SlimePark

Creator: ねころねこ

Average Rating
9.4 / 10
Average Difficulty
75.7 / 100
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Tags:

Adventure (6) Gimmick (2) Boss (3) 100_Floor (4) Long (1) Puzzle (10) x_Floor (2) Logic_Puzzle (1)

Screenshots

  • by necoroneko
  • by necoroneko
  • by necoroneko
  • by necoroneko

Creator's Comments:

necoroneko [Creator]
This is a 100-floor puzzle game.
There will always be new gimmicks or techniques on each floor.
There is an extra stage, and you can see the slime museum when you clear it completely.

The readme PDF is available in English and Japanese.
If you cannot solve the puzzle because it is difficult, please see my Walkthrough video from the link at the end of readme.
Also, I have posted a blog post on how to get to the entrance of the extra stage.
See also the link at the end of the manual.

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[20] Likes
Rating: N/A       Difficulty: N/A
Jun 13, 2020

22 Reviews:

kurath
Rating based on all secrets/main clear at this time, there appears to be some additional content which I may go for, but isn't part of the core game.

Slimepark is an exceedingly elaborate, puzzle dominated 100 Floor game, based on the core concept of multicolored slimes and their different forms, originally introduced in Necoroneko's first game, gaze at the horizon and expanded upon in this title (with a brief cameo in Slimetrap). It has a simply astonishing amount of mechanics and interactions throughout the catalog of slimes and frequently uses them in clever and interesting ways.

Production wise, its great. Necoroneko's artwork is adorable and charming, and every stage changes up drastically and fits the aesthetic and style of the game perfectly. The tilesets and backgrounds and clean but creative, with smooth animations and pleasing palettes which is great because at times, you will be staring at them a lot. The bonus touches with the various faces, animations and lore and all that on top of the artwork is great, and the bonus materials he provides should be a huge boon for anyone who wants to tackle the game but is afraid of getting stuck on various parts.

The general flow of the game is pretty simplistic. Do puzzles, then do more puzzles, then execute the actions, then do more puzzles, and so on. It caps it off nicely with a really great boss which was fun and (mostly) fair, but definitely serves as a great capstone to the little story that it presents along the way. The boss is very enjoyable and shouldn't really be a wall to anyone, so if anyone is concerned about getting stuck on the boss, its probably not a problem.

The core of the game is, of course, the platforming and the puzzles. This is what will both attract and repel people en masse. Necoroneko wants to establish puzzle games as a more prevalent genre of fangames (which I'm totally on board with, as you can imagine) and he certainly shoots for the stars with this. The game starts off very easy and the first third of the floors or so are kind of trivial from a puzzle perspective, more akin to an easy adventure game. Around the mid 30s to 50s the game's difficulty ramps up considerably, where I'd say it stays fairly level throughout much of the later half of the game so if you can get that far and are concerned about where its going in the long run, it shouldn't present to be too much larger of a problem.

Puzzle design is a tricky concept and have different styles. One of my criticisms of this game is that many of the puzzles follow a similar formula. Nearly ever level has a new mechanic or interaction (which is impressive how many he came up with) but many of them are not fully explained - with good reason, it wouldn't be a puzzle if he told you what to do - however this means a lot of the process is finding the particular new interaction that's required for the puzzle, which ends up requiring a lot of trial and error. This is compounded by the fact that many puzzles fill the screen to the brim, with many additional steps that aren't related to the main discovery that makes the puzzle stand out. This can make the trial and error process very long and tedious, and result in a lot of repeated efforts. This is further compounded by the fact there is a lot of long wait cycles.

This meant that while there was a lot of enjoyable discoveries made along the way, there's a lot of frustration on either side as you try and figure out the parts through an extensive trial and error process. Some sort of speedup or undo button would do wonders for this, since missing one step and losing the whole attempt (which can be a couple minutes long and require a very specific sequence of steps) gets frustrating. Execution is rarely too difficult, but it is always a factor and one minor misstep (while you're focusing on a plethora of steps to follow) can end up costing you a lot of time. This made it hard for me to play the game for an extended time, since those kinds of things would be draining, but as a casual couple floors a time it was quite enjoyable.

