A Short Hike

 PC
User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 188 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 149 out of 188
  2. Mixed: 34 out of 188
  3. Negative: 5 out of 188

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  1. Trixxstrr
    Sep 3, 2023
    9
    Nice chill little game to climb a mountain to get cell reception. Nice characters and environment.
  2. utoku
    Aug 1, 2023
    9
    It's beautiful. Flying mechanics are amazing. It's like a little breath of the wild.
  3. tensioly
    Jun 6, 2023
    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
  4. melihabuaf
    May 19, 2023
    7
    wery short beuatfil game, funny gomby grapik, very recombenable 1231 funy bird
  5. BleedingJester
    Mar 5, 2023
    8
    its a fun and short game that that can be finished within 2 hours if you focus on the story but the game wants you to explore around the island and complete the various side quests that are relatively fun the highlight was definitley the atmosphere for me as it does a great job of setting up a nice relaxing vacation the graphics are also really nice to look at
  6. PublicNuisance
    Feb 20, 2023
    8
    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 aA 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. There was a resolution option; four other game settings and a v-sync toggle. Alt-tab didn’t work. Performance wise the game ran flawlessly and saw next to dips in frame rate.

    Game Engine: Unity
    Graphics API: OpenGL
    Disk Space Used: 351 MB
    Game Version Played: 1.9_v3

    Game Settings Used: 1920x1080; highest settings; v-sync on
    GPU Usage: 0-57 %
    VRAM Usage: 538-657 MB
    CPU Usage: 9-37 %
    RAM Usage: 3.4-3.7 GB
    Frame Rate: 134-144 FPS

    Overall I had a good time with A Short Hike. It was relaxing; had good variety; and really you get out of it what you put into it with the exploration. It’s warts were minor and not game breaking. I finished the game in one hour and forty five minutes but I didn’t finish all side quests. I paid $8.99 CAD for it and felt that was well worth the money.

    My System:

    Intel i7-6700 | 16GB DDR4-3000 CL15 | XFX RX 590 8GB Fat Boy | Mesa 22.3.5 | Samsung 870 QVO 1TB | Garuda | Mate 1.26.0 | Kernel 6.1.12-zen1-1-zen | AOC G2460P 1920*1080 @ 144hz    … Expand
  7. Ender_Claddy217
    Feb 3, 2023
    10
    Absolutely loved this game, really meditative gameplay and beautiful art style
  8. BaldursThones
    Jan 20, 2023
    9
    Its short, concise, and a lot of fun. I especially loved the soundtrack, and the cheerful dialogue.
  9. BugOnDesk
    Jan 15, 2023
    10
    If you want to have a short break from combat, racing, surviving crises, play A Short Hike!
  10. vinijec976
    Jan 4, 2023
    8
    A short hike is a game with a somewhat simple premise, to get to the top of a mountain. At the start of the game you are on an island with a mountain and need to use your cell phone to make a call, but the only place with cellphone reception is the top of the mountain. This is basically the whole story of the game, and this is where the journey of Claire, a cute and cuddly little bird,A short hike is a game with a somewhat simple premise, to get to the top of a mountain. At the start of the game you are on an island with a mountain and need to use your cell phone to make a call, but the only place with cellphone reception is the top of the mountain. This is basically the whole story of the game, and this is where the journey of Claire, a cute and cuddly little bird, begins.

    The game has an incredible soundtrack, relaxing songs that accompany you throughout the walk, along with great sounds of the environment, the wind passing, the rain, the water from the rivers that flow down to the immensity of the sea, forest animals and many others, creating a fascinating environment. Mark Sparling has done an exceptional job composing the music for the game. The graphics are beautiful, a simple but effective pixel art, bringing a feeling of something cozy.

    Its gameplay is not complex at all, you can walk, glide and climb, there are some other items you can get that contain other interactions as well. To climb longer or fly higher you need to collect golden feathers, they would be like a kind of stamina. But now, how to get them? That's where the game shines, its exploration. To find them you gotta search on the map, exploring is the whole point of the game. The main focus of the game isn't the end of the story, the conclusion itself, but your journey until you get there. The new friends you make, playing stick volleyball with them, meeting a fisherman and learning how to fish, racing, gliding, climbing, digging and a lot of other things you can make, this is what A short hilke is about.

    It is a short game, it is possible to finish it in less than 2 hours, but to enjoy everything the world created by Adamgryu can offer, this time can triple, it is extremely satisfying to see the characters moving, their actions actually changing the scenery, this gives the feeling that the place is alive. All this exploration makes the replayability factor very strong, you feel like playing again to see if you have left something behind, a new item, a conversation with a character, or even a branch fallen on the ground. Short Hike is a game that should be played, no doubt about it.    … Expand
  11. Jollyolfun
    Nov 18, 2022
    7
    this is the kind of game that you dont want to play, but you need to play..
  12. 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
  13. Dudeman15
    May 5, 2022
    10
    Epic gave this game for free and a friend told me I should play it. I was not sure it looked like **** to me (you can make this game look correct with the settings).

