Wikipedia

Rain World

Rain World is a 2017 survival-platform video game developed by indie studio Videocult and published by Adult Swim Games and Akupara Games. It was released for PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows in March 2017, and Nintendo Switch in December 2018. The player assumes control of a "slugcat"—an agile cat-like animal—that is tasked with survival in a derelict and hostile world. The slugcat traverses through the decaying remnants of an industrialized ancient civilization as it searches for its lost family.

Rain World
The game cover, portraying a slugcat atop a pole next to the game's title
Developer(s)Videocult
Publisher(s)Adult Swim Games
Akupara Games
EngineUnity
Platform(s)
Release
  • PlayStation 4, Windows
    • WW: March 28, 2017
  • Nintendo Switch
    • NA: December 13, 2018
    • EU: December 27, 2018
  • PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
    • WW: July 11, 2023
Genre(s)Platform, survival
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

The game features a simulated ecosystem in which creatures act independently to the player and perpetually wander through the environment. The slugcat uses debris as weapons to escape from lethal predators, scavenges for food, and tries to reach safe hibernation rooms before the deadly torrential rain arrives. Rain World uses procedural animation and conveys much of its narrative through environmental storytelling, adopting an adaptive low-fi and electronic soundtrack. Other game modes also include multiplayer. Beginning in 2011, Rain World was in development for over six years by a two-man team and funded through Kickstarter, who intended to simulate a realistic ecosystem. Players are given little explicit guidance on how to survive so that they would feel like "a rat that lives on subway tracks", learning to survive in an environment without understanding its higher-level function.

Rain World received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its art design and procedural animation, but expressed significant frustration towards its high difficulty, inconsistent checkpoints, and imprecise controls; some of these concerns were addressed with later updates. Despite the mixed reviews, the game garnered a cult following and modding community. In January 2023, a downloadable content pack titled Rain World: Downpour, which was adapted from a popular community mod, was released for PC and ported to various consoles on July 11, 2023, receiving generally positive reviews from critics. A second content pack titled Rain World: The Watcher was released on March 28, 2025, for PC.

Gameplay

edit

Rain World is a two dimensional (2D) survival-platformer where the player controls a "slugcat", a white creature visually similar to a cat and slug. The slugcat uses spears and debris to defend itself from predators in the ruined and obtuse ecosystem, where its animation is generated in real time through procedural animation.[1][2][3] As part of a nonlinear game,[4] the slugcat freely crawls through pipes and passages that span across over 1,600[5] screens shown individually; each screen spawns various creatures that wander around the region.[6][7] The slugcat can jump, swim, and climb poles to avoid enemies while foraging for sparsely placed food, which must be consumed to hibernate in scarce, designated safe rooms.[2][6] Hibernation spots serve as checkpoints where the player returns to after death; if the player does not reach a shelter before the end of the cycle,[a] rain will come, crushing or drowning the slugcat in the ensuing flood.[6][9]

Upon death, the slugcat loses one "karma". Karma is gained upon hibernating, and the player can prevent one loss of their current karma level by eating a yellow karma flower. The flower appears in set locations and is re-planted wherever the slugcat dies while under its effects. The slugcat must meet a specific karma level to pass through karma gates, which lie at the borders of the game's regions, allowing further progression.[1][10][11]

Predators range from camouflaged carnivorous plants to large vultures and Komodo dragon-like lizards. Many enemies can kill the slugcat in one attack, and some species have different variations, such as the different colors of lizards, which all have unique characteristics.[2][7][12] All creatures possess dynamic behavior and wander perpetually in the game's world independently from the player, occasionally battling and hunting each other; without a set path for predators to explore, the player is usually faced with problems they cannot avoid.[9][13] Players are mainly expected to evade predators[14] but are able to injure and kill them by hitting various weak points with spears.[7] The slugcat may carry three items at a time; two in their hands and one in their stomach. When throwing an item, the slugcat will use its right hand first, and can swap the items' places.[6] Some foods grant status effects when eaten,[2] such as slowing down time.[1]

Along with the default slugcat, the player may instead choose to play as the Monk and Hunter slugcats. As the Monk, creatures are less aggressive and the slugcat needs less food to hibernate. The Hunter, a carnivore with a bigger appetite, must also compete with more powerful and hostile creatures. Other game modes also include a multiplayer arena mode, where up to four players battle each other, and a sandbox mode, where players can freely spawn objects and creatures from the game.[15][16][17]

