It really was a

I had a feeling this would be a little like "A short hike" and it was, I was not disappointed, loved every second of this whimsical adventure.

Sometimes a fun little adventure without any world ending stakes and so charmful I just wanna pinch half the characters' cheeks is just the kind of palette cleanser that I need.

Lil Gator is a short title that's as charming as it is light on content. To 100% the game, it'll take between 3 and 4 hours, which is a little steep for $20. Much of the game is the player wandering around a relatively contained island, destroying cardboard cut-outs of monsters and chatting with a rather sizable cast of animal children. Lil Gator Game drips in personality, with the wildness and silliness of the characters carrying the experience. While most animals only get a few lines of dialogue, many of them are memorable, and there were few interactions that I walked away feeling underwhelmed.

If either or both of those gameplay loops sound unappealing to you, this may not be the game for you. There is no challenge to what you're doing, largely a peaceful collectathon, and at its best, it's a therapeutic, joyful experience. At worst, it can feel a little tedious; as the game starts to wind down and you run out of things to encounter, you'll end up wandering through somewhat empty forests looking for the remaining NPCs and cardboard cut-outs. Thankfully, once you've gotten the game's ending, there are trackers that allow you to easily locate any missing stuff rather than having to blindly charge around. Still, by the time I was wrapping the game, I was getting the last bits and pieces out of duty rather than any sense of enthusiasm.

For what it is, this delivers a few quaint hours that I mostly enjoyed. Upon revisiting the game for the DLC, I still found the game to make me smile and at times laugh at the antics and tone the game maintains. The ending is surprisingly poignant, clearly pulling from the lives of the creators that lends it an earnesty that goes a long way. If I was to pick a game of this "genre", A Short Hike is till my preferred title, but this is a close second. Considering the short run time, definitely pick this up on a discount, but this was worth experiencing to be sure.