If Wes Anderson directed an episode of Arthur after eating too much sugar and watching old noir films, you’d get Later Alligator. This game is an absolutely bonkers, delightfully absurd point-and-click mystery stuffed to the snout with charm, wit, and more alligators than a Florida golf course in July.
You play as a mild-mannered gator named Pat who’s convinced he's about to be whacked by the Alligator Mafia. What follows is a frantic day of wandering around a lovingly animated cartoon New York (excuse me, Alligator New York City), talking to an endless parade of eccentric reptilian relatives, and playing dozens of quirky mini-games ranging from the laughably easy to the delightfully broken. The writing is razor-sharp—every line feels like it was workshopped by a committee of internet meme poets—and the art style? Imagine if someone turned a doodle-covered napkin into a playable cartoon. It’s chaotic, it’s beautiful, and it somehow works perfectly. Is it deep? Not really. Is it long? Nah, you’ll finish it in a few hours. But is it the kind of game that makes you grin uncontrollably while frantically trying to beat a puzzle involving psychic twin gators and haunted elevators? Oh yes. Yes it is.

10/10 music
10/10 art
10/10 story

It's not a super long game bit I enjoyed almost every single minute of it.

A lot of good must also be said about its charming feel-good comedy vibes, singular desaturated art style and lively soundtrack.

Point and click basics are distilled to their most essential here: literally all you have to do is talk to everyone and complete their mini game. A few interconnected events open up more locations but there are otherwise no deductions to make, items to gather or problems to mend. This utmost simplicity combines into an enjoyable lighthearted escapade, though perhaps a little too straightforward.

Admittedly, I had more fun discovering each character's unique activity proposal than actually playing them. Many turned out a bit dull, better described as plain interactions than proper gameplay. A few required reflexes, others based on random luck, leading to uneven difficulty. Although each one felt thematically appropriate and comical, few would be really enjoyable on their own.

Playing games and retrying failed attempts passes time towards inevitable narrative beats occurring at specific times. The game is set up in such a way that makes it necessary to play through the story three times to reach the final, true ending. While it makes a plot twist possible halfway through, I would have appreciated it better as a single linear story without having to go through a lot of dialogues and repeated scenes.

• Humorous light-hearted dialogue
  
• Sympathetic characters
  
• Singular desaturated cartoon art style
  
• Cheerful animations
  
• Charming feel-good comedy vibes
  
• Fun lively soundtrack adds a lot of presence
  
• Unique alligator-themed world
  
• Straightforward and simplified point and click format
  
• Travel to locations and meet characters in (mostly) any order

• Unsophisticated mini games often rely on chance
  
• Exhaust the same 3 required dialogue options with every character
  
• Game ends before you can visit half available locations
  
• Unnecessary timer forces 2nd and 3rd playthroughs to reach true ending
  
• No voice overs despite mention of "Full Audio" on store page
  
• Overwhelmingly positive reviews not representative of overall value