Lil Gator Game: In The Dark Review | The Kids Are Alright, Actually
- Kyle Stephenson
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
The base game of Lil Gator Game is one of my favorite experiences that I have ever had. Going on this journey of this lil Gator, where all they want to do is to play with their big sister again, but their sister is now in college and has her attention fixed elsewhere, spoke heavily to me as an uncle to 4 amazing little ones who want to play all the time. The ensuing adventure is all about having fun, finding yourself, helping others find the fun themselves, and using your imagination to make boring moments into unforgettable ones. It was impossible not to play the base game without smiling the entire time, and with the new expansion Lil Gator Game: In The Dark, I’m happy to say that the smile has returned.
This expansion takes place after the base game, where a new kid named Darklord wanders into your playground, saying that he is the villain of these parts and is preparing his own form of world domination. You and your friends then go see where he goes, which leads the player into the underground. It is down here where Darklord and his core group of friends have built their homebase and you take it upon yourself to try and show them that there is more to world domination in the form of friendship and how everyone has the ability to change their ways.
This underground section is massive. There are tons of cardboard cutouts of “enemies” - there is no combat with damage in these games, just cute drawings of monsters and spiky vines that you can destroy to get confetti, which is used to create new cosmetics and craft new weapons. In fact, without the sky above and the ability to see far into the distance like the above-ground counterpart, it is very easy to get lost. They make it a point early on that if you follow these three tourism attractions: roots, stalagmites, and minecart tracks, you should be able to find what you are looking for, and thank goodness they said that because it definitely helped me find my way.
The new friends that your Gator finds have so much personality, and each one of them reminds me of past students from my teaching days or campers from being a summer camp director for over a decade. The MegaWobble team has perfectly captured that youthful and frenetic energy with that age range. I was so excited to find a new friend to help with their problems because each one has a wholly unique task to do. No friendship ask is ever the same, and I love that.
A lot of the new craftable items in this expansion add new movement tech and abilities. These charmed weapons add special effects such as dashing, being able to triple jump, and hovering, amongst other things. This adds a lot of freshness to the base game offerings, which were largely just cosmetic swaps between the items.
At the end of my one sitting playthrough, roughly 2 hours long, I had such a wonderful adventure that once again made me miss the days of playing outside with friends without a care in the world. To capture that feeling for adults playing this is something that MegaWobble should truly be proud of. This In The Dark expansion is more of the same, but the same is such a wholesome, fun time.
Breakdown
Game Name: Lil Gator Game: In The Dark Developer: MegaWobble Publisher: Playtonic Friends
Platforms: Game Length: 2 hours Accessibility: Button remapping Various camera options (camera distance, inversions, sensitivity) Reset the character in case the model gets stuck
Final Thoughts
I had so much fun playing Lil Gator Game: In The Dark. There is something so relaxing about just picking up the controller and exploring without worrying about fail states and redoing story sections to pass. The new area is massive and is filled with fun new characters to befriend, items to craft that expand and add to different ways to platform through, and a wholesome message that some adults these days can learn from.
Key provided by Playtonic. Reviewed on PlayStation 5
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