Lil Gator Game Review (Giraffeguin)
Lil Gator Game – A charming and cozy delight
Overview
I played this game as something to wind down at the end of the day and just relax. I have enough games that are demanding and stressful and this hit the spot at being casual relaxing fun while still satisfying my brain’s fun receptors. It’s fun for anyone and everyone – even kids could enjoy this. That doesn’t mean an adult won’t find any joy in it though. I think any adult would get an emotional blast of nostalgia at the days of playing pretend on the playground. Plus, the jokes are funny and the characters are cute. It’s an enjoyable time.
Story
You play as a kid gator playing a game within the game. The gator and his sister cannot wait for the new (totally not) Zelda to come out and decide to make their own adventure through a massive game of pretend that sprawls throughout the entire playground.
Years later, the sister is in college and doesn’t seem to be into the game anymore much to the gator’s dismay. His grand idea to resolve this issue is to make the game so irresistibly fun that she has no choice but to want to join in on it rather than fear missing out.
Thus the imaginary game of pretend extends to include all his friends on the island and a grand adventure awaits! Plenty of new friends to make as well.
The game gets surprisingly emotional, especially around what the game means to the gator and his sister. But until those emotional moments, there are a lot of fun witty banter and dialog amongst the cute animal friends to keep you along for the ride.
Presentation
It’s cute! My only complaint is there could be a better sense of orientation (a map is sorely needed!). It’s very easy to get lost and the few maps in game are just simple maps of the park that aren’t terribly helpful while immersive. The center of the island is the highest point in the game so at least can find you way around that way as a north star. But it’s still so easy to get lost within the sub areas around the islands themselves. But there is so much to do even off the path (i.e. just exploring, find friends, break stuff) that even when I was lost I was still being semi-productive and they kept me from getting terribly frustrated.
Gameplay
Cozy game! Controls are very simply. If you played A Short Hike this is most comparable to that. There is mostly running around talking to people while swinging your sword to break things. Enemies in this game are literally cardboard so stress free and more just a way to gain currency for quests and crafting. And 100%ing the game. There is also climbing around breath of the wild style, just like a Short Hike. Also ways to upgrade your climbing skills, fun!
The core of the game though is basically making friends by solving their quests. You must complete enough quests to satisfy building up a new part of the central playground in order to impress your sister. The quests range from as easy as just talking to the person to actually going out and fetching something or even racing against the clock. Nothing is too hard and even the simpler ones aren’t annoying and never feel tedious thanks to the dialog that accompanies them. It’s clever enough to keep me entertained.
For example, there is a kid who offers to be your friend only if you can beat him in a game of chess. But he boasts there is no way to beat his current setup. You just knock over his table with the chess pieces and he is amazed. Becomes a chief war strategist in the game of pretend truly amazed at your ability to think outside the box and win in a way he never saw coming.
Summary
Really cute game and a must buy for anyone who was a fan of A Short Hike or any similar casual friend-collectathon game of solving simple tasks. The game made me think back to my childhood of playing massive games of pretend and made me feel nostalgic. The ending hit me in the feels and I really enjoyed my time with this one so much that I want to play more games in the genre. I think the only real pain point would be the price when it is such a short game (around 4 hours to 100% including time spent getting lost). But I am a fan of short games when executed well and I think this one did just that.