Game of the Month #79 (August 2021) - A Short hike

Hike, climb, and soar through the peaceful mountainside landscapes of Hawk Peak Provincial Park as you make your way to the summit.

I played this a year and a half ago and might do a reply for the GotM. It's so short anyway. My 'Main+' playthrough was not even one hour. But it's definitely a great game experience. Everything about this game feels right.

It was given for free by Epic at some point and it was also included in that huge BLM itch.io bundle. If you don't already own the game on one of those two storefronts, it's currently on sale at 35% off at Steam. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1055540/A_Short_Hike/

Played a short hike ...and finished it. 1h 30m for me. That was really enjoyable little game. Knows what it is and doesn't waste your time. straight to the point. prob 9 - 10 for me. I'll need to write up a review

I played this a year and a half ago and might do a reply for the GotM. It's so short anyway. My 'Main+' playthrough was not even one hour. But it's definitely a great game experience. Everything about this game feels right.

It was given for free by Epic at some point and it was also included in that huge BLM itch.io bundle. If you don't already own the game on one of those two storefronts, it's currently on sale at 35% off at Steam. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1055540/A_Short_Hike/

It was given for free by Epic at some point

Aww, I got my hopes up I could maybe participate but evidently I’ve missed grabbing this one when it was free.

It was given for free by Epic at some point

Aww, I got my hopes up I could maybe participate but evidently I’ve missed grabbing this one when it was free.

That was like a year and a half ago. 😂 Did you get the big BLM bundle at itch.io? It's in there.

A Short Hike
Completion: August 01, 2021
Main+Extras: 1h 32m 28s
Notes: 13 feathers
Review
+Simple gameplay with a lot to do in it’s short game time
+A nice good size open world to explore with a simple objective
+Does not out stay it’s welcome
-Long distance camera sections can make the game blurry
-While an enjoyable game it’s not profound and probably won’t leave much of a lasting impression
Review: A short Hike is a lovely short and sweet game. Which knows what it is and doesn’t bog itself down with unnecessary extras. It is straight to the point and doesn’t waste your time. While I say that the game isn’t profound and I don’t think will have a long lasting impression on me.

9/10

That was like a year and a half ago. 😂 Did you get the big BLM bundle at itch.io? It's in there.

I had very much planned to get it last year when they did that, but like with most things in my life I procrastinated until it was too late and missed out 🙃

I already beat it within 2 hours of getting it. Though, I may go back and do more stuff, I didn't get the 15 seashells and I'm curious to see what else I missed.
I wish it was longer, but I feel like this was made to be like a short film rather than the feature-length films of every other game.

Just played it about a month ago. I knew that this is a very short game and I tried to squeeze as much content as possible for my first playthrough, but turns out I still missed quite a lot of them and in the end finished it in around 1h15m. It was a very pleasant experience that I will surely come back to from time to time
I think this game is best saved to be played when you're feeling blue, when you feel just a bit too lost with life, because that's when this game shines the most

I'm inclined to agree with knalb on this one. It was a good game, short and mostly unmemorable. Honestly I think I only remember it because tiamat was talking about it a lot at the time and I wasn't in a gaming mood then so it was notable that I played it, even if it took me 2 or 3 very short sessions to finish. A good GOTM in the sense that it's clearly one a lot of people have convenient access to and is short enough that even busy folks like tiamat can tune in for the first time or with a replay. Though I must also agree that it had some minor graphical issues like the blurriness at distance.

A simple relaxing game. Really enjoyed this one, and the short length was perfect for me as I've been so engrossed with crypto research lately.

This is the first submission I make for the Game of the Month, I had this game in the backlog for a while, so I decided to give it a try and I loved it.

A short but nice little game 8/10

LIke a lot of others, I played this one a while ago, but it didn't really leave much of a lasting impression on me. I remember it being "neat" and "fine" (TM), but it didn't hit me in the feels that it must have done for others. Fortunately it was only a short game so I didn't mind spending some time with it and exploring the island. If it had required any more time I think I might have dropped it, but thankfully it managed to be a nice little diversion some afternoon... and that's a-ok =)

I was hesitant to replay it, but I did it, and I don't regret it. Turns out, there was a bunch of stuff that I missed in my first playthrough (namely, fishing, and the fact that the pink bird does more than one race with you)

Oh, and also, for my second playthrough, I went into the Settings and disabled the pixellation effect. I think I prefer playing the game this way, it still looks pretty.

I thought it was decent and played it during the itch.io bundle.

I know a lot of people really adore it.

It's so short that it's definitely worth playing through.

It's short and I already own it. Guess I should actually play the GotM this time.

Absolutely loved it, here's my review.

100% completion, relaxing, short game, the gliding was really nice, and for the first time, i didn't straight-up dislike fishing
8/10

Started it last night and finished it today. One of my favorite things about this game is the NPCs. They have good personalities so it's fun to talk to them.
The ending was touching. I didn't think the call she was waiting for would be that important. Don't have much else to say that others haven't touched on.

It's been a while since I've played a GOTM but now that my TV is no longer with us I have no other games to distract me. I downloaded the game today but it's late so I'll play it tomorrow.

So today I beat a Short Hike and I had an amazing time with it. In total I got 10 golden feathers and I climbed the mountain in just under 2 hours, but it felt like a day had gone by because of how much fun the game was. The artstyle is very Animal-Crossing inspired and Aunt May even references Animal-Crossing if you beat the game after hitting the money rock like I did. I think I might do a second playthrough later this month but I definitely really liked this game.

I loved playing A Short Hike when it released as an unassuming Humble Monthly bonus thingy. I reinstalled it to join in this month, but I haven't felt in the right mood for replaying it so I think I'm going to leave it for later. I'm sure I'll have a great time whenever I do decide to boot it back up, but for now I feel like I need a bit more time away from it to properly enjoy it again and to the same degree.

I think it was my first time completing a game, that was made purely for blowing off some steam and relaxing a bit, and I absolutely loved it.

9/10

Better late than never!

Just beat this little game in one sitting, took an hour and a half. What a chill experience. It's like a good Animal Crossing spin-off, cute little animals, simple tongue-in-cheek dialog, the shade of the fish on the sea, the little star on the terrain when there's something buried, collecting shells on the beach, even hitting a rock with a shovel for coins.

But the part that it's very different from Animal Crossing it's the movement, you're not glued to the floor like on AC, and all the jumping, climbing, running, and gliding felt great. And in the very end of the game when you mention to your aunt all the cool stuff you did along the hike is so wholesome, made me smile.

I've beaten the game but I'm not done with it, going for 100% completion (achievements) as an excuse to play it more.

Coincidentally, a YouTube channel I've follow posted a new video about A Short Hike today:



Very interesting the analysis on how the game doesn't go for the low-hanging fruit of nature versus technology.