    Once I played this, I had so much fun. It's a short game. It's comforting to play.

    Treat yourself, play this.
  14. SaulBadman
    May 5, 2022
    8
    Just a fun short game. Game is mostly relaxed but engaging enough to keep you playing.
  15. YHLTheBard
    May 1, 2022
    9
    It had me crying, when I just exploring world. There ia no sad moments, but there is clearly small peace of wholesome moments and happiness. Just a little fun adventure with awesome dialogues, amazing world and funny moments. Love it.
  16. Spaceboys
    Mar 25, 2022
    9
    A great wee game. Short as is in the title but fun the whole way through. Beautiful world, charming characters satisfying movement mechanics.
  17. 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
  18. Echozone
    Feb 25, 2022
    9
    This was, without any exaggeration, one of the best short-form video game content I've played. The characters, the dialogue, the atmosphere, the art style, everything was perfect. This really is a game that isn't best described, but played.
  19. Bodislav
    Jan 10, 2022
    7
    I cry .
  20. firstmode
    Nov 30, 2021
    10
    I love this game, it was such a healing for me to get back into games and enjoy simplicity and beautiful storytelling and art. I highly recommend people try this game even if it is not the type of game they normally play. I really love this game and will always remember it.
  21. savvym
    Nov 26, 2021
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A Short Hike is fun. 99% positive reviews are well deserved. It rewards exploration, there are many nice characters and good dialogues, a few minigames, like fishing, you can sell fish, volleyball with sticks, also got coins. The main effort is to gain feathers to climb the peek.

    There is also another minigame with water bucket which when filled grows plants that work like trampoline. We can glide from the get go and feathers help us reach higher places either by flapping the wings or climbing the walls. Camera also adjusts automatically as we move around the island.

    Different angle helps us find treasures that are normally hidden, we can also find maps with leads but not sure if I followed them well. On top of things we can also dig at the holes but to achieve it, we need to find something else for trade. Rent a fast boat for a day.

    You can also dive into water which did not seem to do anything than just look good. Or open up a path into the mine to create a shortcut through mountain.

    Collecting coins is the main leisure thing to do as we can afford more feathers from traders or get them rewarded.

    Verdict

    Amazing. Unique world design. You gradually gain more abilities and items. You get to know some more and less cool characters. Looking at just pictures, it is not nicest but put them in motion and they become charming.    … Expand
  22. Denvers
    Nov 18, 2021
    9
    Fantastic in its simplicity. At the end, I craved more, but I knew more would soil the experience. Because of how short the game is, everybody should have enough time to play this (and they should!)
  23. C410
    Sep 25, 2021
    9
    A Short Hike (Só Uma Trilhazinha, para os mais íntimos) é a escolha perfeita para aquela tarde de sábado. O jogo não tenta em nenhum momento ser diferente do que o título sugere. Mas não se engane, isso não quer dizer que o jogo apresenta só uma caminhada do ponto A ao ponto B. A Short HIke se preocupa muito com a construção da caminhada, isso fica muito explícito na qualidade dos diálogosA Short Hike (Só Uma Trilhazinha, para os mais íntimos) é a escolha perfeita para aquela tarde de sábado. O jogo não tenta em nenhum momento ser diferente do que o título sugere. Mas não se engane, isso não quer dizer que o jogo apresenta só uma caminhada do ponto A ao ponto B. A Short HIke se preocupa muito com a construção da caminhada, isso fica muito explícito na qualidade dos diálogos (e da tradução deles, dado que o jogo é totalmente traduzido para PT BR). Além disso, a arte do jogo é cativante (independentemente de sua escolha por polígonos crocantes ou minúsculos) , e os cenários possuem certa variedade. Apesar da movimentação ficar um pouco estranha ao se jogar no teclado, os controles não chegam a ser ruins, apresentando certa precisão, mesmo quando se joga usando as teclas. Por fim, o game ainda possui músicas e efeitos sonoros condizentes com sua direção de arte e proposta. Um título quase que obrigatório para os amantes dos indies e dos polígonos.… Expand
  24. churros
    Sep 24, 2021
    8
    Pros:
    + fun
    + relaxing
    + short
    + easy controls

    Cons:
    - can look ugly on bigger screens
  25. John_II
    Aug 13, 2021
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. TLDR:

    This game is a short and sweet adventure up a mountain. The soundtrack is charming and plays well with the areas you're in. Every time you round a corner in this small world, you're uncovering something new.

    For $10 - I highly recommend this relaxing, fun, whimsical and adventurous game. It's worth 2-3 hours of your life to get to Hawk Peak and explore this world of adventure.

    Review:

    In the words of a wise old man - there are two sides to happiness: pleasure and joy.

    Pleasure is fleeting and while it may give higher highs, it also leaves us empty when it leaves. Pleasure is what you get from e.g. Call of Duty. It's fast-paced and frantic and a huge adrenaline dose. But then we are left burnt out after (at least I am).

    Joy is calmer, but it comes from building something you like, and growing and coming to realizations about what is important. It is not as high as Pleasure, but it stays with you. A Short Hike is Joy. It stays with you, it makes you feel better and lets you reflect.

    Let me start with a 3 nitpicks because this game is otherwise amazing.

    1. The graphics are pixelated and you may not care for the aesthetic. I think on a small screen for a Switch or a laptop, it's not so bad. But I cannot imagine this holding up on a big screen TV, which is a shame because I am dying to play this with a controller when it comes to PS4 this fall.

    2. I think what else would have made this game better was a big map of the whole world. Yes, you can find one online, but I wish there was one in game. It could have been toggled on and off. Make no mistake, getting around is easy enough because of the size of the world, but I really wish I could have just looked at a map once in a while.

    3. I wish there was a list of quests in the game. I had to start making one on a notepad to keep track of e.g., collecting 15 shells, finding that guy's watch, finding this guy's headband, and so on. If it's in the game, I missed it.

    Now, to get back to why all of the above are mere nitpicks and list the positives:

    1. I happen to like the art-style in this game, and it is an indie game. It doesn't need better graphics to make it an enjoyable game.

    2. I don't think there was ever a time I spent more than like 2 minutes trying to find something. The world has enough unique features and landmarks that I can find my way around.

    3. This game is supposed to be relaxing. If I had a to-do list, I would be trying to complete it the whole time instead of really exploring or talking to people as intended.

    Other positives:

    You don't need all the golden feathers to get to Hawk Peak. I could not do it with 10, but I could with 12. I suspect 11 is enough as well. I love that you don't have to be a completionist to actually finish the game.

    I love that this game is about 2-3 hours (for me) because now, like e.g. Journey (which is also a masterpiece) and unlike e.g. Destiny 2 ( a looter-shooter), I have the urge to do it all over again. It was fun enough and short enough that I will come back and do it all over again, on PS4 once it is out.

    The story is about Claire, whom I surmised was probably aged 13-21 based on her behaviour. But Claire comes off as someone who just wants to make a phone call - being her motivation for going to Hawk Peak - until the end of the game. Once at Hawk Peak, Claire gets a call from her mother who is recovering from surgery and it's really touching. I really liked that moment and even though there is scant dialogue and no voice-overs, you still feel the moment.

    The soundtrack by Mar Sparling is amazing. Just see for yourself: https://youtu.be/xsagJ3BYUAs.

    There is a subtle point in the design that makes this game memorable and makes you want to explore it to the fullest: You cannot die and you cannot really fail at anything in this game. I think this doesn't get enough credit in games.

    Because nothing hurts you (it can only set you back), you really are encouraged to explore to the fullest. You'll try to make jumps, go off the beaten path, and probably even try some fishing. That's how you enjoy this game. Your limitations are only how much time you have to play. Because the more you play/explore, the more golden feathers you find and the more you can do and the more you can do, the more of the world you can see and enjoy.

    And that's the beauty of A Short Hike - the game is about exploring, learning, and growing at your own pace. It's such a holiday from regular life and yet it IS a metaphor for real life.

    To end on the Correct Note:

    This review is my ringing endorsement of this game. Please try this game. I think the industry needs more like it, and I hope we do get more like it. This game is a masterpiece worthy of your time and money.    … Expand
  26. byAEG7
    Jun 16, 2021
    8
    Great game to just relax on an evening with its simple narrative and great atmosphere, its a short experience but one you will likely remember for a long time
  27. 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
  28. player_101
    Apr 5, 2021
    10
    Although it's not my favourite kind of game I enjoyed every minute of it.
    My girlfriend gave it to me as a present and it was a very nice surprise.
  29. 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.
  30. memehardt
    Feb 9, 2021
    9
    A very fun, calming game with a beautiful art style. The character interactions are great and the game can be funny and also emotional. It's a very short game and I finished it in 1 and a half hours, but there is still more to do for me and I'm exited to continue playing this. The ending was great and emotional, though I'm not sure this is too replayable.
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Awards & Rankings

48
#48 Best PC Game of 2019
58
#58 Most Discussed PC Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
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.
    Read full review
  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.
    Read full review
  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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