It’s a good day for Zelda and Animal Crossing fans

Fans of two of Nintendo’s most beloved franchises will be waking up today to the news that the Zelda and Animal Crossing-inspired indie game, Lil Gator Game, is getting a ‘huge’ DLC which adds a whole new underground world for the Gator to explore. With Yooka-Replaylee also potentially coming out this year, it sounds like it’s going to be a busy year for Playtonic.

While Lil Gator Game may not regularly appear in lists of the best Switch games, I think that’s purely because not enough people have heard of this indie darling, which is also on PC and other consoles. It’s one of the best cozy games I’ve ever played and in my humble opinion, offers an experience that stands equal to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, while actually surpassing Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

As someone who’s been a big Zelda and Animal Crossing fan for over 20 years, that’s not something I say lightly. Admittedly, Lil Gator Game is much shorter than any of Nintendo’s offerings, but it’s the quality of the experience here that interests me, rather than the length. The gameplay sees you traveling around a BOTW-inspired open world as the Lil Gator themself, helping animals with various problems in order to make friends with them.

Every one of the animal characters you encounter has more charm than any of Animal Crossing: New Horizon’s villagers because they’ve all been given their own unique and distinct personalities. I feel that the Animal Crossing series has slowly diminished the personality of the villager characters, and Lil Gator Game does a fantastic job of scratching that itch for me – including several non-binary and wheelchair-user characters. It’s very wholesome.

In my Lil Gator Game review, I said “[it] tells a beautiful story and provides countless enjoyable experiences along the way. This is easily the most wholesome game of the year, if not the decade.” In the years since I wrote that, my feelings haven’t diminished at all.

The only thing that I could have criticized was the length, and the trailer for the new DLC indicated that the game will be getting an enormous new area to explore, along with many new characters to meet – so perhaps the length will essentially be doubled? (I’m going to keep my fingers crossed for a cameo from fellow Playtonic Friends stars, Yooka and Laylee, or even Demon Turf’s Beebz).

We don’t know specifically when the DLC is coming, but we do know that it will be this year. If you have yet to experience the base game, now would be the ideal time to do so, knowing that you have a whole new experience waiting just around the corner for you.

Check out our list of the best indie games if you like to stay in the loop with the hidden gems of the gaming world. If you like this sort of game, our list of the best games like Animal Crossing is also worth a read.