This game is wonderful. I went in with basically 0 expectations and here were my reactions, in order:

  1. Ooh, this art style is cute.
  2. Ohoho I’m a little bird guy!!
  3. gonna jump into the sea lol
  4. oh my god it’s just letting me swim out to sea

The plot is that you are going on a hike to the top of the mountain to get cell reception, and that’s as complex as I can describe it. It’s really an open world adventure game but with a very small and rich world. Very fun characters and some very great vibes. Since you’re a bird you can glide after you jump off of things, which is a mechanic that I LOVE. Give me more gliding games. It’s very gratifying to be rewarded with a great view of the island after jumping off of something very high.

A Short Hike perfectly captures the experience of going on summer vacation to a state park with your family. That was really nice to have in these quarantine times. There’s some themes in there about helping others as self-improvement, and getting out of your comfort zone and pushing your limits to overcome adversity and achieve your goals, which I enjoyed. The writing is VERY funny and I spent most of this game smiling at the character interactions. True to its name, it’s very short, so I heartily recommend just knocking it out in one sitting. Here’s the website if you want to play it.

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