Rain World's post-apocalyptic setting is destroyed by ecological catastrophe and illustrated in pixel art.[2] As a form of environmental storytelling, the game's narrative is told through its environment,[13][8]: 9:19  dreams during hibernation, and holograms from a worm-like creature that monitors the slugcat.[2] The game offers little to guide the player,[1] apart from the worm creature that directs the player towards nearby food and story-related events; this assistance becomes rarer as the game progresses.[6] The player may also view a map to check their progress in the large in-game world.[6][18]

Downloadable content

edit
 
Promotional art for Downpour. From left to right: Spearmaster, Rivulet, Saint, Gourmand, Artificer

Rain World has two downloadable content packs (DLCs), the first being Downpour and the second being The Watcher.[19] Tripling the game's world's size, Downpour adds five slugcats and ten regions, accessed separately from the original game's content. Each slugcat features a different set of abilities.[20][21][22] The Spearmaster can create an infinite amount of spears, but penetrating other creatures is the only way it can receive food. The Rivulet, a semiaquatic slugcat, has an overall increased agility, but must deal with more frequent rain. The Gourmand requires a tremendous amount of food, but has access to a crafting system. The Artificer can jump twice and create explosives, but is constantly plagued by tribes of ape-like "scavengers" that hunt them. The Saint has a grappling tongue that grants them high mobility, but is unable to throw spears and is prone to freezing.[20]

Downpour also adds three other game modes: Safari mode allows players to freely spectate the ecosystem and control any living creature within it. Challenge mode provides 70 unique scored challenges with preset objectives. Expedition provides random missions that award experience points upon completion.[21][22][23] Downpour's release was also accompanied by full local co-op functionality and the free Rain World Remix upgrade, which added accessibility options, ways to customize game difficulty, and better modding support so that players could modify the game more easily.[21][22]

The Watcher DLC adds the eponymous slugcat, new regions, and creatures.[19][24] The DLC's additions are significantly larger than the original game.[25]

Plot

edit

A family of slugcats are struck by the rain. They become separated from one of their children—the player's slugcat—as it is flushed away into the decaying remnants of an industrialized ancient civilization, now long abandoned.[11]

Eventually, the slugcat stumbles upon Five Pebbles, a massive, infected, semi-biotic supercomputer called an "iterator". After climbing above the clouds and traversing through his megastructure, the slugcat meets his avatar. Pebbles explains that, like all living things, the slugcat is trapped in a cycle of death and rebirth. He infers that the slugcat wants it to end and directs it to a place where it can free itself from the cycle. Following his guidance, the slugcat travels underground and enters a sea of "Void Fluid" where it can "ascend".

More information about the setting can be obtained by bringing pearls—that contain logs and other information—to another damaged iterator named Looks to the Moon, whose structure had collapsed and submerged into the shoreline.

Development

edit

Rain World is developed by Videocult, an indie group made up of Joar Jakobsson and James Therrian (also known as James Primate).[b][4] Jakobsson served as the game's artist, designer, and programmer,[4] while Primate wrote the game's soundtrack, handled the studio's business,[14] and designed levels; this became Primate's first experience developing gameplay.[4][13] Before creating Rain World, Jakobsson was a graphic designer in Sweden who taught himself how to animate sprites. He had no industry experience and played few games[14] when development began in 2011.[13] Jakobsson started with a sketch of an animal and posted development updates on his YouTube channel, with one YouTube commenter dubbing the creature a "slugcat".[14][28][29]: 4:25  Jakobsson had an interest in abandoned environments and what they reveal about the people who occupied them.[14] Partly inspired by his feelings of foreignness while living as an exchange student in Seoul, South Korea, a core idea was to recreate the life of "the rat in Manhattan". This rat understands how to find food, hide, and survive in a subway, but does not comprehend the subway's structural purpose or why it was built.[13][23] Around this time in 2012, Primate found the game on an Internet forum for indie games. He sent Jakobsson 12 tracks as a successful pitch after experiencing a nightmare where "the game came out and was filled with garbage music".[27]

I wasn't prepared for any of it! I have never made a video game before and I was a graphic design student and I was winging it the entire time!

Joar Jakobsson, interview with the Independent Game Developers' Association (2021)[30]: 23:17 

Originally, Rain World was conceived to be a single-room multiplayer platformer where the player would hunt one prey as they run from one bigger predator.[31]: 5:05  The game strayed from that initial vision as it was expanded, taking many "unexpected twists and turns", but had always retained the concept of the slugcat[32] and the "grimy, wet industrial environment".[4] Jakobsson and Primate hoped that players would similarly feel as if they were close to making sense of the game's abstraction of an industrial environment without fully understanding.[14] Jakobsson did not intend for the game's extreme difficulty which resulted in its mixed reception.[30]: 12:00 

So instead of the AI creatures just existing as a player obstacle, they exist in their own right, they exist there for themselves.

