This was one charming Lil Gator Game.

That pretty much sums up my experience with the game but here is a review nonetheless.

Lil Gator Game sounds like a very basic title for a flash game, albeit has enough wholesome content and excellent gameplay to keep you entertained throughout the whole game. It is clearly inspired by open world games such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom with its obvious references and call backs to the game and it is unashamed to reference them, as it should because they are games that shaped the open world games today. However, it reminded me more of games like ‘A Short Hike’ with its more laid back gameplay (which is an excellent game and you should look into if you enjoy this game).

The narrative is very relatable and it does share a very cute message for those who may have forgotten that life is not always about working hard, but also giving yourself time to destress and enjoy the moment. This game seems like it should be catered to younger audiences but in reality, can be appreciated by all ages, whether it’s is the message of the game, or simply just having fun roaming around the islands.

Gameplay wise, the mobility of the main character infused with its sweet graphics, many gadget options, dialogue and characters made it satisfying to play. The only negative I have was the automatic latch onto trees to climb that made it a bit frustrating when trying to zoom around the island. Overall, an amazing game!

Difficulty: Easy
100% Playthrough.
Gameplay: 4/5
Narrative: 4/5
Art Direction/Graphics: 4/5
Music: 3/5
Creativity: 4/5

Overall: 4/5

100%

Apesar de simples, é um simples muito bem executado.
- Gosto do quão detalhado é, o mundo reage ao que estás a fazer e tu mesmo reages ao que estás a fazer
- Tem momentos engraçados e wholesome, é um jogo que anima qualquer pessoa que esteja meio deprimido
- É muito curto, mas está cheio de conteúdo fixe, muitos acessórios para experimentar e divertir
Honestamente eu não tenho nada de mal para dizer deste jogo, só não dou as 5 estrelas porque esse patamar está reservado para os meus favs

Jogar é brincar, e brincar é coisa séria!

Jogo muito legal, que brinca com diversas convenções sobre jogos e as apresenta de forma muito natural e polida, com uma progressão muito prazerosa. Os diálogos são muito bem escritos e os personagens são muito divertidos. É definitivamente para todas as idades e eu penso que cada demografia aproveitaria as qualidades desse jogo de várias perspectivas diferentes, de forma análoga ao que se fala sobre o livro "O Pequeno Príncipe".

Joguei durante uma pausa na trilogia Phoenix Wright e me surpreendi com uma coincidência quando foi feita uma piada em referência à franquia durante o gameplay. Em diversos momentos me diverti com as piadas que eram apresentadas.

Me diverti muito, gostei muito da história e do que o jogo se propõe a falar. A duração foi perfeita pra mim e a progressão me fazia pensar no jogo e querer voltar a ele enquanto vivia minha vida. Recomendo demais.

It may be a lil game, but it has a lot of heart. Maybe best described as “My First Open World” or "Breath of the Wild Jr" and this is not as much of an insult as it may sound.

Two points I know I like to know when hearing about a game I can tick off almost instantly in this review are the questions “is it any good?” and “how long is it?” by simply telling you that I finished the game in one sitting that took around three hours and the only thing that stopped me immediately cleaning up everything the game had to offer was it was time to feed the dog.

Once that had been done and I ate dinner myself I spent around another hour doing the rest.
So yes it’s good, and roughly 3-4 hours in length to do everything.

This may not be enough information to satisfy your interest so I will elaborate.
Lil Gator Game is a small open-world game mostly based on movement, some simple platforming, swimming, climbing, floating about and more thanks to a range of interesting items your hero picks up along the way.

Structure wise you are free to roam in whatever direction you like once you’ve completed the quests on the small, BOTW-like, tutorial island, in which you pick up the key three ingredients a hero needs - a sword, a shield and a hat.
About the island are many NPCs that you are aiming to befriend to create a town hub for everyone and impress your Big Sis, but more on that later.
Each of these would-be friends will have small quests for you, some range from clearing out nearby enemies, to classics such as fetch-quests or multi-part adventures where you’re needing to help separate folk to get the attention of one specific pal.
There are weapons, your sword of many varieties and later some ranged tools but the enemies… well they are cardboard cutouts so they don’t put up much (any) resistance.
“Combat” is really just a way of collecting things in the vein of coins, rings, rupees or whatever.

As mentioned earlier Lil Gator Game is more about movement. You can climb anything and, again like BOTW, have a stamina gauge that can be upgraded. Your shield has no need for defense as you can’t be attacked so instead you can use it like a sled, but as the first example of many, just sliding, is not all that the shield does movement wise and this shows the surprising depth Lil Gator Game has with its mechanics.
Different shields can slide in different ways, on top of this jumping while on the shield at the right point can bounce you further and this even includes some quite satisfying skimming along water.
None of these techniques are essential, you’re under no stress, you don’t need to go anywhere in a particular order or under a time-limit but the freedom of fun and discovery is there.
As you collect more items these movement abilities you have expand in the ways you would you expect, like better climbing, gliding and more, but also expand in a couple of fun ways you may not expect such as, minor spoiler, collecting a ninja headband that makes you Naruto run - which is faster.