Overall, this is an exceptional game for sure, though it is quite niche. It gets frustrating, a lot, but the overall production level, creativity and complexity has a lot of value. This game hearkens back more to Horizon than his other works, for better or for worse, and may give you a better idea of whether or not this is a game you would like to play. I'd recommend it for puzzle fanatics who were turned off by the painful walls represented by some of the Horizon bosses. Its a little dangerous if you insist on being a completionist but its a fun game for anyone to give a try to, as there's a lot of more accessible value in the early game. With some additional quality of life functions this would really be an absolute top tier game, but the bursts of frustration along the way unfortunately cause a bit of a stumble. As it is though, it is a very good game but with a very narrow focus. If you enjoy what it offers along the way, you'll likely keep enjoying it. If you don't, it doesn't really change drastically enough to turn around for you.

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Tagged as: 100_Floor Puzzle
[7] Likes
Rating: 9.0 90       Difficulty: 75 75
Jun 18, 2020
Xplayerlol
Rating based on 100% completion (Remove 1 difficulty point for any%, or maybe 0, the difference is not that big).
Brilliant 100-floor puzzle game by Necoroneko. Just like "I wanna Keypick 100" is based around the core mechanic of unlocking doors, SlimePark is a puzzle game focused on slimes with several different properties. If you've played "I wanna Gaze at the Horizon", you should be familiar with both mechanics and, if you're familiar with Keypick 100, you should be expecting a much deeper exploration of the game's core mechanic. However, even though I love Keypick 100, it's hard to deny that SlimePark is simply on another level of creativity and complexity.
The aesthetics are great. With Necoroneko's charming usual visual style, vibrant colors, varied scenarios with musics that match them well, adorable animations and visual/sound effects, we are guaranteed to have a very lively and light-hearted journey. This time, there's also a simple story that motivates our visit to the SlimePark. Like Necoroneko's other games, there's also a game manual, with basic instructions, health advice and adorable character introductions. Most importantly, the manual comes in two languages (English and Japanese)!! And the English translation is pretty nice too.
The amount of variety is beautiful. On top of the gigantic amount of gimmicks (With over 200 types of slimes and several types of modifier items that can be combined in many, many different ways), the gameplay style varies wildly between floors. Some floors feel more fluid and action-oriented, with puzzle elements toned down and enhanced platforming difficulty, whereas others feel slower, with more thinking and lots of setups required. This balance between several styles of gameplay made my experience much more enjoyable, as there's always more to look forward to as we advance to the next floor. My favorite floors are the keypick-related puzzles - which are also the hardest. Figuring out which resources should be used at which time is lots of fun.
The puzzle design is also very interesting. Unlike Keypick 100, which feels more mathematical (With numeric variables, multiple candidate solutions and backtracking strategies), SlimePark's puzzles feel more visual, with less numbers and more interactivity. The main sources of difficulty are the huge amount of candidate solutions, but also the oddity of some of the actual solutions. Thinking "There's no way that this is how..." is very common throughout the game, no matter how much you try to get used to the puzzles. Sometimes, your hunch will be correct, and sometimes there really was no way.
In terms of platforming difficulty, SlimePark is...relatively acessible. Some sections require slightly precise maneuvers and some odd ideas newer players might not be familiar with. However, for experienced players, executing the puzzles should be smooth sailing for the most part. Some saves are relatively lengthy, and others can be a little difficult, but never both at the same time, and the bigger hurdles tend to be either, near the beginning of a save, or forgiving enough to not punish mistakes with death. I would say it's comparable to an adventure game in the high 50s until the boss.

