So I’ve Finished: Later Alligator

A very quick review for a very quick game: it’s all about the vibe, this one, isn’t it? From the kooky hyperkinetic characters to their individual quirks and styles. The music is a standout wonder (though for any that you sit on for a while it could probably tone down and become more ambient after the first loop). The controls never fail (though on the Switch they’re a tad clunky)… it’s good?

And yet. There is no mystery. I was promised a mystery.

There is endless delight, moment by moment, though: from how each minigame is titled to what absolutely wild pronouncement the next resident of Alligator City will casually just throw out there. But there’s really nothing holding it together.

Something that really exemplifies things is the Family Tree. As you talk to family members and complete their minigames, you get their token to slot into the family tree. But you can’t do this from anywhere, you need to find the Mom and slot them in there. It’s nice to see how everyone relates, and encourages me to pay even more attention to the hilarious dialogue for hints about how everyone is related… but not only do you have to find Mom, you have to spend 30min in-game time to arrange these tokens. In-game time feels like the scarcest resource (especially on the first playthrough when you’re accumulating most of the tokens) so it both encourages and discourages collecting and arranging these tokens, which both encourages and discourages me from paying close attention to the dialogue.

I think this game could’ve used a couple of polishing passes. Especially at its twenty dollabux price.

Still worth it, though.