I grew up in the golden age of 3D platformers. From the “yahoos” of Super Mario 64 to collecting Jiggies in Banjo-Kazooie, these adventures were always bursting with charm, satisfying checklists, and a cast of oddball characters. So when I first saw Ruffy and the Riverside, I couldn’t help but feel excited to dust off my platforming skills and jump in.
At the heart of the game is the SWAP mechanic, a clever idea that lets you copy textures from the world and paste them elsewhere. Lava into ice? Vines where there were none? Just grab, swap, and go. It’s a smart concept that got my 3D platformer heart racing, but as I played, I started to wonder if Ruffy and the Riverside truly makes the most of its big idea.
A Hero, a Mole, and a Whole Lot of Trouble
After Ruffy, an eager young bear, and Sir Eddler, a gem-loving mole, restart the marble-finding machine, they accidentally unleash Groll, a greedy creature who begins gobbling up marbles and growing stronger. The duo races to the Riverside Emblem, a giant hillside sign (think Hollywood, but cosier), where the World Core is hidden. There, Ruffy discovers he’s the chosen one and must recover the missing letters to restore balance before it’s too late.
The story in Ruffy and the Riverside had me grinning more often than not. It’s full of cheeky twists, colourful regions, and a cast of loveable characters. The writing has real personality, even if some scenes linger longer than they should. Still, there’s so much warmth and charm packed into each corner that I couldn’t wait to see what oddball moment was coming next.
Copy, Paste, Puzzle, Repeat
The gameplay hook in Ruffy and the Riverside is the SWAP mechanic, and it’s a brilliant one. Ruffy can pull textures from the environment, such as walls, floors, or objects, and paste them somewhere else to change how the world works.
Can’t break a heavy block? Swap its stone texture for wood and smash right through it. Need to open a door? Copy arrow symbols from a nearby puzzle and slot them into place. The system is intuitive, and it gets even better when you learn to chain actions together using the right trigger for multi-swaps.
The SWAP mechanic is used creatively across a range of puzzle types. I especially enjoyed the 2D wall challenges inspired by Super Mario Odyssey. These are more than just fun side activities. You often need to affect the 3D world to change something inside the 2D space, which leads to some smart, layered solutions.
To progress through the main quest, you’ll need to explore the Buried City, an underground hub filled with rolling ball puzzles that cleverly use the SWAP system. Solving them unlocks new routes on the surface above allowing you to enter new regions. I liked the extra bit of lore explaining how the moles designed the city’s layout with those connections in mind.
As much as I loved using SWAP, I felt that later in the game the mechanic started to fade into the background. There were stretches where I barely touched it, then suddenly hit a tricky puzzle with little guidance. Even so, the world encouraged exploration and experimentation, and that always kept me moving forward.
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Platforming That Sticks the Landing
As a long-time 3D platforming fan, I’m picky about how a game feels. Thankfully, Ruffy and the Riverside gets it right. Jumping is smooth, movement feels great, and with Pip the bee giving you a glide boost, I was zipping through levels like a pro. Best of all, the camera actually works. No wrestling with it mid-jump.
Each chapter is built around mini quests that lead to a missing Sacred Letter. Some of them had me smiling from ear to ear, like a hay bale race where I flung mud at the competition, helping a ghost cheat in a graveyard decor contest, and convincing a frog to stop binge-watching telly. There’s plenty to collect around the world too, including coins, butterflies, and the ever-adorable Etoi.
Of course, no platformer is complete without one rage-inducing challenge. Mine was the Steep Games skateboard event. Scoring over 100,000 points on a half pipe while I barely scraped 30,000 had me considering an early skate-boarding retirement.
The Basilica is where things come together. Each letter earned goes onto a giant board, and spinning the sacred wheel (think Wheel of Fortune) reveals your next destination. Between quests, you can also visit the shop to upgrade your heart containers, which definitely came in handy later on. Whether you use the compass to stay on track or go full explorer, the adventure never stops pulling you forward.
Flat Friends in a 3D World
Visually, Ruffy and the Riverside feels like a pop-up book brought to life. The 3D world is bursting with colour and personality, while the 2D character sprites scurry about with the same playful charm you’d find in Paper Mario. I wasn’t sure how this mix would hold up at first, but it completely won me over. It’s bold, stylish, and it works beautifully.
Performance on Switch 2 is excellent. The game looks sharp and bright in both docked and handheld mode, and the frame rate stays consistent for most of the adventure. I played the majority of my time on Switch 2, but I also tested it on the original Switch. It ran fairly well there too, though I noticed longer loading times, more frequent stutters, and a less stable frame rate.
I also ran into a few odd bugs, like getting burned by lava even when standing safely on a platform during a boss fight. There is a bit of jank here and there, but the platforming feels great, and it never stopped me having fun.
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Cheesy Beats and Retro Treats
The music in Ruffy and the Riverside is full of personality and old-school charm. It leans into that retro, slightly cheesy style in the best way, with a deep bass and light vocal flourishes that instantly reminded me of classic 90s platformers. The title screen beat is a standout, setting the tone with a cool rhythm that pulls you right in.
Each area has its own distinct vibe, and the soundtrack does a great job of elevating the adventure. As the story progresses and Groll causes more chaos, the music shifts in tone to match, adding a subtle emotional layer to the journey.
One More for the Platforming Hall of Fame
Ruffy and the Riverside is everything I hoped it would be. It’s a nostalgic 3D platformer filled with charm, whacky characters, and a great balance of puzzle-solving and platforming. The SWAP mechanic is a real highlight, offering a fresh and clever way to progress through the world. Controls are tight, the camera behaves, and the whole experience feels smooth and satisfying.
While a few story moments drag and there are some minor performance hiccups, this is still one 3D platformer you shouldn’t miss. The world is big, colourful, and full of life, with a surprising amount of detail, character, and collectables for an indie game.
Now, it’s time to SWAP my work clothes for my Oodie and get back to collecting the rest of those adorable Etoi scattered across Riverside.
Quest Daily scores Ruffy and the Riverside:
9/10
Ruffy and the Riverside launches on June 26th, 2025, on Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch for $30.95.
A review copy of Ruffy and the Riverside was supplied to Quest Daily for the purpose of this review.