Joar Jakobsson, interview with Game Developer (2017)[33]

Jakobsson designed Rain World's enemies to live their own lives, in which they hunt for food and struggle to survive, rather than serve as obstacles for the player. Enemies dynamically wander around without a set path,[33] and in final playtests a week before release, the developers noticed how some players became more or less interested in the game based on how lucky they were with enemy behavior.[13] When inquired, Primate explained that he disliked traditional enemy behavior that solely acted as an adversary to the player, preferring the predators act like hungry animals in a real ecosystem likewise to that of the slugcat, eliciting empathy in the player.[13][26] In a Playstation Blog post, Jakobsson added that the creatures in the ecosystem "are also individuals that can learn to recognize you". He took this concept into account when developing the scavengers in particular; they are initially distrustful of the slugcat, but eventually ally with it once trust is established.[34][35]: 8:28  Placed near the bottom-middle of the food chain,[13] the slugcat is intended to avoid combat while evading enemies through stealth and flight.[14][36]

The game was initially written in the Lingo programming language before switching to C# early on with its own independent game engine.[4] Jakobsson's levels are made by hand in a standalone level editor. The designer brushes recurring, cloned elements, such as plants and chains onto the map, as well as combining and processing shadows.[14] At one point, the original release of Rain World was planned to include a multiplayer mode with separate story and custom modes upon release.[14][37]: 7:14  The development team crowdfunded some development costs via Kickstarter in early 2014 and quickly surpassed its goal, being greenlit in five days and picked up by Adult Swim Games;[38][39]: 2:14  By early 2015, about four years into development, the team had switched to the Unity game engine and released a test version of the game to its Kickstarter backers.[40] A seven-minute trailer was released by the end of the year.[41]

Music and sound design

edit

Though Rain World's soundtrack was originally chiptune,[27] Primate felt that "arcade bleeps and bloops and retro concepts" did not fit with the naturalistic mood of the game, and instead aimed for a more "moody, immersive atmosphere".[14] The final product resulted in a low-fi and electronic soundtrack. He and his musician partner Lydia Esrig turned to field recordings of urban ambiance for both the soundtrack and sound design, along with litter and metal for otherworldly sounds.[4][27] Primate aimed for the music to approximate the game's eclectic visuals, which mix industrial, science fiction, jungle, and various architectural elements.[4]

Without dialogue or narration, Rain World's story was partly communicated through its soundtrack to contribute to its environmental storytelling.[4] The beginning of the game uses primitive drums based on the slugcat's feelings of fear and hunger, while transitioning to describe new areas.[14] Rain World has over 3.5 hours of recorded music across 160 tracks. When the slugcat is chased by a predator, between eight and twelve tracks will simultaneously layer to create ambiance and respond to the slugcat's in-game context, which Primate names "threat music".[4][27][42]: 0:24  Although, while the creatures of Rain World are animals like the slugcat, the torrential rain was designed to represent "oblivion incarnate", a threat no creature could survive against. To contribute to this, a collection of sampled rainstorms with varying intensity layer up as the rain develops. The storm's climax introduces pipe organs that give a "totally biblical wrath-of-god vibe".[4]

Release

edit
 
 
Promotional art pre-release

Videocult announced they were in the last phases of development in early 2016[43] and posted another trailer on December 5.[44] The animation of Rain World was popularized on social media[45][46][47] in praise of what IGN attributed to its "uncanny fluidity", contributing to the game's popularity pre-release.[2] Primate specifically noted one GIF that was posted on Twitter and retweeted over 15,000 times, though this popularity didn't contribute to Rain World's sales.[48] A final trailer was posted on March 8, 2017, revealing its release date to be on March 28[5] for PlayStation 4 and Windows, and to be published by Adult Swim Games.[49][50] Previews compared Rain World's design elements to other video games, including the difficulty of Super Meat Boy (2010), the environment and soundtrack of Fez (2012),[14][51] and the puzzle-platforming of Metroid and Oddworld.[52]

After its release, the game received an update to alleviate its high difficulty in reaction to the game's reception.[53] Another major content update was planned for release later in 2017. The update was slated to include the local multiplayer arena mode, featuring over 50 new rooms, and the Monk and Hunter, which make the game easier and harder respectively.[16][17] The update eventually released in beta in November for Windows[54] and finished officially on December 11, 2017;[55] the update was also ported to PlayStation 4 on December 21, 2018.[15] Following speculation in January 2018,[56] Videocult and Adult Swim Games ported Rain World to the Nintendo Switch on December 13 in the United States and December 27 in Europe.[57] Limited Run Games released a physical edition for PlayStation 4 later that month.[15]

Wanting more, fans picked Rain World apart, produced mod tools and set to work expanding it. More playable creatures, more environments, more art and music. Many drew fanart and wrote extensive fiction, building on its story of alien transcendence. Downpour is the result of those efforts.

