Fans of two of Nintendo’s most beloved franchises will wake up today to the news that an indie game inspired by Zelda and Animal Crossing, Lil Gator Gamewill receive a “huge” DLC that adds a whole novel underground world for Gator to explore. With Yooka-Replaylee also potentially coming out this year, it looks like it’s going to be a busy year for Playtonic.
While Lil Gator may not regularly appear on lists of the best Switch games, I think it’s simply because too few people have heard of this indie game, which is also available on PC and other consoles. It’s one of the best cuddly games I’ve ever played and, in my humble opinion, offers an experience on par with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, while also surpassing Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
As someone who has been a huge Zelda and Animal Crossing fan for over 20 years, I don’t say this lightly. Admittedly, Lil Gator Game is much shorter than any of Nintendo’s other offerings, but I’m interested in the quality of the experience, not the length. Gameplay involves traveling through a BOTW-inspired open world as Lil Gator himself, helping animals with various problems to befriend them.
Each of the animals you encounter has more charm than any of the Animal Crossing: New Horizon villagers, as they have all been given their own unique and distinct personalities. I feel like the Animal Crossing series has slowly diluted the personality of the village characters, and Lil Gator Game does a fantastic job of scratching my itch – including several non-binary and wheelchair-using characters. It’s very vigorous.
The only thing I could criticize was the length, and the trailer for the novel DLC indicated that there would be a huge novel area to explore in the game and many novel characters to meet – so maybe the length will be essentially doubled? (I’ll keep my fingers crossed for an appearance by fellow Playtonic Friends stars Yooka and Laylee, and even Demon Turf’s Beebz).
We don’t know exactly when the DLC will release, but we know it will happen this year. If you haven’t had a chance to experience the base game yet, now is the perfect time to do so, knowing that a whole novel experience is just around the corner.
If you want to stay up to date with the hidden gems of the gaming world, check out our list of the best indie games. If you like these kinds of games, you might also want to read our list of the best games like Animal Crossing.
