Lil Gator Game: In the Dark review: another kind-hearted journey

Lil Gator Game is a rare game that upset me, more than a little. While cosy and cute on the surface, this all-ages, alligator-starring adventure is actually about growing up, growing old and moving on to maturity. In the course of playing childish make-believe games with their friends, the titular hero must come to grips with their older sister’s loss of time for play, and discover how to connect in new fashion.

As someone with an older sister who went through that same process, Lil Gator Game‘s story was a point of reflection, as much as it was quietly devastating. Of course, relationships change and mature as they go on. We all need to find new ways to connect and interact with those around us, to account for their growth, as much as ours.

Lil Gator Game: In the Dark, a newly-released expansion, charts similar ground, from a new perspective.

In the Dark features a massive underground world

In the Dark expands Lil Gator Game with an entirely new underground world, accessed via a special tunnel. Once you make your way there and descend, you find a whole new crew of kids to befriend, new quests and new ‘monsters’ to defeat – only to be pushed back by wild antagonism.

You meet the so-called Darklord and their minions, who want to play with you, but not as friends. They want underlings. People to order around and do their bidding. They want to rule the underground, and you must conform to their wishes.

Of course, as learned in the core Lil Gator Game, communication and working together is important.

Play isn’t only about the needs of one person. It’s give and take. So when Darklord approaches you with their demands, you must figure out a way to help them have fun while also revealing why domination doesn’t lead to friendship.

For anyone who’s ever been bullied on the playground, or otherwise remembers bullish, stubborn kids who sought to define play by their own means, Lil Gator Game: In the Dark may feel familiar. We’ve all known someone like Darklord, who seeks to gain pleasure without understanding their impact on the world.

The education of Darklord

You’ll spend your time in In the Dark educating Darklord, while finding your own fun in the underground. There are countless cardboard knights and monsters to defeat with a swing of your sword, and friendships to be forged by taking on quests delivered by a cast of new and returning characters.

In quiet, slowly-paced cutscenes, you’ll find Darklord hiding in the shadows, highlighting how their approach is off-siding others and only compounding a loneliness that has bred misery.

It’s with a light touch that Lil Gator Game: In the Dark handles these themes. Every slice of dialogue, where you encourage Darklord to play with more consideration, is delivered carefully, and from a place of love. This is a game about young kids, written from a place of understanding.

Darklord may appear to be piggish and spoiled, but over time, the game reveals a depth to their character, while underlining the importance of forgiveness and seeing past the wall.

Stumbling in the dark

What’s most impactful – and equally, what’s most frustrating – about Lil Gator Game: In the Dark is the framework in which it delivers its key themes around stumbling in the dark and learning to embrace the light.

Like the base game, there is no clear map. You’ll find your way by following cardboard monsters and defeating them, clearing a linear path to travel. That means you’ll get lost fairly often, particularly as you unlock new tools that allow you to chart each and every winding corridor around you.

There is a lot of trial and error here, and you’ll frequently find yourself doubling back – or entirely lost – because you missed a hidden pathway or you couldn’t see any more cardboard figures to light your way ahead.

A clue system does exists, but it didn’t prove helpful in my travels, leading me to waste quite some time going in circles, attempting to make an impactful next step.

One could argue this is a metaphor, as Lil Gator Game is all about making your own way and figuring out your next steps with the help of friends and for the most part, this works well, and the feeling of adventure you get from making progress is bright and bubbly.

But there’s also an argument that the game could be better signposted, with more linear or logical design to paper over gaps where you feel lost and uncertain about what’s next.

A journey about the power of play

No matter how many circles you take, Lil Gator Game: In the Dark eventually allows you to reach its beating heart, as the titular Lil Gator approaches Darklord and their minions, to highlight where the real magic of play comes from.

It’s in the steps of this journey that In the Dark shines, as it delivers a warm, cosy parable about making space for others, even – and perhaps especially – when they find it difficult to accept love.

_{A PC code for Lil Gator Game: In the Dark was provided to ScreenHub for the purposes of this review.}

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