There has been a full-blown explosion of a sort of vague, generalized type of game in recent years; a new, loosely defined genre -- the "cozy" game. It's not really a genre as much as it is a nice, warm blanket term of sorts, as games from many different genres have all been dubbed as "cozy." Most cozy games are known for having a relaxed, leisurely pace, a lighthearted tone and a lack of violence. The lack of violence, while being a common trait, is notably not a factor in Stardew Valley, one of the faces of the cozy "genre." Again, this is a loose descriptor, but most people know a cozy game when they see one.
A Short Hike is another title commonly referred to as cozy, and upon playing it, I can wholeheartedly agree. Between the nostalgic lo-fi art style, the incredibly pleasant color palette and the low-stakes, chill, intuitive gameplay, I found myself smiling quite often while playing this game. A Short Hike pulls more than a little inspiration from the Animal Crossing franchise. All of the characters roaming the map are various types of humanoid animals, each with their own personalities. Also, some of the side objectives in the game feature mechanics that are incredibly similar to Animal Crossing. I've always wanted to see more games pull inspiration from Animal Crossing, so it was nice seeing some of that spirit in A Short Hike.
The small, yet surprisingly content-rich island where the game takes place is a delightful setting. The "golden path" of A Short Hike is about climbing a surprisingly tall mountain at the center of the island. The climbing requires stamina though, which is represented on your screen as "Golden Feathers." You start the game with just a few Golden Feathers, and have to purchase or find more scattered across the map so that you can climb higher. This forms the core goal of your time in A Short Hike, and it's a very easy task to achieve. The island is also filled with small side activities to give you more to do. There's a somewhat challenging race that you can participate in, that pits you against another character in a race to the summit of the mountain. You can also fish, play beachstickball, hunt for treasure and explore all of the hidden nooks and crannies tucked into the island. Most characters also have short side quests that you can work toward completing. After I finished the game, I spent some time just climbing as high as possible and then gliding down. The gliding mechanic is extremely satisfying to use.
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Where A Short Hike didn't work for me was in the writing. There isn't much of a story, so thankfully it didn't drag down the experience too much, but where it appears, it's just not very well done. I don't know exactly how to word this, but the game's writing has this annoying quality to it where it feels like conversations plucked off of Bluesky or something. Everything is in lowercase text, which drives me nuts. There's also this unearned feeling of sensitivity and emotionality, like we should be attached to these characters and care about them in the brief time that we interact with them. The lowercase text implies a noncommittal tone, like the content of the dialog isn't important and we should read it all as nonchalant, which doesn't really work when you want to get sensitive with the story. It's not unforgivably bad, and most people probably wouldn't be turned off by this stuff, but I found it to be quite irritating.
I found A Short Hike to be charming little game. It can be fully beaten within an evening, so be aware of that before going in possibly thinking the game will have a lot of mileage for you. I got it on a deep sale, and really enjoyed my brief time with the game. While I have complaints about the uneven writing, it's a small factor in the overall product, and there's more than enough to enjoy with the fun gameplay and enchanting visuals and soundtrack.
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