Dominic Tarason, PC Gamer Downpour review (2023)[20]

In January 2022, due to conflicts with Adult Swim Games, Videocult announced that Rain World would be published by Akupara Games from then on after a prolonged legal dispute.[58][59] On March 28 of that year, a DLC was officially announced, to be published by Akupara Games.[60] Titled Rain World: Downpour, it adds five new slugcat characters with their own storylines, over 1000 new rooms across ten new regions, and three new game modes.[61] Downpour is an expansion of the "More Slugcats" mod and was developed by 40 community modders over the course of five years.[20][62] It was released for Windows on January 19, 2023[63] and consoles on July 11, 2023.[64]

Development of Downpour had started before the Monk and Hunter update released according to lead programmer Andrew Marrero. A major theme of the DLC was the passage of time and how the hostile world transforms as new catastrophic events occur, placing the five slugcats' environments across different periods of time. Marrero intended for the Challenge mode to teach players the game's mechanics. The structured challenges with pre-determined tasks act as an easier practice than the "spontaneous challenges" of the unpredictable main gameplay. Lee Moriya, the creator of the Expedition game mode, said that the given quests encouraged players to do things they wouldn't have done normally and rewarding them with experience points. Marrero created Safari mode to allow players to observe the simulated ecosystem without the stress of surviving or being pursued.[23]

On March 28, 2024, the development of a second DLC titled Rain World: The Watcher was announced with a teaser trailer, featuring new regions, creatures, and a playable slugcat named the Watcher, also being dubbed the Nightcat.[65][66][67] The DLC was jointly developed by Videocult and modders that worked on Downpour; its marketing adopted alternate reality game elements for fans to decipher.[25] The DLC released on March 28, 2025 for PC[68][19] with content adapted from community mods.[24] Videocult intends to add post-release updates and a console release.[25]

Reception

edit

The game, before obtaining cult status[20] and a modding community,[58] received mixed reviews on its release, according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.[75] Reviewers praised the original game's art design and criticized the harshness of its gameplay mechanics,[1][2][6][10] particularly its unpredictable deaths, ruthless enemies, and time-consuming hibernation requirements,[10] while Downpour was well received.[20][76] 43% of critics recommended the game according to OpenCritic.[73] Reception on The Watcher is minimal, so this article does not cover it.

Rain World's gameplay frustrated reviewers,[1][2][6][10] who often descended into apathy.[1][10] Considering the immediate kills, infrequent checkpoints, frequent repetition, crushing rain, inexplicable enemy movements, and clumsy controls, IGN wrote that the game's challenging elements taken alone would be "tough but fair", but when considered together, "the odds are stacked so high against the player that it risks toppling the entire structure of the game".[2] Though Game Informer recognized the game's intent to simulate the slugcat's suffering in a punishing, mysterious environment, they felt the lack of assistance and terrible controls ruined that intent; they did not complete the game to provide a score.[77] Reviewers were bored by the repeated navigation of rooms with random enemies after each death, which tempered their urge to explore.[2][6] Polygon's reviewer was miserable following the loss of her multi-hour progression. She wrote about futility as a central tenet of Rain World, and felt that she was not given the proper tools to survive.[1] Critics especially lamented how the slugcat's jerky animations and imprecise throwing mechanics led to many unwarranted deaths, with Rock, Paper, Shotgun comparing hypothetical instructions for those throwing mechanics to a "bizarre legal document".[6][1][2][7][9]

I haven’t finished Rain World. I know I won’t finish Rain World. And a not insignificant part of that is because I just do not enjoy playing Rain World.

