The game A Short Hike is a walking simulator that is aimed at casual players who want a laid back and exploratory experience. It was created by Adam Robinson-Yu as a side project to avoid burnout, and I think that energy comes across beautifully in the game. This is a single-player digital game that can be played on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, XBox One, and right on your PC. For this Critical Play, I played it on my macOS.
In A Short Hike, walking tells a story by giving the player autonomy. When I first entered the world, I was slightly overwhelmed by how many options there were. You can walk in whichever direction you choose and do whatever you please with your time. You can see one example of this in the image below, where the sign I encountered provided directions to various landmarks that I could choose from. Each character I encountered gave me a new sidequest to go on, and at first I wasn’t sure what the “right” way to play was. However, I quickly realized that there is no right way to play. The autonomy is what makes the game so enjoyable as it makes your experience of the game completely unique to you. This game fully leans into the Discovery sense of fun, and the exploratory nature of the game ended up being my favorite part. The only boundary I could find was the fact that you are on an island, and can’t completely leave it. As I continued to play, I realized that the game subtly encourages you to explore and be patient, so much so that I felt it was the message the game was trying to convey.
There are countless opportunities to explore where you please
I start by focusing on the mechanic of NPCs giving you potential sidequests. Each NPC you approach can be spoken to, and some will ask for your help or offer to teach you something. This created a dynamic where I got to assert my autonomy and decide whether I wanted to accept the “detour”. This resulted in an aesthetic where I felt in control of the story and felt it was more enjoyable and realistic. At the beginning of the game, I ignored many of these requests and tried to get up the mountain quickly (the final goal of the game is to reach the top for cell service). However, I wasn’t able to make it very far, as the mountain was too steep.
The game then instructed me to find some golden feathers so I could have enough stamina to make it up the mountain (see the image below). Golden feathers are another mechanic that supports the message of the game. These are collected and allow you to make it up steeper terrain. However, in order to gather these you need to collect coins, explore, and talk to other characters (these are the dynamic that results). This gentle push towards taking your time and exploring creates a laid back aesthetic as you can’t rush up the mountain the first try. You have to take in the world around you and slowly work your way up higher.
The steep cliff requires 7 Golden Feathers, while I only have 2 (see bottom left)
The most meaningful moment in the game for me came when I decided to fly around and just find something interesting to do. I found a little guy fishing by a pond and stopped to talk. He asked if I wanted to learn to fish, and I said yes. It took me a while to figure out the mechanic, but I got it eventually! You can see it in the image below. I definitely felt the Challenge type of fun in this moment. It felt so rewarding to finally catch my first fish.
My first fish! I caught it all on my own 😀
As we were waiting by the pond, my character was growing impatient. The fisherman responded by saying, “Sometimes, you just gotta wait. Patience is key!” I realized this was what the game had been trying to teach me all along. There may be some way to rush up the mountain if you find a shortcut. However, being patient and taking in the world around you will result in a much richer experience and a much greater payoff in the end. The game gives you the autonomy to choose that path for yourself and in doing so, tells a beautiful story that you craft directly.
Ethics
A Short Hike had no violent aspects to it. In fact, you can fall off a cliff and just keep waltzing along. This resulted in a wildly different gaming experience from the violent game we played in studio. In that game, I could feel my heartrate increasing and tended to play frantically. However, in the walking sim I felt that I had time to figure out the mechanics and familiarize myself with my surroundings. I felt rejuvenated after playing rather than exhausted. The lack of violence in A Short Hike forces the game to be enticing in other ways. Rather than relying on a rush of adrenaline or external pressure, the player must be motivated to play and explore on their own.
