Lil Gator Game is a wholesome platformer that will give you a toothy grin

videogameschronicle.com:

Many of us long for the time we spent as children playing with our friends and making up stories as we went along. That’s the driving principle behind Lil Gator Game, a new platformer published by Yooka-Laylee developer Playtonic‘s indie label, Playtonic Friends.

Players take on the role of the titular alligator (who can be named by the player), a child who wants to play with their older sister but can’t because she’s too busy with her university coursework.

In an attempt to convince the sister to put her studies away and join them, the Gator teams up with their friends to make up a new adventure game, one with the overall aim of building their own village in the middle of a forest, one so cool that big sis won’t be able to resist being charmed and joining in the fun.

Over time, all the other animals on the island decide to take part in the game, meaning almost all of the side quests involve performing tasks for different animal residents, in order to convince them to move to your play village and help build it into something even more impressive.

After a brief mission on a smaller island, you cross the river to the main island, and that’s where the rest of the game takes place. The general core of the game’s structure revolves around three ‘hub’ locations, each with three main kids whose needs have to be met. Once all three kids are satisfied in one location, they’ll agree to come to your village and add a chunk to it.

Gather the kids from all three hubs, and your village is ‘complete’. All that remains after that is to upgrade each part of the village. There are other animals in the forest, and when you finish side-quests for them, they also head to the village. Once you have enough villagers, the upgrades can be triggered.