of the dungeon is in the green, castle-esque area.
You must complete the door puzzle by delivering three plorts to towers around the area. These are a Shadow Plort, Twin Plort, and Sloomber Plort. Successfully doing so reveals the way to the Prismadome.
Complete the Grey Labyrinth
Once in the Prismadome, you need to deliver Prisma Plorts to gain access to a crafting recipe for the Nullifier. This lets you complete the bell puzzle, in which you need to find five hidden bells throughout the Grey Labyrinth. If you noticed those shimmery doors in your travels, that’s what you’re looking for. Unfortunately, there are some dud doors mixed in, so you may need to explore for a bit to find the correct ones.
Finally, after all of that, you’ll be able to return to Gigi and fight the final boss. This completes the game’s narrative and rewards you with a shiny trophy for your efforts.
Now, it’s time to take a look at your trophy list and see what you missed. This step can be either huge or tiny depending on how thorough you were up to this point.
Clean-Up
Clean-up in Slime Rancher 2 can look vastly different from one player to the next. I’ll cover some of the trophies most likely to be missed. Once you wrap up this stage, you will have a pretty new platinum trophy to add to your collection. Congratulations!
- Fly Like a Bea: Fly for 5 seconds using the jetpack
- This may be obvious to some players, but it wasn’t for me. To get this trophy, you need to hold the jetpack button for 5 seconds straight, not simply be in the air for that long. Once you know the trick, it’s an easy unlock.
- Now You’re Thinking With Plortals: Fire a plort through a linked cannon, sending it to the plort market
- This one is exactly what it says on the tin. You just need to craft the needed cannon gadget and aim it at the marketplace or a remote unit. If you missed it, it’s probably just because you didn’t know the trophy existed.
- Shady Deals: Make 3 purchases on the Night Market
- You know those Prisma Plorts you can get for shooting Unstable Plorts through yellow wormholes in the Grey Labyrinth? Well, you need to deliver more of those to the machine in the Prismadome to get Night Market tokens. When it’s nighttime in the game, the store gives you the ability to shop from the Night Market. Simply make three purchases to get this trophy.
- Charged Up: Get hit by a bolt of lightning
- Slime Rancher 2 has a variety of weather effects that you can see on the map. When an area has a lightning storm with three orange arrows on it, that’s your chance for this trophy. Wait in an open area for some static to build up. Run to it and you’ll get struck by lightning after a few seconds, unlocking this trophy.
- A Real Goal-Getter: Get a score of 120 on a Slimeball goal gadget within 1 minute
- This is perhaps the only truly skill-based trophy on this game’s trophy set. However, even this can be made very easy with adequate preparations. If you want to do it my way, simply build the required gadget and a few palm trees.
- The trees can be placed around the goal gadget to prevent the goal from flying around. That means you can sit on top of the trees and simply shoot objects through to get the required score. Easy!
- Rainbow Researcher: Complete the Slimepedia
- This is the big one. You need to fill in all the slimes, resources, and slime toys to get this trophy. It is best to look at what you’re missing and compare it to the Slime Rancher Wiki to see what you’re missing and how you can obtain it. Here are images of my completed Slimepedia to give you an idea of what yours should look like.
- The easiest to miss items are likely Dervish Slimes, Drift Crystals, and Sun Sap. Dervish Slimes and Drift Crystals only appear during tornadoes, which occur during windstorms marked by three orange arrows. Sun Sap can only be found in Powderfall Bluffs, on tree trunks in particular parts of the area. They make a fairly distinct sound when you’re nearby. If you haven’t found Powderfall Bluffs yet, it’s located behind a waterfall near the Crystal Slime Gordo in Ember Valley. You’ll need a Boom Plort, Tabby Plort, and Batty Plort to gain access.
The Highs and Lows
As much as I’d love to sing only praises for Slime Rancher 2, it unfortunately suffers from some game design issues. I went into the game intending to not use any guides. After all, I had some knowledge from the previous game, and knew this one couldn’t be that difficult to complete. However, it was this very decision that cost me hours of confusion and unnecessary wandering.
Slime Rancher 2 is a title that, for better or worse, expects the best from its players. I’m glad the game thinks so highly of me, but perhaps a bit more direction would have been appreciated. There were so many times when I was clueless about what to do, where to go, how something worked… And the game didn’t provide any guidance.
What do you do with the yellow portals in the Grey Labyrinth? Who knows. How do you get nectar to feed the Flutter Slimes? No idea. Where do you go to unlock Powderfall Bluffs? Good luck.
Yes, it’s a probable skill issue. But I don’t think the game should risk the player’s frustration in exchange for their wonderment. I’d rather be given more tools to succeed than the reverse. Don’t make everything an amalgamation of hidden and highly specific requirements. Like, why don’t you start with the jetpack unlocked from the start?
With that said, when it works, it works. Slime Rancher 2 can be highly addictive when you finally get your bearings. Slowly uncovering the map, discovering new Slimepedia entries, and min-maxing your ranch is incredible fun. That’s why I struggled on whether or not to recommend the game to others.
If you use a guide, it’s an easy recommendation. Without a guide, I’m not sure I could recommend it so confidently. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad game, it just means it’s a trophy hunt that should be carefully considered. Weigh the pros and cons for yourself. I found the game frustrating in several places, but overall found it to be a worthwhile experience.
Reflection
I spent just under 30 hours earning the Slime Rancher 2 platinum trophy. It is an easy hunt overall, with only one meaningfully skill-based trophy and a moderate grind for the slime toys part of the Slimepedia.
It is an excellent game for unwinding after work or school—but when the path forward becomes unclear, look it up. Using a guide helps preserve what Slime Rancher 2 does best: provide a relaxing experience.
Are you Team Guide or Team No-Guide? What’s your favorite slime and why is it the Hunter Slime? Let us know in the comments below.
And while I have you here, can I recommend another article? If you enjoyed this post about Slime Rancher 2, you may also enjoy our breakdown of the TimeSplitters: Future Perfect platinum trophy. It’s a retro first-person shooter with hilarious characters and engaging gunplay.
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