A Short Hike (2020) [Switch]

Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery why we climb

-Greg Child

Ugh, summer camp… away from civilization. A place where there’s no TV, no games, no technology whatsoever. To make matters worse, your cellphone doesn’t even get reception on this island. But there may be hope just yet… Hawk’s Peak, and the very top of the mountain, you could actually get some reception and you’re told it’s only A Short Hike away. And so the adventure begins!

First Steps

A Short Hike is a quick indie title from developer Adamgryu that focuses on exploration. Walk, jump, and glide along the many paths, or go off the trails to your heart’s content. Eventually, you find a shovel to dig holes, a feather that allows you to climb and glide further, and even a fishing pole to catch fish. I was impressed with the variety of things that become available as you continuously explore to discover new things.

I initially thought there would be different tasks to complete since you’re told your main goal is to reach Hawk’s Peak, but I realized that it’s the ONLY goal of the game. However, reaching it is not so easy and you must find golden feathers so that you can climb higher. The more golden feathers you have, the easier it will be to reach the top. You’ll find yourself going around exploring, finding treasure chests, and helping other campers along the way. Eventually, you have enough feathers to reach the peak, but clever players may find a different path to the top.

A Worthwhile Journey

The entire game could be completed in just a few hours, depending on how much you let yourself be distracted by all the activities. It seemed like a huge island with a lot of verticality at first and I got lost a few times. The bird’s eye view is mostly fixed and rotates as you make your way around the cliffs. You’re only given a compass to keep track of direction but I still found myself not knowing where I was. However, the more I progressed the more I got comfortable traversing the very vertical landscapes.

One of my favorite things to do was when I climbed a bit high to then glide down while getting a better view of the island. Doing this, I would often find treasures and items I had missed while exploring at ground level. The joys of A Short Hike are when you’re just aimlessly wandering around finding cool new things to interact with. There’s quite a lot more going on here than I expected, I was pleasantly surprised.

Nature’s Beauty

The presentation is unique in how the art style is simple but they chose to display the game in super chunky pixels. Funny enough, this style got me nostalgic for Nintendo DS titles where the resolution was a mere 256 x 192 pixels. The polygonal characters and environments are blocky but the lower resolution gives it a look I haven’t seen before on Switch. If this style isn’t to your liking, the pixels can be resized with four different pre-sets. While I did like the chunky pixels, I ended up going with the sharpest resolution as I thought it looked the best on my large TV screen. I went back and forth while on handheld.

A Short Hike also has some terrific sound design. The game serenades you with a pleasant soundtrack that perfectly fits a cozy vibe. Strings, wind instruments, piano, and light percussions provide the perfect accompaniment to the carefree expeditions. The music is one of the highlights of playing A Short Hike but it also had segments where all you can hear is the nature sounds of the environment. I found myself listening to the soundtrack after I was done with the game.

Comparison between the chunkiest and tiniest pixel styles.

Safe Landing

There’s really nothing negative I could say about this game, except for maybe it’s a bit too short of a hike, but the length seems appropriate enough for this type of experience. It doesn’t overstay its welcome and those who want to keep exploring can also do so and see what else there is to discover. Digging through the menus I did find an achievements page that hinted at other things I could accomplish after the main quest was complete. Replaying it also offers many opportunities since the entire island is open right from the start.  For a game that’s under $10, I can’t recommend this experience enough.

Pixel Perfect

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Kalas, aspiring content creator (but failing horribly at it) has found a wonderful community of friends to share his love of games through Twitch, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube.