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There is nothing new beneath the solar. Whether discovered from a Shakespearan sonnet or the Holy Bible, that easy little bit of knowledge is all too simple to use to nearly any medium of recent artwork.
As time goes on, it turns into more and more tough to persuade oneself that it’s even potential to create one thing distinctive anymore — however that’s merely not the case. Case in level: Ruffy and the Riverside, one of the artistic video video games of the 12 months.
Ruffy and the Riverside is so clearly impressed by traditional 3D platforming games it’s actually nostalgic, but modern twists and one beautifully simple but brilliant gameplay mechanic has made this one of my favorite 2025 games. Let me tell you why.
Don’t like what you see? Just SWAP it out
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Ruffy and the Riverside takes a lot of notes from legendary classics, including a colorful and cartoonish art style, a paradoxically low-stakes plot that threatens the destruction of the entire world, and a plucky protagonist that isn’t certain he should be at the center of all this attention.
Gameplay is also nostalgic, with straightforward platforming, basic combat against a handful of very punchable enemies, a vast assortment of simple puzzles, and all the mysteriously floating golden coins you can pick up.
The ground, walls, rivers and oceans, plants, objects, even animals — it can all be altered by SWAP.
What sets Ruffy and the Riverside apart is the SWAP, a unique skill that Ruffy learned during his time working at his father’s Painting Workshop. For all intents and purposes, the SWAP allows Ruffy to manipulate reality by swapping materials, colors, and patterns of almost anything in the world.
Need to deal with an angry shark? Simply turn its watery abode into scorching lava. Need to smash a stone pillar? Just convert it into fragile wood. Perhaps an ancient guardian artifact has been horrifically defaced? Seek out its sacred symbols elsewhere and restore them.
The SWAP is, at its core, incredibly simple — scan one thing, and then apply it to something else. It takes mere moments to completely alter the world around you, and the SWAP is at the center of every puzzle and obstacle in Ruffy and the Riverside.
This game never gets too complicated, and that’s part of the magic.
A relaxing, totally-unserious adventure through Riverside
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Ruffy and the Riverside doesn’t take itself too seriously. The characters, dialogue, and story are all riddled with dumb, wholesome jokes, and playing the game will rarely make you think too hard.
This game’s world is surprisingly dense, though, packed with tiny puzzles and challenges. There’s a lot to discover and collect in Ruffy and the Riverside, and it’s here the game’s brilliance truly stands out.
Puzzles in Ruffy and the Riverside can be broken down into two parts: recognizing there’s a puzzle to solve at all, and realizing what the solution is. Both parts tend to lean toward “obvious” and “easy,” but the entire game embracing simplicity actually introduces a degree of challenge.
Ruffy and the Riverside is simple, and that’s exactly what makes it brilliant.
The SWAP mechanic that powers this 3D platforming game allows you to interact with practically everything. You’ll quickly understand how to use this powerful tool to solve most puzzles in moments, but you’ll also inevitably run into puzzles where you simply don’t see the obvious. Unlike most puzzle games, overthinking is absolutely the enemy here.
It’s an approach that makes Ruffy and the Riverside fun for gamers of all ages. In fact, one puzzle that stumped me at first was solved by my seven-year-old daughter in seconds, because she thought of a brand-new (but obvious in hindsight) way to use the SWAP that simply hadn’t occurred to me — the puzzle wasn’t hard, I was just thinking too much about it.
Ruffy and the Riverside isn’t challenging your intelligence, it’s inviting your creativity. It’s a relaxing, lighthearted, and bright adventure that clearly draws heavy inspiration from all our favorite platforming classics, but with a delightfully basic twist that makes it one of the most unique video games I’ve played in 2025.
If you want to try it for yourself, Ruffy and the Riverside is now available across Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch for just $20.
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