Janine Hawkins, Polygon review (2017)[1]

Multiple reviewers concluded that while some hardcore players might enjoy the tough gameplay, Rain World excluded a large audience with its design choices,[2][7][6][11] as its choice of emergent enemy strategy would feel unfair to most players.[9] Paste compared the controls to Devil May Cry due to their required specificity which would've frustrated even the most experienced of gamers, especially in partnership with the game's checkpoints.[11] Rock, Paper, Shotgun called the checkpointing among the worst in modern platformers, and its challenge, unlike the similarly punishing Dark Souls, without purpose.[6] Rain World's karmic gates, which require players to have a positive hibernate to death ratio, were arbitrary goals "disrespectful" of the player's time, according to GameSpot.[10] Making players trudge through an area a dozen times, IGN argued, is "antithetical" in a game in which exploration itself is the reward.[2] In contrast, PC Gamer's reviewer, with time, began to see the game's cumbersome controls less as "bad design" than as "thematically appropriate", given the game's intent to disempower the player.[9] The "thrilling desperation" of Rain World made it the best game of 2017 to PCGamesN's reviewer: after hours and hundreds of deaths, he found that learning from each death was worthwhile. Though Rain World was a "beautiful, forward-thinking game", Paste concluded it should've been more accessible in regards to the game's "puzzles" that gave only "half of the pieces."[11]

Some critics fondly recalled serendipitous in-game encounters as they learned the game environment's unwritten rules.[6][10][78][74] Not knowing how foreign figures would react, Rock, Paper, Shotgun's reviewer treated new encounters as puzzles. This led to moments of fearful scrambling across a room to avoid a new, encroaching enemy type, and discovering that other enemies are harmless if left alone.[6] Rain World was abundant with opportunities for a player to demonstrate ingenuity, according to GameSpot, whose highlights included making a mouse into a dark room's lantern, using weapons as climbable objects, and luring enemies into battle to distract from the slugcat.[10] PCGamesN believed this factor was lacking in mainstream gaming, highlighting that "learning how to manipulate and criss-cross the behaviours of Rain World’s menagerie" resulted in exhilaration.[78] Nintendo World Report, reviewing the game in 2019, believed the unpredictable creature behavior deserved its "own level of praise" which differentiated it from the "typical goombas" of other games.[74] Those critics considered these mysterious, perceptive interactions to be among the game's best features.[6][10][78][74]

 
 
Rain World received early attention for the "uncanny fluidity" of its animations

During development, Rain World animations became popular on social media for their "uncanny fluidity", which reviewers continued to praise at release. IGN described the slugcat's animations as beautiful and reactive to the angle and physics of movement, from clinging to poles to squeezing through ventilation. The reviewer said it was among the best aesthetics in a 2D game, with each screen showing abundant detail and meticulous craft.[2] The game's dark and sinister atmosphere was elegant to Eurogamer, who described the "floppy grace" of the slugcat and predators as pleasing.[7] Kotaku had much anticipation for the game's graphics—especially with the "pixellated cuteness that is the slugcat"—despite falling into frustration like that of their colleagues.[79] Nintendo Life's 2024 review found the game's graphics beautiful enough to exceed it's repetitive gameplay; they praised the opening cinematic's music and wordless storytelling, saying how it could function as its own short film.[72] The graphics were more interesting than beautiful to Polygon's reviewer, who also praised the limited color palette's role in distinguishing the slugcat, prey, and enemies from the environment.[1]

There is so much beauty and intrigue and diversity of life in Rain World. It’s a pity the game doesn’t want you to see any of it.

Brendan Caldwell, Rock, Paper, Shotgun review (2017)[6]

While some may compare the aesthetic to that of Limbo (2010), Rock, Paper, Shotgun felt that Rain World had more in common with Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee's (1997): both featured dark yet attractive worlds, scary yet fascinating characters, frequent inter-enemy conflict, and frustrating controls.[6] Rain World successfully depicted "the cruel indifference of nature", according to GameSpot. Its imaginative and compelling landscape—surreal inhabitants in a bleak, alien atmosphere—recalled the spirit of games like BioShock (2007) and Abzû (2016), in which the reviewer was too attracted to the artistic detail to contemplate the credulity of the man-made environment.[10] Paste and Eurogamer drew connections to Tokyo Jungle (2012), which featured parallel themes of a savage ecosystem in a post-human environment.[7][11] PCGamesN was also pleased with the game's narrative, describing how the game's "gruelling survival story" turned into "a sci-fi epic that has you meditate on both the futility and beauty of life".[78] In a review of Downpour, PC Gamer summarized Rain World as a "truly daunting game, but a mesmerizing one to inhabit".[20]

It's harsh and fascinating world has stayed with me in a way few games do. I sometimes look back on that review with a tinge of regret, feeling like I was unable to fully meet the game on its own terms. Then again, this was before developers Videocult pumped a bunch of updates into it and added that nice easy mode for sufferers like me. Some day I'll go back.

