Hike, climb, and soar through the peaceful mountainside landscapes of Hawk Peak Provincial Park as you make your way to the summit. Recent Reviews: Overwhelmingly Positive (215) - 98% of the 215 user reviews in the last 30 days are positive. All Reviews: Overwhelmingly.

• A Short Hike Game
• A Short Hike Game Review
• A Short Hike How Long To Beat
• A Short Hike Switch
• A Short Hike Pc Download

A Short Hike is an indieadventure video game developed and published by Canadian programmer Adam Robinson-Yu (also known as adamgryu), who created the game in three months while on break from another project. It is an open world exploration game in which the player is tasked with reaching the summit of a mountain to get cellphone reception. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux in July 2019, and for Nintendo Switch in August 2020.

A Short Hike received positive reviews from critics, who widely praised its relaxing gameplay, freedom of exploration, and flying mechanics, while some criticized the short length and the handling of some story elements.

Gameplay[edit]

The player has the ability to jog, climb, swim, and glide through an open-world park while controlling Claire, an anthropomorphic bird.^[1] To reach the peak, the player must find or purchase golden feathers that afford extra jumps and the ability to climb rock faces.^[2] According to a sign on Hawk Peak Trail, the peak can be reached with as few as seven golden feathers. Once the player reaches the peak, they are free to explore the park and complete side activities as they please.^[3]

A Short Hike is a 2019 indie adventure game made and released by adamgryu. The game follows Claire, a young bird girl that is taken on a trip to Hawk Peak Provincial Park. While there, she realizes that she has no cellphone reception and is waiting for an important cal. A Short Hike is a 2019 indie adventure game made and released by adamgryu. The game follows Claire, a young bird girl that is taken on a trip to Hawk Peak Provincial Park. While there, she realizes that she has no cellphone reception and is waiting for an important call. A Short Hike Guides tzu's Guides This item has been removed from the community because it violates Steam Community & Content Guidelines. It is only visible to you.

In addition to the main goal, the island is populated with other animals, who offer side-quests and activities including fishing, finding lost items, and playing a volleyball-like mini-game called 'beachstickball'. Rewards for these activities include items which improve the player's ability to explore the park, such as running shoes or a compass. The player can also collect shells, sticks, coins, and other items to help complete these side-quests.

The game has an adaptive soundtrack that changes based on world events such as the weather, or player actions such as flying.^[1] It also features a dynamic camera created with the Unity tool, Cinemachine.^[4]

Plot[edit]

The protagonist and player character is Claire, a young bird who spends her days off by traveling to Hawk Peak Provincial Park, where her Aunt May works as a ranger.^[5][6]

In an opening cutscene, Claire's mother drives her to a ferry that will take her to the park for the summer. When Claire arrives, her Aunt informs her that there's no cellphone reception in the park except for at Hawk Peak. Claire has never hiked the Hawk Peak Trail before, but is expecting an important call, so she decides to go to the summit.^[1] It is then up to the player whether Claire helps the other animals on the island or heads straight for Hawk Peak. A sign at the mountain's base warns it is a strenuous hike, and other characters will remark that the trail is too difficult for them.

When Claire reaches the peak, she congratulates herself for making it and sits in view of an aurora. Soon her cell phone rings, revealing the caller is her mother. She acknowledges that she had a surgery after sending Claire away. Claire is upset she wasn't there for her, but Claire's mother says she is proud of Claire for climbing Hawk Peak. The call is interrupted when an updraft emerges from the mountain. It makes Claire nervous, but her mother urges her to ride it before it disappears. Claire rides the updraft, soaring over the park.

Claire can then return to her Aunt, whereupon she explains to her all of the side activities she did on her hike.

Development[edit]

A Short Hike Game

In December 2018, Robinson-Yu took a break from developing his Untitled Paper RPG and started work on A Short Hike. Playing the games The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game and Minit convinced him that short games can be successful, too.^[7] He later shared a prototype of A Short Hike on Twitter.^[8] Rendering the game's world using 'big crunchy pixels' and simple models allowed Robinson-Yu to expand the scope of the game in spite of his limited art skills. The color palette for the game is sampled directly from photos of the Canadian Shield in autumn.^[9]

Day of defeat for mac high sierra. After receiving funding via the Humble Original program, Robinson-Yu committed to finishing the game in three months. He tracked his progress using a simplified version of the scrum framework, and used existing Unity tools such as InControl and Cinemachine, as well as assets from previous projects.^[10] He also prioritized adding content over fixing small bugs.^[11]

Release[edit]

