We’ve been looking forward to playing Ruffy and the Riverside ever since it was first announced in 2024. The game is out on Switch 1/2, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Series X/S as well as PC via Steam and Epic stores on the 26th June 2025. Ruffy and the Riverside has been developed by German indie studio Zockrates Laboratories, with publishing taken up by US publisher Phiphen Games.
For this review, we’ve smashed through the main quest on Steam, and the bottom line is that Ruffy and the Riverside is a must buy for fans of the golden era of 3D platformers. We say this with confidence, as it isn’t just the nostalgic graphics or presentation, it’s the overall feel of the entire game that warps you straight back to 2000 and everything great about platformers from the time. It isn’t perfect, however, so let’s get into the nitty gritty.
The story in Ruffy and the Riverside couldn’t be more quintessentially 90s platformer if it tried. An evil presence, known as Groll, has taken it upon himself to destroy the peaceful world of Riverside one part at a time. It’s up to an unlikely hero, Ruffy, and his bird companion, Pip, to save the day by restoring all the special letters that power the life-producing world core. It turns out Ruffy is the chosen one and must use his magical swap powers to restore balance.
For us to explain any more of the story would start to spoil some good plot twists and funny moments that are worth the surprises as they unfold. What we will say is that the world of Riverside is filled with characters, some just being used as a way to move the quests along, others that play a central part, time and again, in the evolving plot. The story is well thought out and does throw up some genuine surprises, especially towards the end of the main quest.
Although the overall story is fun and has plenty of ups, downs, laughs, and emotion. There are a few moments when the dialogue feels a bit much. It comes at times when you know where to head next, but a random conversation will spring up between Ruffy and one of the other main characters. Although nothing is spoiled by the extra dialogue, it doesn’t feel like much is gained. It’s obvious that these little interludes are for comedic and character-building effect, and, for the most part, they do succeed at this.
Any platformer worth its weight will have great controls and interesting mechanics that help it stand out. Luckily, Ruffy and the Riverside has both of these in spades, and both are used to great effect to create a compelling game. Firstly, using our Xbox controller on the Steam port was responsive and easy to understand. The usual left stick to move Ruffy, with the right to move the camera, is present, and the rest is self-explanatory once you learn the basics.
In regards to mechanics, Ruffy’s main maneuver is his swap ability. Put simply, Ruffy absorbs the essence of one material, be that wood, stone, water, or a particular color, and zaps it onto another surface. It sounds complicated, but once you get used to the idea, you’ll start to notice so many opportunities to change the world and uncover secrets, solve puzzles, and open up new paths. It works so well and doesn’t outstay its welcome at any point.
The swap mechanism has many uses, and is so easy to execute, that Ruffy and the Riverside feels like a genuinely fresh experience. It also feels natural to pull off quickly, as you can turn the camera and start getting ready to move again as soon as you throw the new material. Without spoiling anything, the best use of the swap powers is during the boss fights, where you’ll need to be quick on the trigger to cause damage and make sure you still have room to keep Ruffy safe.
It won’t take you long to get your head around the swap mechanic and realize that almost every puzzle in Ruffy and the Riverside, or every important moment, relies on you using it effectively. It’s used a lot during the game, but doesn’t begin to feel like an overused gimmick or a device used for the sake of it. Every swap you make has a direct effect on your progress, and there are so many inventive ways the level designers have used it throughout.
If we’re being hyper-critical, there are times when the swap mechanic needs to be used, but it isn’t immediately obvious how. Now, this is sometimes a great aspect of the overall feel of the game, as you need to experiment or try random things to progress. But, there were times during our playthrough that an extra arrow or a more obvious sign would’ve come in handy. That said, although some puzzles are devilishly implemented, none were ever impossible to work out.
If anything, the taxing puzzles do help with some extra longevity to the game, and it may have felt too easy if no thinking or experimentation time was added. It all comes down to a fine balance, and the devs have done a fine job of creating varied puzzles that also have varying degrees of difficulty. It’s also worth noting that not all the hard wall puzzles need to be finished to complete the main quest; they just need to be done for those wanting to 100% finish it.
Several other mechanics will need to be mastered throughout Ruffy and the Riverside. The main one is riding hay bales that are essential in getting to and from the levels that contain the secret letters. The bales are used for getting around the world map quickly, as well as to grind rails to reach inaccessible areas. Incidentally, the grind rails can only be opened by successfully solving underground puzzles that play out a little like the mini dungeons in Zelda: BOTW.
The combination of the unfolding story and needing to work to open areas keeps the pace of the game steady. For the main quest, it’s always obvious where you need to go next, even if a taxing puzzle may be waiting for you. Care has been taken to make sure you never feel lost in Riverside; a quick glimpse of the map will let you know exactly where to head next. There is also the radar on the HUD that is used to get a quick idea of what needs to be done next.
The overall feel of the gameplay is complemented beautifully by a few set pieces throughout the main quest. You’ll be brought back to great memories of games such as Crash Bandicoot, Banjo-Kazooie, and the N64 Zelda titles. Ruffy and the Riverside pays the ultimate homage to so many great adventures from yesteryear, but we’ll be good and not go into the details. What we will say is that the nostalgia will be deep for hardcore 3D platformer and adventure fans of a certain age.
It’s also a huge collect-a-thon, so those who get through the main story and want more puzzles, exploration, and platforming will not be disappointed. The side quests are varied and range from simply finding objects to full-blown head-scratchers that will require lots of experimentation with the swap mechanic to solve. This is also a testament to the surprisingly large world map the developers have created, with so much happening inside it.
We haven’t even talked about the presentation in Ruffy and the Riverside yet, either. The world of Riverside is spellbinding at times. Rich, vibrant colors, large polygonal shapes very reminiscent of the early days of 3D, and a foot-tapping soundtrack that could’ve come from the mind of Grant Kirkhope himself. The animations are also excellently implemented alongside many of the hand-drawn characters that stick out on the 3D landscape as paper-thin characters.
Everything about the presentation is top-notch; this has the feel of a AAA game from a studio with hundreds of artists and composers. It’s always easy to tell when a dev team has poured love into something, and Ruffy and the Riverside has that feeling. It isn’t always perfect; a few times, the animations appeared to be stuck, and Ruffy would be frozen until the game reloaded, but these tiny errors were few and far between and caused no issues to the flow.
Overall, Ruffy and the Riverside is a quality platformer that will please even the most casual of fans of the genre. It simply oozes nostalgia for the glory days of jumping about solving puzzles, but has lots of its own ideas to feel fresh. It has an engaging story as well as lovable characters, and the few boss fights that appear towards the end game are fun to get through. There is also an awful lot to discover in the main world long after the curtain drops on the main quest. This is a brilliant game that is worthy of your attention.
