This game was reviewed using Version 1.8.14, Build Number 29012021.0. Your experience on future versions may vary.

The epitome of relaxing, open-ended exploration, filled with charm from start to finish. Plenty of character interactions and secrets make exploring the beautiful landscape rewarding, with a calming score and quirky art style to keep you in high spirits throughout. The game's moveset and upgrade system help facilitate its open-ended design, though the lack of direction might have you going in circles to find its last few secrets. Roughly 4-5 hours long, it's an overall joy to play that's well worth the price of admission.

A Short Hike is an exploration game whose title is somehow both accurate and an understatement at the same time. You play as a young bird named Claire, visiting an island with the clear goal of climbing to the summit of the mountain at its center, meeting a wide cast of quirky characters and solving their problems along the way. The story is simple and sweet, but I won't say any more than that so you can experience it for yourself. The game's philosophy is "play at your own pace", as it never rushes you to actually climb the summit, and even actively encourages you to deviate from your original goal to explore the island. Though doing so is initially slow, your ability to fly and climb will improve thanks to the game's primary collectible: silver and gold feathers. Each one provides substantial boosts to your maximum jumping and climbing heights, and the immediate benefit these provide to your ability to explore the island make them some of the most rewarding collectibles I've seen in a video game in a long time. The movement options the game provides--from jumping to gliding to the recently-added boating--are all designed with fun in mind, and the simple act of travel becomes an exciting activity rather than just a means to an end. The game boasts a wonderfully simplistic art style with the unique ability to change the "pixel size" to give the game a more retro or modern feel--I preferred the minimum size for a smoother look, but neither one makes the game lose its charm. All of this is punctuated with an adaptive soundtrack that's just the right blend of relaxing and adventurous to help keep you excited throughout without being overwhelmed.

While the game's goal is to help you get lost in its peaceful landscapes, sometimes it takes that statement a bit too literally. The game has no map to consult, providing only a compass to give you a rough idea of your position relative to the rest of the island. While the different major areas on the island are visually distinct enough to identify at a glance, the lack of a map can make it difficult to find the position of other areas relative to the one you're in. You also have very little control over its dynamic camera--limited only to a slight pivot from whatever direction the game puts it in--which further limits your ability to see what's around you without the use of the few tourist binoculars scattered around the island. All of this combined can make navigation a bit disorienting if you're not paying attention. Admittedly, this wasn't too much of a problem on my first trip up the mountain, but did make my post-game hunt for secrets a bit difficult for the wrong reasons. While the movement benefits of collecting feathers is arguably its own reward, note that there is no reward for 100% completion, so don't get too stressed out if you find yourself missing a couple secrets or collectibles.

It took me just over 4 hours to reach 100% completion, and it was a pleasant experience that I'd say is well worth its $8 price tag. While I did start to see issues with navigation near the end of my playthrough, they were nowhere near bad enough to dissuade me from recommending this game. It's rare to find a game that's just plain fun to move around in detached from any sort of goal, but A Short Hike managed to pull that off and so much more. It's an absolutely charming and relaxing experience through and through, perfect for a nice quiet evening at home. It's hard to believe that its developer, adamgryu, managed to make this game in just three months while taking a break from a larger project, but discovering this left me very excited to see what talent like his will manage to create in the future.

For more game reviews, check out my Curator page!

[b][u]This game was reviewed using Version 1.8.14, Build Number 29012021.0. Your experience on future versions may vary.[/u][/b] [h3][b][u]Short Answer:[/u][/b][/h3] The epitome of relaxing, open-ended exploration, filled with charm from start to finish. Plenty of character interactions and secrets make exploring the beautiful landscape rewarding, with a calming score and quirky art style to keep you in high spirits throughout. The game's moveset and upgrade system help facilitate its open-ended design, though the lack of direction might have you going in circles to find its last few secrets. Roughly 4-5 hours long, it's an overall joy to play that's well worth the price of admission. [h3][b][u]Long Answer:[/u][/b][/h3] [i]A Short Hike[/i] is an exploration game whose title is somehow both accurate and an understatement at the same time. You play as a young bird named Claire, visiting an island with the clear goal of climbing to the summit of the mountain at its center, meeting a wide cast of quirky characters and solving their problems along the way. [b]The story is simple and sweet[/b], but I won't say any more than that so you can experience it for yourself. The game's philosophy is [b]"play at your own pace"[/b], as it never rushes you to actually climb the summit, and even actively encourages you to deviate from your original goal to explore the island. Though doing so is initially slow, your ability to fly and climb will improve thanks to the game's primary collectible: silver and gold feathers. Each one provides substantial boosts to your maximum jumping and climbing heights, and the immediate benefit these provide to your ability to explore the island make them [b]some of the most rewarding collectibles I've seen in a video game[/b] in a long time. The movement options the game provides--from jumping to gliding to the recently-added boating--are all designed with fun in mind, and [b]the simple act of travel becomes an exciting activity[/b] rather than just a means to an end. The game boasts a [b]wonderfully simplistic art style[/b] with the unique ability to change the "pixel size" to give the game a more retro or modern feel--I preferred the minimum size for a smoother look, but neither one makes the game lose its charm. All of this is punctuated with [b]an adaptive soundtrack that's just the right blend of relaxing and adventurous[/b] to help keep you excited throughout without being overwhelmed. While the game's goal is to help you get lost in its peaceful landscapes, sometimes it takes that statement a bit too literally. [b]The game has no map to consult[/b], providing only a compass to give you a rough idea of your position relative to the rest of the island. While the different major areas on the island are visually distinct enough to identify at a glance, the lack of a map can make it difficult to find the position of other areas relative to the one you're in. You also have [b]very little control over its dynamic camera[/b]--limited only to a slight pivot from whatever direction the game puts it in--which further limits your ability to see what's around you without the use of the few tourist binoculars scattered around the island. [b]All of this combined can make navigation a bit disorienting[/b] if you're not paying attention. Admittedly, this wasn't too much of a problem on my first trip up the mountain, but did make my post-game hunt for secrets a bit difficult for the wrong reasons. While the movement benefits of collecting feathers is arguably its own reward, note that [b]there is no reward for 100% completion[/b], so don't get too stressed out if you find yourself missing a couple secrets or collectibles. [b]It took me just over 4 hours to reach 100% completion[/b], and it was a pleasant experience that I'd say is well worth its $8 price tag. While I did start to see issues with navigation near the end of my playthrough, they were nowhere near bad enough to dissuade me from recommending this game. [b][u]It's rare to find a game that's just plain fun to move around in detached from any sort of goal, but [i]A Short Hike[/i] managed to pull that off and so much more. It's an absolutely charming and relaxing experience through and through, perfect for a nice quiet evening at home.[/u][/b] It's hard to believe that its developer, adamgryu, managed to make this game in just three months while taking a break from a larger project, but discovering this left me very excited to see what talent like his will manage to create in the future. [quote]For more game reviews, check out my [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/42524563/]Curator page[/url]![/quote]