Brendan Caldwell, Rock, Paper, Shotgun announcing The Watcher's release date (2024)[68]

Downpour was well received by Rock, Paper, Shotgun and PC Gamer.[20][76] PC Gamer explained how the DLC's easier accessibility made the game "finally click." According to them, the new content was a "monstrously huge package" and a "new beginning" for Rain World in prediction of future community mods.[20] Rock, Paper, Shotgun said the gameplay experience was less confusing than the original game due to the build-up of guides, as well as enjoying the new game modes which allowed new ways of approaching the game. Comparing the expansion to Stray (2022), they enjoyed the immersion of the new slugcats and their struggles to survive, but still considered its difficulty unfair. The reviewer recognized that the unexplained gameplay was one of Rain World's core elements, and concluded that Downpour reintroduced Rain World as "one of gaming’s most fearsome and unpredictable beasts".[76]

Accolades

edit

Rain World was nominated for "Best Platformer" in PC Gamer's 2017 Game of the Year Awards,[80] "Best Platformer", "Best Art Direction", and "Most Innovative" in IGN's Best of 2017 Awards.[81][82][83]

It was also nominated for the Statue of Liberty Award for Best World at the New York Game Awards 2018,[84] and for "Excellence in Audio" at the Independent Games Festival Competition Awards.[85][86]

