A Short Hike

 PC
User Score
8.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 176 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 142 out of 176
  2. Mixed: 29 out of 176
  3. Negative: 5 out of 176

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  1. michaelb1928
    Aug 26, 2019
    7
    Was a fun little game, can be completed in about 2 hours but your more likely to explore the island so expect about 4-5 hours, good music, a relaxing atmosphere and funny cute dialogue made this game pretty fun for what it is
  2. nw2010
    Apr 4, 2020
    7
    Nice little game, good for a couple of hours of fun, although I wouldn't necessarily replay the game. Even better as it was a freebie.
  3. bancandrei
    Jun 4, 2021
    7
    Well, it is short (less than one hour to complete with a sprinkle of side activities) but its well worth the time as it will manage to grow on you. Breath of the wild light. Feather light
  4. TitaniumDragon
    Dec 31, 2020
    5
    A Short Hike is a simple “chill” platformer. You play as Claire, a bird girl who has gone to visit her Aunt May, a ranger who lives out on an island. The game starts with Claire discovering she has no cell reception, and Aunt May suggesting that Claire take “a short hike” up to the top of the mountain in order to get some.

    Needless to say, it isn’t that short, though it will likely only    A Short Hike is a simple “chill” platformer. You play as Claire, a bird girl who has gone to visit her Aunt May, a ranger who lives out on an island. The game starts with Claire discovering she has no cell reception, and Aunt May suggesting that Claire take “a short hike” up to the top of the mountain in order to get some.

    Needless to say, it isn’t that short, though it will likely only take you an hour and a half, perhaps less.

    The game is pretty simple, and has the sort of base-level millennial style humor that I see here and there – basically, characters being excessively straightforward, to the point where it is comical, along with some pretty obvious jokes. If you have played Night in the Woods, it has a similar sort of humor to that game.

    However, tonally, the game couldn’t be more different. There’s no darkness here; just a hike up a mountain, while encountering some funny people along the way.

    The core gameplay basically consists of exploring the island and talking to people. While you can pick up numerous items over the course of the playthrough, it pretty much all ends up tying back towards the acquisition of “golden feathers” – items that let you double jump or climb once per feather. The top of the mountain requires you to have collected probably somewhere around 7-9 of these, though you might be able to make it up with fewer.

    There’s not really any necessity of doing anything else, but you can do a bunch of random side tasks, from fishing to playing a volleyball variant to racing a boat around the water, which mostly reward you with either golden feathers or cosmetic items.

    All in all, it is a pretty simple game, and at less than two hours in length (a bit more if you try and do everything), it’s got a small amount of content but also doesn’t expect you to spend forever messing around doing it.

    Aesthetically, the characters are all anthropomorphic animals with pretty simple designs, but they work well enough. While the game ostensibly looks pixelated, it actually is entirely in the form of 3D polygonal graphics, and it is possible to go into the graphical options and reveal the “real” ones. I actually preferred the full resolution version, but some people might enjoy the more pixelated version more.

    The game is pretty simple and lightweight. The reveal at the end of what the phone call makes the game feel more complete, and like it actually has something of an arc, even though, in the end, this is much more of a slice of life piece than an actual adventure – which is very unusual in the world of gaming, especially platformers.

    It’s hard to say this game is bad, but it is also hard to say it is good. I got it as part of a bundle, and also for free on Epic, and at $0, it’s hard to complain too much. But at the same time, it’s hard for me to recommend that someone else spend the time on it; this is one of those experiences which is just okay, nothing more and nothing less.    … Expand
  5. MindWanderer
    Jul 3, 2020
    7
    Animal Crossing meets Dear Esther. Your task is to reach the top of the island's peak to be able to use your cell phone, but to do that you'll need to explore the island and talk to the other animals there to collect Golden Feathers. At least 7 Golden Feathers are required to beat the game, but more makes it easier (as well as exploration in general).

    I personally didn't find the    Animal Crossing meets Dear Esther. Your task is to reach the top of the island's peak to be able to use your cell phone, but to do that you'll need to explore the island and talk to the other animals there to collect Golden Feathers. At least 7 Golden Feathers are required to beat the game, but more makes it easier (as well as exploration in general).

    I personally didn't find the islanders particularly endearing. They only have a few lines of dialogue each and only a couple are in any way memorable. The ending is brief, adding a tiny amount of background to your protagonist but nothing I would call "heartwarming."

    Many of the major "quests" require you to complete other objectives first, but the island is big and mostly non-linear. I missed out on all the treasure hunts because I didn't find the shovel until I was done with the game, and I missed out on all the races because I never got the running shoes. Several are tedious. Fortunately, none are mandatory; I found 15 Golden Feathers, so it's possible to complete the game twice without collecting any of the same feathers in both games.

    I didn't have any trouble with controls or keybinds. Z was Z, X was X, menu is Esc or Space or Enter.

    I sank about 2 hours into it total--1 1/2 hours to beat the game, half an hour wandering around afterwards trying to complete some of the quests.

    The game is cute and relaxing but I didn't see a whole lot of point to it. I don't know anyone I'd recommend it to.    … Expand
  6. zzzxggg
    Jun 19, 2020
    7
    Aww, adorable and sophisticated. What a nice & round small open world! Love it.
  7. philzlz
    Feb 22, 2021
    7
    A peaceful, kind of relaxing game that can be completed in an hour. There are multiple ways to reach the end of the game and it features good music, funny written characters and a cute style.

    While I look for different things in my video games I had an enjoyable time playing it, you can feel the dev put a lot of heart into it.
  8. DJKrimson
    Nov 1, 2020
    7
    Peaceful 1-2 hour game. Fun gameplay where climb a mountain and collect feathers to be able to fly/glide around more and more. A good sunday afternoon game.
  9. Twich
    Sep 5, 2020
    7
    Very nice game, full of secrets and good NPCs, that make your experience on this game way better.
    Also nice the pixel art, and the relaxing OST.
  10. Bodislav
    Jan 10, 2022
    7
    I cry .
  11. tensioly
    Dec 15, 2021
    7
    A Short Hike es un juego muy relajante en el que te pones en el papel de un pájaro que tiene un objetivo sencillo pero que justifica perfectamente lo que quiere ofrecer el juego. Que poco a poco se vayan desbloqueando nuevas zonas a medida que avanzas provoca una sensación de progreso muy gratificante. El diseño artístico con píxeles grandes es muy bonito y la música me ha gustadoA Short Hike es un juego muy relajante en el que te pones en el papel de un pájaro que tiene un objetivo sencillo pero que justifica perfectamente lo que quiere ofrecer el juego. Que poco a poco se vayan desbloqueando nuevas zonas a medida que avanzas provoca una sensación de progreso muy gratificante. El diseño artístico con píxeles grandes es muy bonito y la música me ha gustado bastante. El propio nombre del juego indica que la duración del juego es muy corta (a mi me ha durado 2 horas pero no he completado todas las misiones, por lo que imagino que puede llegar hasta unas 3 horas), una duración adecuada para la propuesta que quiere ofrecer. También las mecánicas y físicas del juego me han parecido muy cómodas y bien hechas (recomiendo jugar el juego con mando, el teclado se hace un poco torpe). Para mí, el problema principal es la traducción del juego al español, que es pésima. A pesar de ello, es un producto correcto y quienes quieran un rato de relajación o de evadirse del día a día, este juego es muy recomendable. 7,4/10
    (06/2021)    … Expand
  12. Wrecktangled
    Mar 17, 2022
    7
    A very charming little title indeed. A beautiful little world to explore and the flying mechanism makes it very enjoyable to fly around and see all of it. The only thing that brings this game down is infact its length. Being titles A Short Hike, I knew what I was getting into, but it is indeed quite short and I dont know if it justifies the price. For me, being as cheap as I am have thisA very charming little title indeed. A beautiful little world to explore and the flying mechanism makes it very enjoyable to fly around and see all of it. The only thing that brings this game down is infact its length. Being titles A Short Hike, I knew what I was getting into, but it is indeed quite short and I dont know if it justifies the price. For me, being as cheap as I am have this critique, but take money out of the equation and you might find this game much more worth it.… Expand
  13. Jollyolfun
    Nov 18, 2022
    7
    this is the kind of game that you dont want to play, but you need to play..
  14. JornoWiesel
    Nov 6, 2022
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I just played this game last night and i have the feeling that it will just get better with multiple replays and age. I really love, that the game let‘s you think for yourself with every gameplay interaction. Each part of the island has its distinct themes. I think i can‘t say anything about the game without saying something about myself.
    I'm looking forward to playing it again when i'm in need of some reflection. And seeing my score of the game go higher every time.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

47
#47 Best PC Game of 2019
58
#58 Most Discussed PC Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. Multiplayer.it
    Dec 2, 2021
    85
    A Short Hike is a game loyal to its title. The condensed adventure may not be capable of delivering an ever engaging main narration, but its strenght resides in the world that polyhedric Adam Robinson-Yu and composer Mark Sparling managed to build in such a charming way.
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  2. Shacknews
    Nov 25, 2021
    90
    A Short Hike is a delightful journey through a vibrant park, bolstered by some fascinating characters and impressive writing. The gameplay is well-rounded, with abilities that are fun to use and a consistent progression. Despite a nitpick or two, there’s hardly anything to knock about Adamgryu’s latest outing.
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  3. PC Games
    Nov 19, 2021
    90
    Short, charming, sweet as pie and overall, just an absolutely wholesome experience: A Short Hike may not bring with it big set pieces, a complex story or a whole lot of gameplay systems. But it has more heart than a lot of other games combined, which makes it something truly special.
    Read full review
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