The game was first released for subscribers of the Humble Monthly program on April 5, 2019, and later as a standalone game for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux on July 30, 2019. A version for Nintendo Switch was released on August 18, 2020.^[6]

Reception[edit]

A Short Hike received 'generally favorable reviews' according to the review aggregator website Metacritic, receiving aggregate scores of 80/100 for the PC version,^[12] and 88/100 for the Switch version.^[13] Reviewers praised the peacefulness and replay value of the setting, as well as the open-ended gameplay, with several critics comparing the game's open world to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.^{[5][3][16][17]}

Reviewing the game for Nintendo Life, Stuart Gipp awarded A Short Hike a 10/10, calling it 'a truly complete game' and 'a milestone in indie games' for its freedom of gameplay and what he felt was 'a fat-free experience.'^[16] Cathlyn Vania of Adventure Gamers rated the game 4.5/5 stars, calling it a 'relaxing adventure filled with not only humor but the tenderness of personal connections.'^[1] Matthew Reynolds of Eurogamer named A Short Hike one of his Games of the Year, stating that the density of the island resulted in 'an adventure far richer than games many times of [sic] its length'.^[2] Khee Hoon Chan of GameSpot similarly praised the game for its controls, free-roaming gameplay, and overall 'comforting, even pastoral allure,' awarding it a 9/10.^[15]

Kevin Mersereau of Destructoid was slightly more mixed, but overall positive, rating the game a 7.5/10. He called it a 'palette[sic]-cleanser' that is 'relaxed' and 'unique', albeit 'far from perfect,' praising the game's flying mechanics, but criticizing its short length and 'anvil-dropped' plot elements.^[14]GameCentral's review similarly critiqued the game's length and the reveal of who Claire's phone call is from, but awarded the game an 8/10, calling it 'utterly charming and perfectly paced.'^[17]Washington Post critic, Christopher Byrd, described the game as 'built to foster a spirit of comfort rather than risk,' criticizing the easiness of player tasks while still recommending the game as 'an achievement.'^[5]

Awards[edit]

References[edit]

A Short Hike Game Review

1. ^ ^abcdeVania, Cathlyn (January 17, 2020). 'A Short Hike review'. Adventure Gamers. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
2. ^ ^abReynolds, Matthew (December 23, 2019). 'Games of the Year 2019: A Short Hike is a love letter to one of the most satisfying things in games'. Eurogamer. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
3. ^ ^abMoore, D. M. (August 18, 2019). 'A Short Hike is one part Animal Crossing and one part Breath of the Wild'. The Verge. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
4. ^Robinson-Yu, Adam (March 27, 2020). Crafting A Tiny Open World: A Short Hike Postmortem (Speech). Game Developers Conference. Event occurs at 11:25-11:40.
5. ^ ^abcByrd, Christopher. 'Review 'A Short Hike': A pleasant break from the winter doldrums'. Washington Post. ISSN0190-8286. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
6. ^ ^ab'A Short Hike Press Kit'. ashorthike.com. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
7. ^Robinson-Yu, Adam (March 27, 2020). Crafting A Tiny Open World: A Short Hike Postmortem (Speech). Game Developers Conference. Event occurs at 3:00–4:12.
8. ^Robinson-Yu, Adam [@adamgryu] (December 10, 2018). 'I've been working on a new side project these last few days, it's been really fun and refreshing to build something new' (Tweet) – via Twitter.
9. ^Robinson-Yu, Adam (March 27, 2020). Crafting A Tiny Open World: A Short Hike Postmortem (Speech). Game Developers Conference. Event occurs at 5:03–6:26.
10. ^Robinson-Yu, Adam (March 27, 2020). Crafting A Tiny Open World: A Short Hike Postmortem (Speech). Game Developers Conference. Event occurs at 9:01–12:06.
11. ^Robinson-Yu, Adam (March 27, 2020). Crafting A Tiny Open World: A Short Hike Postmortem (Speech). Game Developers Conference. Event occurs at 13:39–14:06.
12. ^ ^ab'A Short Hike (PC)'. Metacritic. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
13. ^ ^ab'A Short Hike (Switch)'. Metacritic. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
14. ^ ^abMersereau, Kevin (August 3, 2019). 'Review: A Short Hike'. Destructoid. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
15. ^ ^ab'A Short Hike Review'. GameSpot. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
16. ^ ^abcGipp, Stuart (August 29, 2020). 'Review: A Short Hike - A Landmark Game For All Ages'. Nintendo Life. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
17. ^ ^abc'A Short Hike Nintendo Switch review – short and sweet'. GameCentral. August 19, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
18. ^Tailby, Stephen (September 20, 2019). 'Days Gone Rides Off with Three Nominations in This Year's Golden Joystick Awards'. Push Square. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
19. ^Chalk, Andy (January 13, 2020). 'Control and Death Stranding get 8 nominations each for the 2020 DICE Awards'. PC Gamer. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
20. ^'Mutazione, Eliza, Untitled Goose Game Are Some of the Key Nominees for the 22nd Annual Independent Games Festival'. GlobeNewswire. January 7, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
21. ^'A SHORT HIKE WINS THE SEUMAS MCNALLY GRAND PRIZE AT THE 22nd ANNUAL INDEPENDENT GAMES FESTIVAL AWARDS'. GlobeNewswire. March 18, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2020.