The game culminates with a boss fight against Shiratama King. It's a fight inspired by Destination's Titan Dweevil, and by far the best Destination-inspired boss I've ever seen. Shiratama King fights by chanelling the power of his 12 most powerful subordinates (probably), which results in 12 rather creative attacks (Some more than others) that call back to all the different types of slimes you met along the way. Syabon is fun, just like her expression indicates. Yoppy is a hard worker, probably won't kill you but he'll try his best. Kibatch is bizarre, his attack is one of the two most difficult in the fight and he can be really annoying to deal damage to. Reaval looks sinister, but his attack is not what I expected of a tricky manipulator (Still pretty nice). Pani is VERY annoying and difficult, and I kind of hate her - if there's one attack in the fight that's heavily reliant on luck, it's this one: Pink slimes' hitboxes are just too huge (Still an interesting attack). Mist is interesting, very reminiscing of a certain attack from Kamilia in K3. His personality reminds me of myself. Shiro is scary despite her peaceful personality. There isn't much to say about Poi's attack, but I wish her luck in her doctor career. Silva's iron will is a hurdle to overcome (But maybe he should be harder to damage, for lore reasons?). Spin is way trickier than Reaval somehow. Kanon has a scary face and a scary attack to match. Rain is another gem of the fight - super fun attack. And finally, Shiratama King is scary and intense, just like Titan Dweevil (But way easier). It's a very intense fight and, despite being way easier than the original Destination boss, it's still very challenging and highly likely to be a hurdle for any unprepared player due to its length and challenging RNG (Which is mostly fair, except for pink, but definitely not trivial). An amazing way to end the game, and just as fitting gameplay-wise as Chedar was for Keypick 100.
And that's the main game. You can enjoy an upbeat song along with the credits, finishing with the only personalized "Thank you for playing" screen I know of. Seriously, the clear screen is (or at least seems to be) randomized. And it works really well too. That's such a cool touch.

Now let's talk about the extra content. There's a lot of it. There are 7 secret keys (Combined with an eighth key that can be obtained from Shiratama King himself), which allow the player to access the Slime Museum and three guest (test player) areas. On top of that, there's a special exhibition room, if you can reach the museum quickly enough, and a short story if you can beat the guest areas.
Let's start with the secret keys. To be honest, their placement is nothing special. Walk into random corners (Usually blocked by some obstacle that can be pretty difficult to deal with), and you might unlock a red portal (There's one exception, which I feel silly for not thinking of, but nothing I can do about it now). The result is that, if you want to hunt the secrets yourself, you must be willing to run into corners and maybe even throw away attempts at every floor just to examine some suspicious corners that may have a hidden secret but most likely won't. And throwing attempts just gets more and more painful the further you progress. Definitely not peak design for hiding secrets. I found two of them, absolutely hated the experience, realized that they were ruining my enjoyment of the game and decided to follow the guide provided in the "CheatsTips" file. Yes, the maker provides us with a guide to find the seven secret keys, which kind of fixes the issue with secret hunting, but feels like a duct tape fix: It works, and I appreciate it a lot, but it doesn't quite solve the main problem (Which is the secrets being boring to find for anyone that wanted to find them on their own).
The contents of the secrets, on the other hand, are absolutely amazing. They mainly consist of unused gimmicks, and there are some really creative ideas in there that complement the main game very well. Secret 5, in particular, is amazing, very different and one of my favorite parts of the game. It's been a long while since I've done 'that' type of puzzle, and it was really fun. Absolutely worth sinking a little bit of extra time into (Assuming you don't try to find them on your own).
The Slime Museum is exactly what you would expect from the description and the author's screenshot. A peaceful memory trip, as you remember several moments of your playthrough while you gaze at the adorable slimes and learn more about them. Wait, why is that guy staring at me? Knot is on screen, you should be staring at him, stop staring at me, oh no, HELP.
If you beat the game within 10 hours, you will be eligible to visit the Special Exhibition. I originally thought that this was intended to be done on your first playthrough (and that I was just bad for taking so much longer), but after replaying the game and just barely making it, I'm pretty sure that it's a speedrun goal of sorts. Even on your second playthrough, remembering the solutions of all the puzzles is not that easy, many floors are extra-choke-able when you are in a hurry and, on top of that, you still need to deal with Shiratama King's shenanigans. The Special Exhibition introduces you to a few more...interesting slimes. There isn't that much content, so I wouldn't recommend it unless you really want to replay the game.
Finally, the guest areas - or rather, guest saves. Each test player (except for Eevee) has their own area consisting of a single floor. They are pretty interesting. Despite only using mechanics already presented in the main game, they all present new types of interactions that make them stand out from the other floors. To be honest, I did find their visuals to be a little iffy (The darker tilesets don't blend very well with the ever-so-colorful slimes), and Kiehi Area's boxes are a little buggy, but these are minor issues. Kiehi Area is probably the hardest area in terms of puzzle (Though I would rank it below some of the main game areas), while Sugar Area is leagues above the rest of the game in terms of platforming difficulty (Easily 60+, or even 70+). Kikka's Area doesn't strike me as particularly challenging in either regard (When compared to late main game, anyway), but it's still a little difficult in both directions. They are all very creative and definitely worth having a look at.

