A Short Hike

Gameplay

A Short Hike is a platformer and adventure video game; a platformer being a genre in which a player travels through spaces by jumping. The player controls Claire, an anthropomorphic bird who can fly, run, climb, and double jump, in an open world that can be explored freely. The goal of the game is to reach the top of the world (map). Throughout the world, there are signs that orient the player towards the summit. Claire can collect Golden Feathers, which determine the player's stamina when flying, running, or jumping. Golden Feathers may also be purchased with coins. The player's stamina bar is depleted when doing an activity, such as running. The bar either recharges by waiting or, when in a snowy area, by bathing in a hot pool of water. The player can collect up to 20 Golden Feathers, but to reach the top, the player has to obtain at least seven. Additionally, to reach high points on the map, the player has to combine movement mechanics, such as flying, running, and jumping. While exploring, the player can also find "bouncy flowers" that propel the player to higher points on the map.

The world consists of several islands that form a park; some biomes include a beach, forest, and snowy mountains. The player can discover various treasures, including collectable items such as coins, sticks, and shells. A shovel can also be found and used for digging treasures, as well as a fishing rod. Items collected are stored in the player's inventory, which is accessible at any time. The player may encounter non-player characters (NPCs) such as a group of children that run a marathon to the top of a hill, those that task the player with finding Golden Feathers, or those that help the player navigate the map. Some NPCs offer activities, known as minigames, that reward the player with achievements and request the player to do basic tasks. The player could also participate in races, play on the beach, or fish to earn coins.

Plot

Claire, a young bird, decides to spend her days off by travelling to Hawk Peak Provincial Park, where her Aunt May works as a ranger.

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 is no cell phone reception except at Hawk Peak, the tallest point in the park. Claire has never hiked the Hawk Peak Trail before, but is expecting an important call, so she decides to hike to the summit. 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 remark that the trail is too difficult for them.

When Claire reaches the peak, she congratulates herself for making it and stands in front of an aurora. Soon, her cell phone rings, revealing that the caller is her mother. She acknowledges that she had a surgery after sending Claire away. Claire is upset she was not 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 then returns to her aunt and tells her about all her side activities during the hike. Afterwards, she finally goes to sleep.

Development

A Short Hike was created by Adam Robinson-Yu, a Toronto-based developer, also known online as adamgryu. He was the game's programmer, art designer, level designer, sound designer, and writer. He also received help from his family and friends. Dawn Blair helped him with designing models as well as with writing, while Andrew Wong contributed to some 3D models. The game's logo was created by David Czarnowski. The game was created in the Unity video game engine.

Robinson-Yu was passionate about creating video games since his youth, but only became more interested in the process while learning video game development in university. Before working on A Short Hike, Robinson-Yu released a few video games on the Itch.io digital distribution service. After quitting his job as a software engineer, he became an independent video game developer in 2017. A year later, Robinson-Yu started working on a role-playing video game, inspired by the Paper Mario series. He struggled with his role-playing game, growing increasingly stressed and anxious, aware that its completion could take several years. In December 2018, he stopped working on it and started working on A Short Hike. After tweeting about A Short Hike online in the same month, he obtained funding for the game, but was still unsure which project he should mainly focus on. After playing The Haunted Island (2018) and Minit (2018), he ultimately decided to work on A Short Hike full-time.

Robinson-Yu was inspired to create a hiking video game after his trips to national landmarks. He wanted to incorporate the feeling of reaching the top of the mountain in the game, while also trying to reconstruct "the peaceful meditative feeling" while surveying the world. However, unlike the result, he first thought about creating a simulation video game in which the player would manage their own national park, similar to the RollerCoaster Tycoon series. When at Stugan, an accelerator program for indie video game developers, he pitched a hiking game while participating in a game jam with two co-workers, ultimately creating the game The Secret of Dank Mountain. After completing it, he found navigation and route planning to be interesting design mechanics, and stated he could create a game incorporating such elements. The stamina bar featured in The Secret of Dank Mountain is also similar to those of A Short Hike.

He initially thought the gameplay of A Short Hike would be boring and not attract players, saying that similar games already existed, especially those with a strong narrative. After obtaining money for the game from the company Humble Bundle, he committed to releasing the game in the next three months. He divided the game's development cycle into three parts: alpha, beta, and release candidate. He created two sets of goals during development, the first being core gameplay aspects, such as movement mechanisms, dialogue, save system, and cutscenes, and the second being stretch goals, such as volleyball, parkour, fishing, and wildlife. He argued that "the game would still be fun even though the stretch goals were not made". Some of the stretch goals would not be featured upon the game's release on Humble Bundle.

Art style

The game features a pixelated art style, with voxel and isometric graphics. The game does not use anti-aliasing, a procedure that smoothes lines and removes visual distortions. One of the first things Robinson-Yu did when starting development of A Short Hike was the art style. Considering that he had more experience in visual effects, he decided to experiment with a "crunchy" pixel art style. This style helped him create models much faster and expand the scope of the game in spite of his limited art skills. Robinson-Yu wanted to create a world with as few pixels as possible, while still trying to make it look beautiful. To create this effect in Unity, the world is rendered with a point filter mode. The colour palette was sampled directly from photographs of the Canadian Shield during the autumn. He also created a custom shader that allowed him to control shadows on all objects, while also trying to make them look flat and consistent. The flat style also allowed him to create UVs much faster, with UVs being a surface of a model that is applied to a 2D model. Robinson-Yu used post-processing effects in the game. He noted that, without any effects, the map in the distance would contain a lot of noise. He added a fog effect (to keep the player concentrated), edge detection, and colour correction.

