A breath of fresh mountain air.
CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS
Do you feel stressed? Anxious? Are you looking for ways to escape the four walls surrounding you during this COVID-19 lockdown? Do you like Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley but they are too time consuming or intense? Does this sound like a badly written TV commercial? If you answered yes to any of the questions above, then keep reading. After buying the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, I went through its nearly non-exhaustive list of games to find something relaxing. And I have. It’s called A Short Hike.
Before I dive into it further, for those of you who don't know, here is the official description of the game:
Hike, climb, and soar through the peaceful mountainside landscapes of Hawk Peak Provincial Park. Follow the marked trails or explore the backcountry as you make your way to the summit. Along the way, meet other hikers, discover hidden treasures, and take in the world around you.
A Short Hike is nothing but charming and dripping with tiny details that you will enjoy stumbling upon which build its world and characters. It is a superb lesson for anyone looking to learn more about open world design and proves that open world games can be small projects done by smaller teams without them having to be the next-big-hit of open world AAA gaming.
So what is special about A Short Hike? It’s a game filled with a few familiar game systems and mechanics like fishing, levelling up, currencies, side-quests, inventory systems and treasure maps but they never feel like the centre of attention. They are easy to grasp and simple to use. A lot of them are tied to side-quests so you will be able to finish the game without ever using some systems in maximum 2 hours or, if you are like me and try to do everything around the world because it’s so interesting, you can stretch it to 5-6 hours.
The game can be called a small open world game because the gameplay isn’t linear and it allows for full exploration. In fact, the map is accessible from the start but getting to areas will require some levelling up or new tools. This makes the pacing really enjoyable and the flow of it feels fun. The "main" objective of the game is to reach the top of Hawk Peak, the mountain's name, but the journey is far more rewarding. If you don’t stray off the path, you will be able to reach the start of the hike very early in the game but you cannot begin the hike because you aren’t "ready" yet - it has a progression block. The game has a simple core progression system which is the feathers. The more feathers you have, the more your flying, jumping and climbing ability increases. The goal is then simple, which is to acquire a few feathers to manage to complete the hike.
Acquiring feathers doesn’t only allow you to complete the main objective of the game, but also unlocks other avenues for gameplay. An area you stumbled upon earlier might be reachable now and in turn it will reward you with something else. The rewards the game provides aren’t just the in-game currency or the feathers. A reward can be a new tool, a new hat, a new character, a new quest or a beautiful view. In fact, the point of the game ends up being the exploration of the world and not the main objective you think you have. We can call it the underlying objective of the game.
Most of the mechanics the player unlocks in the game do not contribute to the main progression. If they have enough feathers they can reach the peak of the mountain and they will be done with the game's main goal. What makes A Short Hike a great game, is the fact that every system and mechanic contributes to the underlying objective first and then the main objective, meaning, while the player is doing tasks to complete the end goal, they are actually experiencing the game's true intentions. This quote comes to mind "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." For example, the player can acquire a fishing rod only if they complete a side-quest. They can then use that to fish and then sell their catch. They will get in-game currency for that which they can ultimately use to buy feathers but it really isn't necessary for the main objective. Feathers aren't that hard to come by. Another example is that the player can use a shovel or a bucket of water that will help them reach other areas, by breaking into blocked underground tunnels or watering bouncy flowers that only grow on Hawk Peak. Getting a shovel or bucket is done by exploring other parts of the world first which the player might not stumble upon at all. The exploration and acquisition of new tools can lead to more in-game currency or feathers. Furthermore, the player can acquire treasure maps only by doing some character quests and then use them to find treasure around the map. Doing the quests and then figuring out the small treasure map puzzles becomes the main gameplay. The in-game currency or feathers reward at the end is just the cherry on top of the cake. This can go even deeper and the player sometimes won’t find quest related items until they complete another quest first. The game doesn't tell the player that this is the case though. There is no objective list and no hand-holding. It’s a progression that happens organically through sheer curiosity and exploration. It is the epitome of a true adventure.
As mentioned before, most of the mechanics are tied to the side-quests and without any doubt they are contributing to the excellence of the game. The characters personalities are unique, fun and easily memorable. Their gameplay and stories are easy to finish, some of them providing rewards like some we have already mentioned - a new hat, a fishing rod, shoes, etc. The game has a lot of small things to do and they never feel like a chore. The minigame shown in the picture below called Beachstickball, is a sport you can play with some other characters. It’s challenging enough but never frustrating. I spend some time playing it, trying to reach a highscore so I can get a new hat. I tend to dislike minigames in games but this one just had a special charm about it that made me come back for more.
Some of the best missions/quests/explorations evolve over time and some the player will just discover because they thought “what if I tried this?”, tried it, and then it worked! You talked to a character and they mentioned a thing in passing? You tried to follow up on it and it wasn’t just all talk and ends up you can do something about it!? Yes to all of that! This ties to the lack of objective lists that A Short Hike does not bore you with. It allows you to do whatever you want. No pressure, no rush. Just you, the world and your thirst for adventure.
That kind of set up - reaction technique is really fun especially when it expands beyond quests. For example, if the player decides to look through the various binoculars around the map, they might discover a new landmark or some hidden items to pick up that they could only see from a different perspective, or even new characters to talk to.
Or, they could stand on top of a peak and shout out to their aunt that happens to be sitting right underneath, and she will respond back! A Short Hike is littered with moments like these that feel alive and make the player experience a sense of discovery for figuring them out. Something that adds to the fun and exploration of this set up - reaction technique is that some of the quests have a quick ending and some will expand over time. A racoon artist can be found all over the map trying to paint different views of the mountain. They will only progress to the next location once the player talks to them. A sandcastle can be seen being built over time which the player can visit and notice its progress. All of these quest designs have variety and are done really well to create a small living world that you explore.
Finally, A Short Hike is not only designed well because of its quests and progression, but also because how the open world is presented to the player. As you have already seen from the screenshots above, the perspective of the camera is somewhat unique, allowing the player to only see a slice of the world, mostly horizontally, for a game that is all about going vertically. The are no in-game maps to help the player mentally visualize the world therefore it was important that the world was memorable enough to be traversable without making the exploration feel like being lost in the woods. This is achieved by landmark and quest placement as well as camera perspectives and level variations. All areas in Hawk Peak have some sort of exclusivity that can be easily memorable due to:
a) a landmark b) some sort of quest or discoverable gameplay around that area c) how it is presented to the player when getting there (camera framing)
d) level variation in comparison to surrounding areas
These techniques help the player remember those areas and how to get to them. That isn't to say that you can't get lost trying to find your way around. Getting lost is a small element of the game as part of its discovery and hiking theme and it never feels like a frustration. In fact, just from the screenshots I have provided above, you might already be able to see the areas on the map below and that is because they are pretty notable. I highlighted some for you to make it easier:
As a game designer this game was simply great to experience because it has a lot of amazing design compacted into the few hours of its game time. It’s a game I will think about when working on my projects because it is an ideal example of world building, minimalism, progression, pacing, and character. Every design aspect helped build a small and unforgettable experience that even the biggest games out there should listen to and learn from.
Quick THOUGHTS
A Short Hike is worth buying.
A Short Hike is a cosy and relaxing game that you will appreciate getting lost in.
A Short Hike has simple but great examples of open world design.
A Short Hike never wastes your time and doesn’t hand hold your experience.
A Short Hike is short and sweet full of cool characters and areas to explore.
A Short Hike is a true adventure game.