{"id":1096780,"date":"2026-01-26T04:42:44","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T04:42:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=509174"},"modified":"2026-01-26T04:42:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T04:42:44","slug":"pack-it-up-other-games-an-early-goty-frontrunner-emerges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/pack-it-up-other-games-an-early-goty-frontrunner-emerges\/","title":{"rendered":"Pack it up, other games \u2014 an early GOTY frontrunner emerges"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now that we know that DLC is eligible for the top spot<\/a> at The Game Awards, I\u2019m calling it: The just-announced expansion for Lil Gator Game<\/em>, dubbed In The Dark, is an absolute shoo-in for Game of the Year… in my household.<\/p>\n

Basically Lil Gator Game<\/em> but make it spooky, In The Dark is a \u201cgame-sized\u201d expansion to the 2022 cozy game hit. In our list of Best Cozy Games<\/a>, I wrote \u201cvery few games have captured this feeling of play for me, which makes Lil Gator Game<\/em> an easy recommendation, and a game I return to more often than you\u2019d think.\u201c And soon, I can return to it with new stuff!<\/p>\n

\u201cIn The Dark takes place in the mysterious underground caves (where else would caves even be tbh) underneath the island!,\u201d the brief description on the game\u2019s Steam page<\/a> says. \u201cYou\u2019ll meet new characters, find new toys and whole new stories to be made!\u201d<\/p>\n

For more on how this unassuming game \u2014 with a title that took, if I\u2019m being honest, literal years to grow on me \u2014 became such a hit, read Ryan K. Rigney\u2019s latest in which he asked four successful indie developers where their first 1,000 players came from<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

[Game director Connor P Quinn says] the game\u2019s power to move people emotionally was the real difference maker. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s any substitute for someone popular getting excited about you,\u201d Quinn says. \u201cYou can be dead in the water for months and someone with a big following getting excited about you will bring a whole fresh host of customers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

There\u2019s no release date outside of \u201cwhen it\u2019s ready\u201d or pricing included in the announcement, so it\u2019s perhaps premature for me to say it will be this year\u2019s game of the year. The good news, however, is that most years are followed by additional years, so there\u2019s always hope.<\/p>\n

And because it\u2019s personally important to me that more people play Lil Gator Game<\/em>, I\u2019m going to help the developers get started on their first thousand for In the Dark and remind you that wishlisting the game on Steam<\/a> is really easy to do. <\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now that we know that DLC is eligible for the top spot at The Game Awards, I\u2019m calling it: The just-announced expansion for Lil Gator Game, dubbed In The Dark, is an absolute shoo-in for Game of the Year… in my household. Basically Lil Gator Game but make it spooky, In The Dark is a \u201cgame-sized\u201d expansion to the 2022 cozy game hit. In our list of Best Cozy Games, I wrote \u201cvery few games have captured this feeling of play for me, which makes Lil Gator Game an easy recommendation, and a game I return to more often than you\u2019d think.\u201c And soon, I can return to it with new stuff! \u201cIn The Dark takes place in the mysterious underground caves (where else would…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1096781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1096780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polygon"],"yoast_head":"\nPack it up, other games \u2014 an early GOTY frontrunner emerges | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Now that we know that DLC is eligible for the top spot at The Game Awards, I\u2019m calling it: The just-announced expansion for Lil Gator Game, dubbed In The\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/pack-it-up-other-games-an-early-goty-frontrunner-emerges\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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