The Joyous, Childlike Wonder of Lil Gator Game

I’ve been chasing the high of A Short Hike ever since… A Short Hike, really. Just a chill, little 3D climb-n-glide game with no combat and a few hours of delightful exploration is all I need. Lil Gator Game might just be the first one to actually start filling that gaping hole in my heart.

Much like the lil indie that could, Lil Gator Game give you a decent sized island to explore, simple traversal mechanics to get around with, and a low stakes goal to complete as you wander about the space. You simply need to convince your big sister to play with you, so you enlist the help of the entire island to set up an adventure game chock full of quests (simple tasks other folk will give you to do), enemies (cardboard cutouts you can whack with a stick to gain paper as a currency) and general mischievous misadventures. It’s a sweet old time, hearkening back to a time where “play” was simple, innocent fun borne from the mind of a young kid.

One immediate touch point of LGG is not just A Short Hike, but Breath of the Wild. Climbing, gliding, sword swinging and shield surfing are your main verbs of interactivity, with some concessions made to make these modes of play more fun. Climbing takes the familiar upgradeable stamina bar, giving you that “plan your path upward” mentality. Gliding does not use up this stamina however, so getting up to the highest point you can and leaping off in any direction is as joyous as ever. Shields can not break, making surfing down inclines an act of delight.

The world is chunky in a way that makes your movements somewhat imprecise, but in a fun way - everything is very forgiving, so you never feel a twinge of failure for not making a calculated leap. It’s an antithesis to perfectly tuned precision platformers like Celeste - even the few timed objectives are very chill, designed more for “how fast can I do this?” over “can I even accomplish this?” action. The focus is on the joy of play, rather than the challenge of accomplishment.

To accompany this feeling of fun, LGG is chock full of optional tweaks in interactivity aimed to delight at every turn. Most of these are through items you collect throughout your travels, which never ceased to bring a smile to my dial when I tried them out for the first time. Items like a tiny trampoline shield will cause you to bounce around when you try to shield surf, or a sticky hand that acts as a grappling hook, are positively charming to mess around with.

LGG is really smart in interpreting game physics as a tool to surprise and elate, rather than a strict “follows earth laws of physics” function. I never shield surfed in BOTW due to it’s degradation system and limited usability, but here I experimented a lot - learning in the process that the shield surfing mechanics are broken in ways that create pure glee. Many of the novel mechanics through the items do this - the focus is on joy over realism, purely in the service of creating a more fun - and funny! - game. (A particular way of, let’s say, getting down a mountain, had me in stitches for a good 5 minutes).

It’s understated given the somewhat serious underlying tone of the main through line, but this game is full of legitimately great jokes and bits. Much like the mechanical leniency, your young gator oscillates between excellent sardonic self awareness and childlike obliviousness, all for a laugh depending on the moment, and it all ties together incredibly cohesively. 

This humour is used in a somewhat disarming fashion, endearing quite a cast of characters to you in ways to tug at the heart strings through the main A plot. Themes of open communication and honesty, both with others and yourself, are a wholesome yet complicated subject to focus on, and LGG does a great job of threading that needle.

I had high hopes coming into Lil Gator Game, and was so relieved to find any fears it might disappoint unfounded. A lovely 4-6 hours of childlike wondrous adventure await, and every minute provides joy from every angle. I couldn’t think of a better game to top off such a great year for indie games.

Disclaimer: a key for Lil Gator Game was provided for coverage purposes.