Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS (Steam/Itch.io)
Memory is strange. There were moments in my life, as I’m sure there were in yours, that I now wish had lasted forever. There are conversations, situations, and places that I would like to relive again and again. At the time, in the moment, I may not have thought much of any of these things that I now find myself thinking of in idle moments and when my mind begins to wander back to my more youthful days.
I didn’t enjoy family holidays when I was younger. Two weeks with my family away from my friends in the heat always felt like staying in some cushy prison. Thinking back on this now, it’s the view of a spoiled little dweeb and I would now relish being young and free of responsibility in a foreign country. It’s not often that you get to wile away your time in an exotic locale, or even a banal one. Luckily for me, and maybe you too, A Short Hike by Adam Robinson-Yu lets me live out a quintessential vacation experience full of bright-eyed spectacle.
In A Short Hike, you play a young bird who’s holidaying with her father at the Hawk Peak campgrounds. It’s not long before you set off in search of cellphone reception to check your Socials and get away from all this pesky nature.
A Short Hike perfectly captures those lazy days of venturing out and discovering your surroundings little by little. To this end, most of the game involves stamina management and the retrieval of golden feathers to allow the scaling of higher heights.
You might not get to where you want to go right away, but you’ll discover umpteen other things to keep you busy and before you know it you’re collecting shells, participating in races, joining the local mountaineering club and much more. Again, it’s like going on vacation, at first there’s a reluctance to get involved with everything your holiday destination has to offer but after a couple of days you’ll never want to leave.
I especially appreciated the dialogue in the game which had a deceptive sweetness to it. Sometimes you come off a little snarky to the other holidaymakers on the island, but that’s only a front as you eventually find that it’s exciting to participate in their games and riddles. The thing about A Short Hike is that like a great vacation, it’s over all too soon. But there’s never a feeling that the game is pushing you toward a conclusion or goal, this is one of those experiences that you’ll want to savour.
And tellingly, it’s the case that even when you’ve unpacked your bags and settled back into your normal routine you’ll be thinking about those days of leisure at Hawk Peak and how you’d love to live them again. Luckily, unlike real life those memories and experiences are only a double-click away.