Map design

Robinson-Yu used Unity's terrain editor to create the world. He attempted to recreate an open world, encouraging players to explore the world in whatever way they saw fit. This direction inspired him to create minigames that can be played after taking a break from hiking. Robinson-Yu intentionally wanted players to get lost while exploring the map, even adding various landmarks, to "pique people's curiosity", and collectable items, such as coins, as well as paths and signs. He used a triplanar shader to texture the terrain; according to Robinson-Yu, "this shader effect uses the normal of the mesh to decide which texture to show". When working on A Short Hike, his main inspiration was The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017), primarily due to its open world design. He was also inspired by the Animal Crossing series. He tried making places on the map as distinctive as possible. For example, the game's fire tower was inspired by his hiking trip to Mount Pilchuck, while the park itself was inspired by Algonquin Provincial Park.

In the starting area, there is a single dirt path that leads the player towards the town. During playtesting, Robinson-Yu noticed that some players ended up going in the ocean to nearby islands or to the back side of the mountain. To solve the problem, he created a cave at the back side of the mountain, which ultimately leads the player back to the starting town. He also used natural obstacles, such as high walls, to prevent the player from travelling up the mountain before they gain a certain number of Golden Feathers. In the early playtesting, Golden Feathers were harder to find; this changed later during development.

One of the first items Robinson-Yu added to the game was a shovel, saying that "it was a simple way to add secrets to the game". In the beginning, the player would stumble upon a toy shovel, which the player can trade in for a larger shovel. Robinson-Yu initially added a single toy shovel at a crossroad. However, he ended up noticing that players would avoid the shovel. To fix the problem, he placed five toy shovels around the starting area; once the player collects one, the other four would disappear. He said that "players would feel like they discovered it on their own, even though it's practically guaranteed at this point". He later added a bucket, which allows the player to water plants.

Music

The game's soundtrack was composed by Mark Sparling. Its soundtrack is adaptive, meaning that it changes based on world events and player actions. Sparling used a guitar, mandolin, and banjo to record live music, as well as a piano and drums. He was heavily inspired by The Binding of Isaac (2011), composed by Danny Baranowsky, when starting out his career. However, when composing A Short Hike, he was mainly inspired by Studio Ghibli and Joe Hisaishi; Sparling tried imitating his style. The "Somewhere in the Woods" song from A Short Hike combined inspirations from the musician Sufjan Stevens, particularly his album Carrie & Lowell, and Animal Crossing: New Leaf (2012). Sparling said that "the cute, minimal percussion" was influenced by New Leaf while the guitar parts were influenced by Stevens. The main song, "Beach Buds", was inspired by the music of Studio Ghibli movies; the song contains strings as well as elements of Afro-Cuban jazz. New Leaf was used as an inspiration for other songs that use bass and percussions. Firewatch (2016) also inspired him while creating "more ambient, moody sound". While the player flies, the song playing contains elements of Steve Reich's tracks.

A Short Hike has a bioregional sound design. The adaptive soundtrack has several layers. The first layer, the percussion, is present in the starting area (bay), town, and camps, while the second layer, featured in the bay, has a "more memorable and active melody". The third layer, composed of chords, is also featured in the bay, as well as in the camps, which feature a "slightly less active melody" (layer four). The town and camps have alternative chords (layer five). The mountain works differently (the layers are stacked on each other); Sparling said that the music "hopefully gets more exciting as you climb".

Release

A Short Hike was a Humble Monthly exclusive in April 2019. After its release on Humble, Robinson-Yu worked on adding several features that he did not have time for, such as fishing, parkour races, and "beach-stick-ball". He used Twitter as a promotional platform. A Short Hike was released on Windows, Linux, and macOS on July 30, 2019, for the Itch.io and Steam digital distribution services. With this release also came the "Extra Mile Update", which introduced new characters, fishing, and map changes. The Nintendo Switch version was released on August 18, 2020. An update introducing a motorboat was included; it was also added to other platforms. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions were released on November 16, 2021. In March 2020, the game was made free for a week on the Epic Games Store. In July 2023, the game was promoted in a Whimsy and Wonder bundle on Humble Bundle's website.

On April 1, 2022, Robinson-Yu released a modification of the game with a battle royale mode, allowing up to 99 players to play on a single island. He stated that it would not become an official game mode.

Reception

A Short Hike received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to the review aggregator website Metacritic. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received "mighty" approval, being recommended by 100% of critics. Four Famitsu critics gave it a 32 out of 40 score, praising the movement and atmosphere.

