We’ve been following the development of Ruffy and the Riverside for almost two years now, and now the full release is finally here. From its catchy theme to its unique papercraft art style, it was hard not to pay attention to Zockrates Labs breakout title.

Proudly inspired by the great 3D platformers and collectathons of past console generations, Ruffy and the Riverside is far more than what we saw in the demo. There’s puzzles and secrets to solve and discover, and a whimsical mystery befitting the genre.

So what is the power of SWAP? Can Ruffy save the world? Or will we get filtered by puzzles? Find out in our review of Ruffy and the Riverside!

Ruffy and the Riverside
Developer: Zockrates Laboratories UG
Publisher: Phiphen Games
Platforms: Windows PC (Reviewed), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch
Release Date: June 26, 2025
Price: $19.99

Ruffy is a little bear who lives in the town of Riverside, it’s a town where animal people like bears, ravens, moles, and at least one bee live in peace. Ruffy is the apprentice of the town painter who allows Ruffy to use his special SWAP power to allow customers to replace their old paintings with different ones.

However, Ruffy’s SWAP power soon becomes the key to a potentially world-ending threat. “Marbles” have begun washing up on the beach, and for those in the know these marbles are a harbinger of something big.

The villainous Groll has returned to usher in chaos and discord and spew toxic sludge all over the place. It’s up to Ruffy and his bee friend Pip to save the world.

The SWAP mechanic is the crux of gameplay in Ruffy and the Riverside. One button allows you to copy textures and materials, another lets you swap them. Want to burn a wooden barricade blocking the river? Turn the river into magma. Need to move a platform up or down? Just copy and paste an up or down arrow onto it. Actually it’s worth mentioning that Ruffy’s power is more accurately a copy-paste than an actual SWAP (SWAP is more catchy though).

Frankly, I was blown away by the level and puzzle design, the team at Zockrates Laboratories clearly knows what they’re doing. There’s secrets to explore, none of the puzzles are too difficult but some are frustrating when there’s a lack of context or direction. I’ll try and be spoiler free but I will say that the domino puzzle during a boss fight had me pretty annoyed.

There’s a few minor glitches and inconsistencies, but unless you’re the type of platformer gamer who goes out of their way to break things, you probably won’t encounter them. There’s tricky jumps you can do to break some puzzles, or more charitably we can call them “alternative routes”.

With few exceptions, Ruffy and the Riverside is packed full of high quality secrets, puzzles, and collectibles. You can hardly walk two steps without finding something. There’s the Etoi, little fuzzy guys who are hiding in trees and other objects which you need to flush out with your SWAP and there’s the “Pattern Potatos” which are nifty little puzzles that require you to explore and find the solution.

On top of everything else there’s Legendary Gems, which are the true completionist collectible. These little gems are off the beaten path and truthfully I only found one but there’s definitely more out there.

What keeps the puzzles fresh is that you have to pay attention to what you’re swapping. For instance, in some cases you can swap the entire material and turn wood to stone, other instances you just copy the color. Ruffy can even copy information and change it, taking symbols and numbers and pasting them.

In one leg of the adventure you solve a combination lock with the power of SWAP, so keep your eyes open for what you’re copying and where you can place it. An open mind is necessary for Ruffy’s more difficult puzzles.

Not only are the puzzles unique and diverse, but the team at Zockrates wasn’t shy about putting in all sorts of mini-game segments. There’s hay bale racing, there’s whitewater rafting, there’s even a stealth section reminiscent of the Hyrule Castle guards in Ocarina of Time.

Moving to graphics, Ruffy has a strange blend of low-poly environments combined with Paper Mario characters. I feel Ruffy made the right decision in focusing on the swapping and platforming and made the paper characters strictly stylistic choice with one or two visual gags. Elsewhere, the comedy is dependent on some groan-worthy puns and some slapstick humor during cutscenes.

The writing treads the sweet spot between serious fantasy and Saturday morning cartoon. One moment I’m rescuing the Tree of Life by activating a magical obelisk, the next I’m returning to the unironically named “Basilica of Besties” to track down the next macguffin.

Ruffy doesn’t get caught up in the why of things, which is crucial for a game with this tone and aesthetic. Suspending disbelief is why we can accept that a Hollywood sign is what protects the World Core, it’s why we can accept that hay bales are a valid mode of transportation.

The game’s writers knew better than to get stuck in justifying the whimsy of Riverside. At the same time, they also knew when to be serious and give the adventure some gravitas.

Playing Ruffy and the Riverside made me feel like a kid again. Like saving the princess in Mario 64, or rescuing Tootie in Banjo-Kazooie, Ruffy fits right in with the classic 3D platformers that inspired.

On top of it all its greatness is a soundtrack with a sort of floaty vibe in most platforming sections, but where Ruffy really stands out is its hip-hop inspired main theme. For the past year I’ve been following the development of Ruffy and the Riverside I’ll admit I’ve probably asked the devs multiple times if the soundtrack will be available on Steam (good news, it is!)

Ultimately, Ruffy and the Riverside is an excellent homage and possibly the most fun I’ve had with an indie platformer since A Hat in Time or Nikoderiko. Ruffy and the Riverside was clearly made by a team that knows and loves the genre.