For negative points, there are some minor issues and inconveniences. I'll number them. 1) The platforming can be very slow at times: The core mechanic of the game is slimes, and most slimes move veery sloowly. Like I mentioned before, most of the longer saves are not that difficult platforming-wise (i.e. you won't spend too long in them, so the length won't be as much of an issue), but you may find yourself yawning every now and then. Remember the manual's health advice? I normally ignore these, but for SlimePark alone I'd consider taking it. Short breaks do wonders for puzzle games. 2) There's a couple of odd skips that abuse the slimes' moving hitboxes (That is, a slime's hitbox will change according to its animation). To enjoy the game's puzzles as intended, consider banning the following two moves from your gameplay: - Shooting right near the tip of a slime's head. If you time it right, your bullet might pass through the slime and hit a slime right behind them; - Squeezing Knot between two nearby slimes. It's a precise needle jump, but it's doable, and seems to not be intended, as it allows an alternative solution for at least one puzzle (Although it's so much harder than the intended solution I'd not consider it worth the effort). 3) As previously mentioned, Pani's RNG can be very suspicious. She doesn't ruin the fight, but it's still worth mentioning. 4) The secrets are not fun to hunt on your own (which is kind of the point of having secrets in your game). Still, those are minor issues in the grand scheme of things.
As for the difficulty rating, it's hard to tell. From the highly complicated puzzles to the beginner-unfriendly platforming and a boss that floats around the 60s to 70s in my book, I feel like 75+ is a pretty good estimative. In Necoroneko's website, he ranked this game's puzzle difficulty as higher than Gaze's, and I'm somewhat inclined to believe (Though I highly disagree with both platforming difficulty ratings being so close). There are just so many details to remember about all the types of slimes and their interactions, and the amount of possible solutions for every floor is overwhelming. On the other hand, 80+ would be a little too much, since I still think that both are easier than Variety 100 in terms of puzzle difficulty (Although in SlimePark's case it's harder to be sure). Finally, like I mentioned in the beginning, the secrets and extra are more or less even in difficulty with the main game - just a complement for extra fun.

But wait! It's not over yet. There's a hidden door somewhere in the Special Exhibition room, which holds the True Ending. The thing is, the requirements to open this hidden door are so outland-ish, I'd rather not mention them. Add a LOT points to the difficulty rating and call it 101% if you do decide to go for it. Thanks to Shinobu for letting me know.

SlimePark is an amazing puzzle game that shows Necoroneko's creativity yet once again - but even more intensely this time. It's not a very acessible game, but I highly recommend it to experienced players (that enjoy puzzles).

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Tagged as: Gimmick Long Puzzle x_Floor
[4] Likes
Rating: 9.9 99       Difficulty: 79 79
Oct 16, 2021
Renko97
My head hurts.

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Tagged as: Gimmick Puzzle x_Floor
[1] Like
Rating: 10.0 100       Difficulty: 80 80
Aug 2, 2023
clue
Cute puzzle game :)

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[1] Like
Rating: 7.5 75       Difficulty: 55 55
Apr 3, 2023
omega2020
I love this game!! Between the creativity put into the 100F levels and the walk thru posted on youtube. I have been able to get through this game. The boss was fun to fight. You truely did well.

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Tagged as: Adventure Boss 100_Floor Puzzle
[1] Like
Rating: 10.0 100       Difficulty: N/A
Jun 15, 2020