External links[edit]

Welcome to our latest Backlog Review, where we look at relatively recent game releases and determine whether or not they’re worthy of a playthrough.

Sometimes stressful situations seemingly come out of nowhere and there is nothing to do but wait for the outcome be it good news or bad. While waiting, you could anxiously twiddle your thumbs or, the healthier option, go for a short hike. That’s exactly what you do in the 3D adventure game A Short Hike created by Adam Robinson-Yu. Despite that premise, A Short Hike is nothing but a wholesome, heartwarming delight. There are fun characters, sweet moments, and many thoughtful details such as a caring “personal message” to the player, which I won’t spoil.

The story is easily summed up as short and sweet as Claire, the main character, makes her way up and around the island to the summit of Hawk’s Peak. The initial motivation for Claire’s hike is that the peak is the only spot on the entire island with cell phone reception and she is awaiting an important phone call. This is soon forgotten as you the player are drawn into the picturesque pixelated scenery and the charming anthropomorphic characters. Though the story is over shortly after Claire makes her way to the summit, how long that takes, what path you take, what activities you do, and who you interact with on your way up will make each player’s experience with the game unique. The game is driven by player curiosity and desire to explore. There are no sour moments here and the game is sure to lift your spirits as you make your way up the peak.

A Short Hike How Long To Beat

Characters may also bring childhood nostalgia. There’s the boredom of a kid hoping to go on a boat ride, the newly invented game of beachstickball, and parkour races with the bird Avery. Racing Avery is a giddy kind of fun. Despite the top down view of each race, I felt like a kid again as I would race Avery multiple times and experiment with new strategies. Sure Avery will give you prizes for beating her in different races, but they weren’t the motivation for the race. The races themselves are fun. An added benefit is that Avery learns from you and copies your previous route making her more difficult to beat each time.

Races with Avery also demonstrate another aspect to this game that I love- the gameplay. I consider a game to be truly good when just the gameplay itself is satisfying. If there are no characters, story, or tasks, is the game still fun? In the case of A Short Hike, yes it totally is. Within the game, Claire can run, climb, jump, fly, and drive a boat around. Claire needs no reason, it’s just fun! I found flying especially enjoyable. The controls are so easy to pick up that even a first time gamer would have little trouble playing this game. However, there are a few issues that can be confusing or make navigation difficult.

First off, there are limited camera controls. The camera is in a relatively fixed location that is dependent on where Claire is on the island. This means the player cannot move the camera to get a better look around. While on the ground, this is fine, but while flying the camera may suddenly completely change angles thereby disrupting your flight direction. There is also no map whatsoever. Though you may find the lack of map enjoyable. I mostly enjoyed this as it makes the island feel larger and requires the player to make a mental map. It also makes exploration, in my opinion, more fun and realistic even though the drawback is that it can sometimes be difficult to remember where places or characters are relative to Claire.

After completing the game, you can continue to explore the island. There isn’t much replay value. From what I can tell, almost all character interactions would occur in the same way as there are not really any dialogue options. After completion, the game does offer a speedrun clock for those interested.

A Short Hike Switch

The cherry on top is the game’s relaxing soundtrack by Mark Sparling. It perfectly sets the atmosphere and will sound similar to those familiar with the Zelda series and the animated film studio Studio Ghibli. Not only are the songs fitting, but the soundtrack is adaptive, meaning it changes depending on what Claire is doing and where she is. This really fits well with the player driven gameplay.

A Short Hike Pc Download

Though A Short Hike doesn’t bring much new to the table (many elements will feel similar to Journey, Celeste, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Animal Crossing, or Stardew Valley), the game combines familiar mechanics so well that A Short Hike, despite a few small drawbacks, is a well put together, relaxing game you shouldn’t miss out on.