Ruffy and the Riverside's Demo is Out Now - Nostalgia Meets Innovation in This Retro-inspired 3D Platformer!

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Ruffy and the Riverside's Demo is Out Now - Nostalgia Meets Innovation in This Retro-inspired 3D Platformer!

Unlike his signature move, Ruffy and the Riverside isn't just a copy & paste of its N64-inspirations! No need to wait for Steam Next Fest, play the demo today.

11 FEBRUARY 2025 - German indie studio Zockrates Laboratories and US publisher Phiphen Games are jumping with joy because they can finally let players explore the demo for Ruffy and the Riverside. The Demo is Out Now on Steam, ahead of the game's participation in the February Steam Next Fest, from Feb 24th to March 3rd.

The Steam demo offers a unique first look at the colourful world of Riverside and lets players collect stars by completing various challenges. Gamers who've been around long enough to live through the Nintendo 64 days will surely appreciate the wink to the good old days found in the demo's level structure. Just jump right in and grab those stars!

Console-only players won't have to wait too long to start swapping textures as well, because next to Steam and Epic Games, the full release for PlayStation 5, Xbox One & Series X|S and Nintendo Switch(es) will all arrive on your favourite platform soon!


Here is what press & media who had early access to the demo had to say after collecting stars to their hearts' desire:

"This new hand-drawn 3D platformer is bursting with Nintendo-level inventiveness!"
​- NintendoLife

"A nostalgic N64-inspired adventure that rocks to its own beat. Ruffy and the Riverside doesn't just lean on nostalgia, it catapults past it."
​- NoisyPixel

"Ever since I saw Ruffy and the Riverside, I was hooked on the way it looked and its unique gameplay mechanics. It's such a unique combination of a 3D style with the hand-painted sprites."
​- GameXplain

"One of the 3D platformers I'm most excited about!, every moment feels magical and full of surprise!"
​- Best Indie Games

"With its unique copy-and-paste gameplay mechanic, hand-drawn animations, and a level of charm reminiscent of Rareware’s golden era, this 3D platformer is something truly special."
​ - Thunderstash Gaming

Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1002 ... _Riverside

About the game

In Ruffy and the Riverside, you wield the magic power of SWAP, using it to Copy & Paste textures within the game world. Turn ice into lava or waterfalls into vines as you ride hay bales, explore, fight, and solve puzzles throughout Riverside. Unleash your imagination in this quirky open-world action game that literally lets you change the world!

Join Ruffy on an exciting quest to stop the mischievous villain Groll from destroying the World Core and throwing Riverside into chaos. Along the way, you'll travel to fantastic places with helpful friends like Pip the sassy bee, Sir Eddler the adventurous mole, and Silja the wise turtle. Meet a lively cast of characters, each with their own unique stories and dialogues, as the exciting adventure unfolds with unexpected surprises for Ruffy around every corner.

As Ruffy, the Chosen One, you'll harness the magical power of SWAP, and use it to transform the game world. With SWAP you'll change the sun into the moon or ice into lava while overcoming countless puzzles and effortlessly manipulating objects to your will. You can turn a stone into wood to create a boat or swap a wall into rubble to clear your path, and much more as you fight, jump, and ride hay bales throughout the adventure. The unique SWAP ability opens up endless possibilities, making every moment feel magical and full of surprises.

Ruffy just won't stop! When the 3D world ends, he leaps into new 2D levels to collect even more treasures, but watch out - many obstacles must be swapped before you can safely pass through walls. Use your cleverness and the magical SWAP mechanic to transform objects and unlock new paths in your delightful adventure!

Explore the marvelous open world of Riverside, where Ruffy embarks on playful side quests, masters challenges, and collects magic treasures across seven distant regions. Ride hay bales, perform tricks on secret rails, and discover unknown areas as you meet the mysterious Etoi and team up with the Fish Gang to defeat bully sharks. Unleash your creativity by designing your own textures with Pix, transforming the game world into your personal adventure filled with surprises around every corner.

Key Features

Use and master the power of SWAP to transform elements in the game world.
Overcome various puzzles through creative manipulation of objects.
Engage in exciting adventure elements like fighting, jumping, and skating.
Solve puzzles and find treasures in challenging 2D levels
Unlock seven outer regions, each with unique challenges and settings.
More than a dozen characters offering new exciting quests.
Use dreamstones to create and apply custom textures to main game elements like stone, waterfalls and more...
Enjoy a magical atmosphere with a focus on exploration and discovery.
Gather various collectibles, such as butterflies, dreamstones, Etoi creatures, and coins, each contributing to gameplay and customization.

About Zockrates Laboratories (developer)

We are a team of artists, programmers and musicians from Nuremberg, Germany, and we love video games. We used to make video game art, but since Ruffy 2017 smiled at us for the first time from a piece of paper and started swapping things right before our eyes in a prototype, we had to move on and founded Zockrates Laboratories. However, our aim has remained the same. We want to bring extraordinary gameplay, aesthetic enjoyment in visuals and music and most importantly a lot of fun.

About Phiphen Games (publisher)

Phiphen Games was founded with the purpose of publishing cutting-edge and unmistakably unique games. They help innovative developers across all genres & budget levels bring their projects to major platforms and reach a global audience.

Copyright © 2025 Zockrates Laboratories and Phiphen Games LLC, All rights reserved. ​ Published in Asia by H2 Interactive Co., Ltd