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Days are called "cycles".[2][8]: 1:45 
  2. ^ Sources variate between "James Therrien" and "James Primate":[13][4][14][26][27]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Hawkins, Janine (March 27, 2017). "Rain World review". Polygon. Archived from the original on March 29, 2017. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Skrebels, Joe (March 27, 2017). "Rain World Review". IGN. Archived from the original on March 29, 2017. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  3. ^ Wilde, Tyler (September 4, 2015). "Rain World's simulated ecosystem reacts to your choices". PC Gamer. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Couture, Joel (February 18, 2018). "Road to the IGF: Videocult's Rain World". Game Developer. Archived from the original on April 3, 2024. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Chalk, Andy (March 8, 2017). "Rain World, the survival-platforming story of Slugcat, comes out this month". PC Gamer. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Caldwell, Brendan (March 27, 2017). "Wot I Think: Rain World". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on March 28, 2017. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Parkin, Simon (March 29, 2017). "Rain World review". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on April 18, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  8. ^ a b GameOctane (December 11, 2016). PSX Exclusive Interview - Rain World (Video). Retrieved April 3, 2025 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Prescott, Shaun (March 27, 2017). "Rain World review". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Concepcion, Miguel (March 31, 2017). "Rain World Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on April 18, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  11. ^ a b c d e f Kunzelman, Cameron (March 31, 2017). "Rain World is Unique and Beautiful, But Inaccessible". Paste Magazine. Retrieved March 29, 2025.
  12. ^ Caldwell, Brendan (March 30, 2017). "The deadly creatures of Rain World - a bestiary in GIFs". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i Priestman, Chris (March 27, 2017). "'Rain World' Is Like 'STALKER' but a Platformer and You're a Rodent". Waypoint. Archived from the original on March 28, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cook, Dave (January 22, 2014). "Rain World: a ray of indie sunshine in a murky January interview". VG247. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  15. ^ a b c Romano, Sal (November 29, 2018). "Rain World PS4 update to add new modes and multiplayer on December 21, limited run physical edition announced". Gematsu. Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  16. ^ a b Prescott, Shaun (July 30, 2017). "Rain World expansion will usher in difficulty options and multiplayer". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on December 13, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  17. ^ a b Caldwell, Brendan (June 30, 2017). "Rain World expansion to bring easy mode & multiplayer". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
  18. ^ Purslow, Matt (December 31, 2015). "Rain World trailer reveals slugcat's memory map". PCGamesN. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
  19. ^ a b c Allsop, Ken (March 29, 2025). "Masterful, unique Metroidvania Rain World is back with a brand new DLC". PCGamesN. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h i Dominic Tarason (January 19, 2023). "Fans of survival sim Rain World have spent 5 years making an expansion so big, it's practically a sequel". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on April 1, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  21. ^ a b c Smith, Graham (October 27, 2022). "Rain World: Downpour will bring co-op, mod support and new slugcats in early 2023". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved March 29, 2025.
  22. ^ a b c Ollie, Reynolds (June 16, 2023). "Rain World: Downpour DLC Promises More Brutal Gameplay This Coming July". Nintendo Life. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  23. ^ a b c Couture, Joel (April 13, 2023). "Channeling calm and creating new ways to play in Rain World: Downpour". Game Developer. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  24. ^ a b Bolding, Jonathan (March 31, 2025). "Cult classic Rain World has dropped a new expansion about its most mysterious slugcat yet". PC Gamer. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
  25. ^ a b c Peachey, Jack (March 28, 2025). "'It's The Best of All Worlds' Rain World Dev Talks Making The Watcher DLC". Game Rant. Retrieved May 14, 2025.
  26. ^ a b Lemon, Marshall (May 3, 2016). "Rain World wants you to feel bad for killing its hungry enemies". Gamesradar+. Retrieved March 28, 2025.
  27. ^ a b c d e Webster, Andrew (February 21, 2017). "How the composers of Rain World created an alien soundscape using old cans and pipes". The Verge. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  28. ^ Webster, Andrew (January 17, 2014). "Slugcats and survival: staying alive in the darkness of 'Rain World'". The Verge. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  29. ^ GAU Studios (March 5, 2014). GAU Indie Exclusive: Rain World Interview Part One (Video). Retrieved April 3, 2025 – via YouTube.
  30. ^ a b International Game Developers Association (January 26, 2021). Dev on air - "The Design and Creative Processes Behind Rainworld" w/ Joar Jakobsson (Video). Retrieved April 1, 2025 – via YouTube.
  31. ^ Six One Indie (September 19, 2024). Videocult Devs Interview // Six One Indie Showcase (Video). Retrieved April 2, 2025 – via YouTube.
  32. ^ Cook, Dave (January 20, 2014). "Rain World console editions a possibility, dev discusses Slugcat character". VG247. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  33. ^ a b Priestman, Chris (March 27, 2017). "Crafting the complex, chaotic ecosystem of Rain World". Game Developer. Archived from the original on May 15, 2023. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  34. ^ Hillier, Brenna (January 16, 2017). "Rain World's ecosystem includes terrifying vultures and stilt-legged jackalopes, which will observe your actions and remember you". VG247. Retrieved March 29, 2025.
  35. ^ Dubl day (April 24, 2016). PAX East 2016: Rain World (Gameplay - Review - interview) (Video). Retrieved April 3, 2025 – via YouTube.
  36. ^ Kelly, Andy (March 12, 2015). "Rain World video shows more of gorgeous stealth platformer". PC Gamer. Retrieved March 28, 2025.
  37. ^ GAU Studios (March 11, 2014). GAU Indie Exclusive: Rain World Interview Part Two (Video). Retrieved April 3, 2025 – via YouTube.
  38. ^ Corriea, Alexa Ray (April 14, 2014). "Adult Swim Games bringing stealth platformer Rain World to PS Vita". Polygon. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
  39. ^ Destructoid (April 13, 2014). PAX East 2014: Survival of the Slugcat in Rain World (Video). Retrieved April 3, 2025 – via YouTube.
  40. ^ Priestman, Chris (January 18, 2015). "Try To Avoid Becoming Someone's Next Meal In Platformer Rain World". Siliconera. Archived from the original on December 19, 2015. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  41. ^ Chalk, Andy (December 30, 2015). "New Rain World trailer shows off seven minutes of gameplay". PC Gamer. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
  42. ^ NobleGames (March 16, 2017). Rain World Gameplay | PAX East 2017 (PC/PS4) (Video). Retrieved April 3, 2025 – via YouTube.
