Gecko Gods Review — Lizard Oasis

Gecko Gods is a game that does a great job of preparing players for what to expect in the title alone: playing as a small, impossibly adorable gecko, your job is to restore the ancient and long-dormant gods of geckokind, exploring their lost temples with all the freedom and mobility of a tiny lizard in an adventure that lacks demanding reflexes or imposing action, catering exclusively to a very relaxed audience.

If you’re reading this review, then chances are you probably fall into that audience. You’re likely more interested in the concept of playing as an adorable gecko than you are in the prospect of mechanical complexity or genuinely challenging combat or puzzles. If so, Gecko Gods certainly is the experience for you, as the title is incredibly relaxed: platforming and puzzle solving are relatively light in complexity and challenge compared to other titles, and the whole game is played at precisely the pace you want to play it. If you feel like rushing to the end, you can, sure, but if you’d rather just run around as a small lizard for a while, you are absolutely free to do so.

Catering to that relaxed audience, Gecko Gods presents its semi-open world with soft, gentle ambiance and an overall calm vibe, with even the hostile elements in the game and what very little combat is present feeling like a very toned-down and outright avoidable experience. The platforming and puzzle solving are made all the more simple by the addition of lizard-style movement mechanics: our gecko protagonist can dash mid-air, skitter quickly, and, most importantly, climb up walls. The ability to do all of this with no stamina bar makes movement in the game fun, immersively gecko-like, and makes platforming much easier.

One can argue that it makes platforming trivial, in fact, to the point where it isn’t super exciting. The ability to run up all of the game’s walls, ceilings, and terrain means that there really isn’t a segment present that will challenge your platforming ability in any meaningful sense. Again, however, this is a very relaxed game, and I can’t imagine the audience that would be interested in Gecko Gods would be too upset that it didn’t provide enough of a challenge.

Gecko Gods is best played with a controller. That isn’t to say that the keyboard controls are impossible to use: the button layout is thoughtfully designed, unlike some other games designed for controllers, so you won’t be spraining your wrist trying to hit oddly parsed keybinds. Rather, it’s the game’s omnidirectional movement that can make the WASD keys a little awkward to use. Running into corners or, especially, a lot of the wall climbing can feel odd, and the use of a controller’s stick will feel much more natural, and avoid a lot of the awkward moments that WASD movement creates in Gecko Gods.

Even with a controller, small bugs are present that can make movement or general progression a little tricky, and even at times force you to reload a save. Most of these issues appear to be physics-based, with our lizardy protagonist occasionally clipping through the environment or having issues moving in the right direction when in water. The camera can occasionally move into awkward angles as well, and this makes navigation a bit annoying.

While present, and not the only bugs I experienced in my playthrough, I would say that the glitches and issues present in Gecko Gods aren’t serious enough to really hinder the experience. Again, much of the problem these bugs could present is offset by just how relaxed and easy the game is to play. Getting stuck in a wall in one area isn’t really going to frustrate you much when you can reload your save and get through there again in under a minute.

My favorite part of Gecko Gods is not the relaxed gameplay, which again I feel will appeal to many players looking for something simple and comfortable to play, but rather the game’s gorgeous environments. Cartoony, low-poly, and yet deceptively detailed, I really loved how Gecko Gods portrayed a desert environment, but one full of life: the sand and sandstone sell the idea that you are in a hot, arid environment, but there’s a realistic presence of grass and other fauna that many developers, particularly ones who have never been in a desert, tend to forget about when making these settings. It certainly feels like a gecko’s ideal habitat and doesn’t betray the relaxed vibe the game is going for, despite feeling realistically arid.

Gecko Gods is not Dark Souls. It’s not even Mario, presenting very little, if any, real notable challenge throughout its gameplay. The puzzles are not complex, often having the same or very similar solutions, and the platforming is downright trivial with the movement you are given. If you’re the type of player who gets bored without challenging mechanics, this game isn’t for you. However, if you just want a relaxed experience, and if you were drawn to this game in the first place because of the cute gecko in the marketing, chances are you’re going to enjoy what it has in store for you.

Try Hard Guides was provided a Steam code for this PC review of Gecko Gods. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles on our Game Reviews page! Gecko Gods is available on Steam and Nintendo Switch.