Lil Gator Game Hands-on Experience

Admittedly, I've spent a lot of my time waiting for this game to release — after watching its official reveal trailer back in June during the Wholesome Direct, I fell in love. Playing a game from the perspective of a kid, exploring an entire world, and just breaking some cardboard enemies sounded like a lot of fun. I waited anxiously for its release for several months after that — it wouldn't be a lie to say it became my most anticipated game, as its gameplay borderline parallels A Short Hike but in 3D.

Lil Gator Game is a delightful platformer that has you play as a nameless, non-binary little gator kid who, along with all of their friends, is on a mission to build an awesome cardboard town in the playground. The reason for this ginormous task is to get their sister's attention, as she's now in college and doesn't have enough time to play with them anymore.

Throughout your journey, you'll meet tons of quirky and adorable characters and experience all sorts of child-like adventures, such as slicing through enemies, which are really just cardboard boxes with faces painted on them.

In order to create the glorious play-pretend town, the kids have scattered around the islands to give the little gator quests. Every time you complete one, the child will go wait for you at the playground, and you might also get a cool reward from it. The "loot" consists of Scrap (which is the in-game currency), armour, and cool toys!

The missions you must complete range from saving the children from the cardboard monsters to helping someone find a Hercules beetle. Finishing as many as possible is definitely recommended, as the rewards can unlock pretty cool items, such as a bouncy shield that'll have you reaching new heights and a Paint Blaster, which will paint stuff in pretty colours and break the cardboard enemies!

Whilst the game is very light-hearted — as you could probably tell by the inanimate foes! — it manages to remain incredibly entertaining throughout the entire journey. This is largely thanks to the fun platforming mixed with a ton of different toys, which give you cool abilities, such as holding onto a balloon to fly into the air.

The more kids you befriend, the more parts of the town you unlock. And whilst this doesn't do much aside from decorate the area with cardboard and give the kids a place to hang out, it's incredibly rewarding (and adorable) to watch the town grow! Not to mention, there are tons of outfits and toys to collect, and the missions themselves are really charming.

Aside from completing requests, befriending new kids, and filling up your catalogue of toys and clothes, you'll also have some time trials you can tackle! These are a ton of fun, especially as you get shields that fit the terrain better, such as the large one that works phenomenally as a surfboard.

Lil Gator Game excels at being fun thanks to its multiple abilities, toys, and overall awesome platforming! I had an absolute blast playing this title, especially seeing all the silly adventures the little gator went on!