Critics favourably assessed the gameplay. Willem Hilhorst of Nintendo World Report and Matthew Reynolds of Eurogamer described it as a "collect-a-thon", with Reynolds comparing it to the gameplay of Banjo-Kazooie. Journalists Lauren Morton of PC Gamer and Mykel Bright of Hardcore Gamer have described A Short Hike as a cozy game. Hilhorst summarized the game as that "A Short Hike delivers not just what the title promises", but that it also exceeds the player's expectations. Cathlyn Vania of Adventure Gamers praised the fishing and climbing mechanics, as well as the option to find treasure, while Kevin Mersereau of Destructoid positively commented on the flying mechanics. Stuart Gipp of Nintendo Life described the various in-game activities as "refreshingly organic", noting that the game "[makes] you feel like you're pushing at its limits". He also praised the game's overall design. Khee Hoo Chan of GameSpot particularly praised the in-game activity in which you give a frog a toy shovel, which she uses to successfully create a sand castle.

Additionally, critics praised the design of the map and its characters. Christian Donlan of Eurogamer enjoyed exploring various locations on the island, while Donovan Erskine of Shacknews praised the open world approach. Sergio González of MeriStation praised the exploration abilities. Chan said that the park is reminiscent of the nature in real life, especially the hiking experiences. Erskine said that its characters are memorable, describing them as funny and the dialogue as authentic, while also adding that the characters and stories "feel so distinct from one another". Chan said that the interactions with Claire made him happy. Moore described the characters as "quirky and clever", while Mattia Pescitelli of Multiplayer.it commended the characters, describing them as well-developed. The writing and dialogue have also been praised.

The game's art style and soundtrack have also been commended by reviewers. Academics specialized in video games, Alex Mitchell and Jasper Van Vught, compared the game to Paratopic (2018), noting that its art style is "retro", but more colourful and inviting. Chan praised the looks of the environment, while Vania praised the looks of the water, environment, wind, and its animations. She described the park as having "vibrant colors and nature-inspired details". The game's presentation reminded Hilhorst of Nintendo DS games and the Animal Crossing series. Erskine praised the game's colours and lighting, saying that the world looks lively, while also adding that the soundtrack is Animal Crossing-like. Donlan commended the looks of the main island. On the other hand, Christopher Byrd of The Washington Post was not satisfied with the pixel art style, describing it as having watercolor looks. Gipp also commended the game's controls, having said that they are "smoother than butter". Alexis Mariel Zema of Jeuxvideo.com and Lukas Schmid of PC Games complained about camera controls.

Awards

Eurogamer named A Short Hike in 2024 as one of the best video games "to play right now". Eurogamer and Rock Paper Shotgun also named A Short Hike as one of the best games of 2019, while Digital Spy, PC World, and GameSpot named it as one of the best indie games of 2019. The Verge listed it as one of "the best short games of 2019", while PC Gamer listed it as one of the "hidden gems" of 2019. Robert Purchese of Eurogamer wrote "Will there be a better game this year? [...] Unlikely." In 2024, Rock Paper Shotgun listed it as one of the best open world video games for the PC.

Analysis

Chris Tapsell of Eurogamer described A Short Hike as Zen, saying that it goes "beyond just being about nature to being about what it is to experience nature". For Nicole Carpenter of Polygon, the game denounces how most people are overly reliant on new technologies, as demonstrated in particular by the opening of the plot: while Claire is focused on using her cell phone, the gameplay and the island's design offer her numerous activities that distract her from her primary objective of climbing the mountain as quickly as possible. She also notes that "[A Short Hike] is a subversion of technology and of nothing, a nuanced critique of what it means to do nothing and everything".

Academics Jordi Montañana-Velilla and Alberto Porta-Pérez from the Jaume I University said that A Short Hike, Celeste (2018), and Haven Park (2021) all have a common gameplay element, a mountain. Players in these games travel across the world and encounter campsites and blizzards. While the gameplay in Celeste is demanding, A Short Hike and Haven Park are rather cozy games. The two also wrote that A Short Hike showcases Claire's growth toward independence and leaving her childhood behind, while also speculating that the developer chose Claire to be portrayed as a bird because they literally want to depict the player as "leaving the nest and learning to fly to the very top".

Academic Kate Galloway from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute said that an "unadvertised [amenity]" of the park is the weak cell phone reception, meaning that visitors have to enjoy the environment and "disconnect from ... everyday stresses". She adds that the wind plays a key element in the game, particularly while flying. The sound design, she wrote, is illustrated in stages, which helps Claire navigate the areas of the world. Additionally, Claire stumbles upon NPCs that give her tips and signs that tell her the direction of the summit. The player also experiences personal growth while exploring the environment and participating in various activities. According to Galloway, A Short Hike is an example of a game that connects "ecological relationships and natural environments", noting that the architecture of the game's park is realistic when comapred to environments Robinson-Yu hiked through.

Mitchell and Van Vught said that A Short Hike combines the game's main mechanics, which is walking and flying, with object collection, exploration, and narrative. Game design professor Barbaros Bostan said that games such as A Short Hike, Far From Noise (2017), and Depanneur Nocturne (2020) encourage players to reflect their own experiences in these games. In his book, he highlighted activities such as "beach-stick-ball", an NPC that lost their headband, and shell collection.