  43. ^ Smith, Graham (January 6, 2016). "Rain World Video Shows Maps, More Physics Wonder". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on January 10, 2017. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  44. ^ Sykes, Tom (December 5, 2016). "New Rain World trailer sneaks out of the PlayStation Experience". PC Gamer. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
  45. ^ Ellison, Cara (March 20, 2013). "Drip Feed: Rain World". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
  46. ^ Caldwell, Brendan Caldwell (January 16, 2017). "Rain World's slippery Slugcat is coming to PC this year". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
  47. ^ Donnelly, Joe (January 17, 2017). "Rain World GIFs show gorgeous world and a giant bird of prey". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on January 19, 2017. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
  48. ^ McCarthy, Caty (October 24, 2018). "How GIFs Have Changed Gaming". VG247. Retrieved April 1, 2025.
  49. ^ Hillier, Brenna (March 27, 2017). "Watch Rain World's opening cinematic now so you can get in on the ground with this week's indie darling". VG247. Retrieved March 29, 2025.
  50. ^ Matulef, Jeffrey (March 14, 2017). "Rain World to drop this month on PS4 and PC". Eurogamer. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  51. ^ Peel, Jeremy (March 13, 2017). "Survival platformer Rain World is coming out like umbrellas in a downpour on March 28". PCGamesN. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
  52. ^ Narcisse, Evan (March 14, 2015). "Natural Selection Has Been Very Kind To Slugcat. Now You Need to Help". Kotaku. Archived from the original on February 9, 2017. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  53. ^ Foxall, Sam (April 8, 2017). "Rain World's first patch fixes several design oversights, like slugcat's tiny lung capacity". PCGamesN. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
  54. ^ Chalk, Andy (November 29, 2017). "Rain World's difficulty-changing update is now in open beta on Steam". PC Gamer. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  55. ^ Therrien, James (December 11, 2017). "UPDATE: Rain World 1.5". Steam. Archived from the original on December 12, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  56. ^ Reseigh-Lincoln, Dom (January 23, 2018). "Rain World's Developer Is Gauging Interest For A Potential Switch Port". Nintendo Life. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  57. ^ Romano, Sal (December 13, 2018). "Rain World now available for Switch in North America, launches December 27 in Europe". Gematsu. Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  58. ^ a b Cunningham, James (January 29, 2022). "Rainworld Ready to Live Again with More Slugcats Mod Becoming Official". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  59. ^ DeWitte, Joel A. (March 13, 2024). "WB Retiring Adult Swim Games - News". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
  60. ^ Rain World: Downpour - Teaser Trailer - IGN (Trailer). March 28, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2025 – via IGN.
  61. ^ Chalk, Andy (March 28, 2022). "Rain World is getting 5 new Slugcats in surprise Downpour DLC". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on December 13, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  62. ^ O'Connor, Alice (March 29, 2022). "Rain World adding new areas and slugcats in Downpour expansion". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  63. ^ Romano, Sal (October 27, 2022). "Rain World DLC 'Downpour' launches January 19, 2023 for PC". Gematsu. Archived from the original on October 29, 2022. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  64. ^ "Rain World: Downpour - Official Console Reveal Trailer". IGN. July 11, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
  65. ^ Serin, Kaan (March 29, 2024). "While Hollow Knight hopefuls wait for Silksong, another modern Metroidvania classic gears up for its second massive expansion". Gamesradar+. Retrieved March 29, 2025.
  66. ^ Smith, Graham (March 30, 2024). "Rain World is getting a new DLC starring the mysterious Nightcat". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on April 1, 2024. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
  67. ^ Romano, Sal (March 28, 2024). "Rain World DLC 'The Watcher' announced". Gematsu. Retrieved March 29, 2025.
  68. ^ a b Caldwell, Brendan (September 20, 2024). "Rain World's new slugcat will explore icy wastes and desert sands as The Watcher DLC gets a release date". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  69. ^ "Rain World for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on May 15, 2018. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  70. ^ "Rain World critic reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
  71. ^ "Rain World critic reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
  72. ^ a b Eker, Nathanial (December 31, 2018). "Mini Review: Rain World (Switch) - A Gorgeous Yet Cruel Survival Platformer". Nintendo Life. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  73. ^ a b "Rain World Reviews". OpenCritic. March 29, 2017. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
  74. ^ a b c d Olivo, Matthew (January 17, 2019). "Rain World (Switch) Review". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
  75. ^ "Rain World for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on May 15, 2018. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  76. ^ a b c Chatziioannou, Alexander (January 20, 2023). "Rain World's Downpour DLC cements it as a fascinating and underrated beast". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on July 21, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  77. ^ Marchiafava, Jeff (March 31, 2017). "How Rain World Botches Extreme Difficulty". Game Informer. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
  78. ^ a b c d Priestman, Chris (December 21, 2017). "The best games of 2017: Rain World". PCGamesN. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
  79. ^ Fahey, Mike (March 28, 2017). "Rain World Broke Me". Kotaku. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
  80. ^ "Games of the Year 2017: The nominees". PC Gamer. December 8, 2017. Archived from the original on January 6, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  81. ^ "Best of 2017 Awards: Best Platformer". IGN. December 20, 2017. Archived from the original on December 31, 2017. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  82. ^ "Best of 2017 Awards: Best Art Direction". IGN. December 20, 2017. Archived from the original on December 16, 2017. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  83. ^ "Best of 2017 Awards: Most Innovative". IGN. December 20, 2017. Archived from the original on January 2, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  84. ^ Whitney, Kayla (January 25, 2018). "Complete list of winners of the New York Game Awards 2018". AXS. Archived from the original on January 27, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
  85. ^ Faller, Patrick (January 5, 2018). "Independent Games Festival Awards Nominees Announced". GameSpot. Archived from the original on January 7, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  86. ^ Whitney, Kayla (March 22, 2018). "Complete list of 2018 Independent Games Festival Awards Winners". AXS. Archived from the original on July 1, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2018.

Further reading

edit
edit

  Media related to Rain World at Wikimedia Commons

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rain_World&oldid=1291008624"