Are chickens mandatory? Can you die?

[RafiRomero]

My son won't much like feeding chickens to the slimes; my daughter will cry and cry if she gets attacked and dies (Sims 3 and Epistory were both too much for her poor delicate brain).

Do these things have to happen in the game? Can I do without chickens, or easily mod them into something else? I couldn't find any videos of peril in Slime Rancher: how perilous does it get? Can you die?

Stardew Valley is kindof on the edge of tolerability for both of them (my daughter can finally cope with the mines after extensive acclimatisation; you never have to kill anything:).

[EmeraldPlay]

Chickens aren't mandatory if you give the slimes a plort from a veggie/fruit eater. For example, you could give a meat-eating slime a pink plort, and it'll be able to eat fruits and veggies.
The game usually isn't too perilous, but it gets harder later on inside the Glass Desert zone with firestorms and chaos around. And yes, you are able to die in it, but the amount of health upgrades you can get can make this happen much more rarely.

[Kalkrona]

Not all slimes eat chicken, some eat fruits and vegetables, it tells you on the top right of the screen what they eat. It should be about 2/3 of the slimes that don't eat chicken.

It is possible to 'die' in this game but the only thing that happens is that the screen goes black and it says: 'you've been knocked out, but a day's rest should fix you right up'. After that you're back at you house refreshed and ready to go.

There is, however, an enemy in the game, called the TARR. This is what a big slime turns into if it eats the Plort (the thing slimes give when they are fed) that isn't from the same type. It will attack the player, but also the slimes, and can be defeated with water (or just by throwing it in the sea). I don't know if it makes a difference for your children, but defeating it is, to me at least, more like protecting the slimes from it, than anything else. There are also Feral Slimes, who will attack the player, but giving them something to eat will calm them down.

So, I'd say it might not be in their 'comfort zone', but it might be close enough for them to grow because of it. (disclaimer: I'm no child psychologist, I'm only guessing from the provided information)

[RafiRomero]

Thanks for your replies. I'm sold:) It sounds perfect, and my son already fell in love with the graphical style.
I'll anyway have a look at it before I pass it on to my kids, but from what you're saying, I think it will be fine.
Thanks again!