Lil Gator Game and how Horses and Gators can be friends
Indie video games are a type of arthouse theatre in the video game industry that needs to meet quality control to be separated from the shovelware that besets this form of release output. Playtonic having released both of their previous Yooka-Laylee installments on physical media by crowdfunding the projects into existence, the stakes are raised that their new indie platformer be worthwhile.
Lil Gator Game from Playtonic’s subsidiary MegaWobble does have a physical copy available for purchase, but only of the limited release variety published by the aptly titled Super Rare Games. Originally released in 2022 for Nintendo Switch and PC, the 2023 re-release for Playstation and Xbox brings the title to a wider audience.
For gamers looking for a whimsical platforming adventure to make good of a couple of hours of playtime, Lil Gator Game could be exactly what they are looking for. Serving as a crash course on adventure platformers with lite-RPG elements, Lil Gator Game does more with less while at the same time reminds us to check in with our inner child to make the most of its short lived runtime.
Playing through Lil Gator Game, I was reminded of the importance of context and history in arts journalism as explained in our February 9th lecture. Developed by a team of only three developers like the Skyrim mod-based indie RPG The Forgotten City, the short-length open world adventure platformer is indebted to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, and the Painted World within The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
The Breath of the Wild synchronicities are most prominent with the collect-and-equip elements adding light-hearted humor with Lil Gator or “Hero Heroy Heromeister the Third'' donning a bucket as a hat to wet his gills and a shield that can be ridden downhill as a sled. There is also an easter egg unlockable item of a ninja band that allows Heroy to “Naruto run” more quickly through the game.
Ultima IV was a landmark RPG whereby the developer acknowledged that freedom of choice gameplay from the previous installments was allowing players to complete the game with moral apprehension and made it so Ultima IV would only be completable by making good moral choices. Lil Gator Game pays homage to this pivotal RPG entry by making a game with no antagonist and going a step further by having the player repeat segments until they select the correct moral choice. The early exchange of Heroy offering a stick back to Franny the Duck only for her to let Heroy keep it and get his required wooden sword is an unforgettable instance.
My favorite game history synchronicity was with The Painted World or “A Brush With Death” from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. It is palpable in the washed colors palette and the foreboding orangey haze that envelopes Heroy and his newfound friends in their afternoon playtime adventure. For those who never could accept the inconclusiveness of that escapade, Lil Gator Game offers foreclosure.
It’s Martin the Horse who shows Heroy the way and ends up being the in-between character with his steadfast coolness representing a link between Heroy’s troubled playtime relationship with his college studying big sis. Heroy thinks Martin his best friend and even keeps a crayon drawing of his likeness to commemorate it. As fitting of an end as one could hope for with horses and alligators being a source of viral internet infamy with their strange propensity for fighting in the wild.