Lil Gator Game doesn’t have every element or the sheer scale of a Breath of the Wild but it condenses a lot of what the joy of that game is into a tight package which has a cute, child-like aesthetic.

The aesthetic of big blocky colours, speech bubbles, googly eyes and cardboard cut-outs really work as a pleasant vibe that reflects its narrative.
You Big Sis as mentioned earlier, is back on a break from college and you want her attention. You see, as the game reveals from the start, you and her used to play and she was great at making rules for fun games and you were both heavily inspired by (for legal reasons not)The Legend of Zelda.
Sadly for our protagonist, time has passed, you’ve both aged and your Big Sis is busy with assignments and doesn’t seem to have time to play.
Your quest, to get her to remember the fun you had and grab her attention.

Lil Gator Game does a magically wonderful job of capturing a lot of what being a child feels like, and does a good job of giving you a view of this world through a child’s eyes.
The dialogue is fun, it isn’t minimised to monosyllabic words or baby sounding pronunciations though, if anything I wonder if a failing Lil Gator Game might have is that it presents itself for kids but is more for adults with nostalgia when considering how much dialogue there is throughout.
The ending especially, I will not describe the feeling as to not spoil, but it did make me a little glassy-eyed, an effect I don’t imagine it would have on a child but perhaps their parents.

Lil Gator Game is exactly as described in my opening sentence and it does it very well but this does leave stages feeling a little too simple and potentially repetitive.
I will take a moment to applaud the post-game as “cleaning up” in open-world games is a task for the sick honestly, but “gamer brain” does mean that an 87% for example, must become 100% or I can’t sleep and this title makes it as easy as possible.
It isn’t quite doing it all for you but it gives as much a helping hand that if anymore would mean you could just put the pad down and line, they manage to hit perfectly and give you a small reward for your time which feels as sweet as the rest of the experience.

For all of its child-like fun and wonder in design and aesthetic, Lil Gator Game is maturely put together, well-crafted and feels truly sincere. If you need a short game for a palette cleanser, but you still want a sense of play and not just story - you can’t go too wrong with grabbing this title or playing it for “free” via GamePass.

What surprisingly fun and sweet indie gem in using nostalgia to reconnect siblings drifting apart. While it is a small game with a small starting area, it opens up to a larger island that is fun to explore and navigate with its movement tools. Finding friends to create a game town across the island is very charming with their childish dialogue and humor without overstaying its welcome as well as a more meaningful sign of progress. While the message is not the friends made along the way, its ending lands in a mature and sincere way which I love to look for in stories.

Besides its simplicity, the movement is very fun with how the items are implemented. Sliding, jumping, gliding, slide hoping, all this makes it feel nice to explore. It also has an interesting discrete stamina system which allows for climbing or air jumping that can combo into its other systems. Since this is a small scale adventure game, do not expect difficulty or mechanical challenge. My only minor issue with the game is the lack of a map even a static one to avoid retreading old areas although there is some joy in this. As a completionist, I welcome the post-game items to help with completion and want to see more games support it.

Also, I appreciate the subtext of queer identity with how the name is contextualized. Never is the protagonist gendered nor are the cosmetics which I think is intentional (although this approach does make it easier to write dialogue and implement equipment.) One main friend is suggested to have a seemingly gay friend which helps my case. Little things like this make me happy.

Overall, this is very much recommended.

A game about friendship, love, and finding joy in the creativity that we share with others. The platforming, gliding and climbing are surprisingly tight as you trek through a wilderness park that has been transformed by the fictional world you and your friends have crafted in it. You fight as the hero through a magical world of your imagination, filled with friends and enemies (they're just cardboard cutouts with slimes and skeletons painted on them) to complete your ultimate goal: getting your older sister to play with you again. It's hard to not love this.

A incredibly charming 4 hour open world exploration game, where you play as the titular Lil Gator and – with the help of your chums – turn the island you’re on into an imagined adventure game (cardboard crafted monsters included) so that your older sister will play with you like she used to. Full of wonderful and funny writing with several nods to everyone’s favourite Hyrulian hero, all moving briskly towards an ending that hit me more than I imagined this game could deliver. The best game I’ve played that borrows heavily from Breath Of The Wild’s move set, my only quibble would be wanting at least some evolution with the ‘combat’. A great example to show that open world doesn’t have to mean 30+ hours.

Completely charming. The writing is hilarious and feel good while avoiding schmaltz, reminding me a bit of the humor in Frog Detective except a little less “lol random.” It captures a child-like sense of play so well, with grown-up responsibility peeking through at times to ground it in a sense of reality.

It also bests Frog Detective for me by having gameplay that steers well clear of ever just being a tedious vehicle for its writing. Instead, it’s similar to A Short Hike’s concise distillation of Breath of the Wild’s open-world brilliance. Lil Gator Game is slightly less minimalist compared to A Short Hike, which I appreciated but wouldn’t say was strictly good or bad; overall its a pleasantly similar experience.