A Short Hike

A Short Hike can come off as a very simple game but it does have some unexpected depth to it. The overall goal is to make it to the top of the peak. In order to do so you must get a certain amount of golden feathers. Past this is where the depth comes in. In order to get these feathers you can find them or buy them. Either way you must explore the park. In doing so you will come across a wide range of characters with interesting stories as well as opportunities for additional game play. My favourite was following around a painter and finding out what troubles they are going through in trying to find inspiration. You will find a variety of items you can put to use such as a shovel which allows you to dig holes to recover money and other items. You can find treasure maps which will give you hints of where to find treasure. You will find a bucket which if you bring water to certain plants will help you scale some areas easier. This is all little things that added to the game play variety. There are some things the game could have done better. For instance there is no quest log so you have to remember what certain people wanted and where they are located. The game also could have used a proper map, there is a compass but that was of little help for me. The music was well done and added to the chill relaxation vibes that the game had going. The visuals were a mixed bag. While I thought colour palette was bright and was really pleasant the game was still a pixel game which meant not a ton of detail. It was better than ninety nine percent of pixel games but the style has limits. I played A Short Hike on Linux. It never crashed and I didn’t notice any bugs. The game auto saves on exit as well at certain points throughout the game. This wasn’t an issue but a manuals ave system would have been a nice option. There was just one save slot in the game that kept getting overwritten and you can’t have more than one save game going at once.

A short hike is a comfy game to relax and spend a good time. A gorgeous package full of endearing characters, charming dynamic music, warm and funny writing, all wrapped up in this lovely island, fully open for you to explore, at your own rythm, and in your own way. The game is very well aware of how fun and fullfiling it is to just, you know, play and control your character, Claire. So everytime you achieve something or reach a new place, you are rewarded with more freedom to control your character, expanding the horizons of places you can reach and explore, rewarding you with more freedom, and so on until the end of your journey..... and beyond. And that feels extremely good. The game is short, and can probably be finished in about 30mins/1h, but that would be doing yourself a big disservice : the game is brimming with cute characters to intereact with, secret places, warm stories and jokes, and you don't want to miss out on them. It has this "Breath of The Wild" vibe to it, in the way it lets you explore however you want, but without the violence and epic quest to save the world or whatnot. That doesn't prevent the game from carrying a huge adventurous vibe that suits this journey perfectly. It was truely an amazing experience and I recommend it to anyone !

What a chill and wholesome experience! There is no grand story or drama, it's just a little bird running around doing fun things and interacting with the nicest cast of characters you'll ever meet. Lots of lovely little secrets and side activities to uncover, but even if you do everything, you'll still probably finish it in under 3 hours. It's also a great game to play alongside your kid/nephew/little sibling.

Great little game. Made my day. Very well balanced game-play, perfect design. 3D height exploration (diving is missing) short peaceful action-adventure like. A real treat it was to play a humanoid-bird with fly-like abilities ! No monsters, no death, so refreshing. Dialogues are really good. Great characterization. A childish tone but in a mature way. Explore, fly, run, fish, dig, play, wearing hats ? ... What a day it was ! Couldn't find a park map though... A must play.

Beautiful, engaging and very very positive game! I usually start playing games only to uninstall them a few minutes later. I also like rushing through games, but in this case the learning curve was excellent, the payoff was there right from the start and it was so pretty that even when I finished it, I kept and kept and kept playing exploring the island(s)! Other than beautiful this game is extremely polished; something that most indie games lack! The flight mechanics are mesmerizing and after spending a good 4h playing (could had been less) I had beautiful nightdreams of controlled flying! Thank you adamgryu for a nice evening!