This little open-world adventure game by indie developer Adam Robinson-Yu is an absolute delight. Players guide Claire, a plucky young city bird on summer vacation at Hawk Peak Provincial Park, as she runs, climbs, and glides her way to the top of a nearby mountain in search of cell phone reception. Along the journey, players encounter a colourful cast of characters in between their searches for Golden Feathers. It is chock-full of mini-games, puzzles, and chuckle-worthy moments, which makes it incredibly hard to put down.
On top of its rewarding, exploration-based game design, intuitive movement mechanics, and unique pixelated visuals, A Short Hike rises to an instant classic when underscored by its brilliant soundtrack by Mark Sparling. Seriously: The bright and optimistic tunes in this game will surely have you humming them to yourself for days! This game is pure nostalgia, wonder, and magic from start to end. Everyone should play it.
Maize Longboat (Kanien’kehá:ka) is the creator of Terra Nova, a digital media educator, producer, and Developer Relations Manager at Unity Technologies.
