A Short Hike
This little gem was so unexpected, both in how good it was, and in terms of what the game was like to play. For some reason I had expected a walking simulator, but it's actually a really well written and designed short adventure game, with lots of little side quests, characters and movement abilities as you make your way up a mountain on an island. Everyone is an animal and staying on an island where people go on outdoor pursuits holidays. From your cottage on the beach, you decide to make the hike to the top of the mountain. On the way you meet lots of fun characters, find lost things for them, and hunt for Golden Feathers, which are used to power double jump, flight and sprinting.
Notes
I can highly recommend this to everyone. It's made by one guy, and instead of how I usually say "cut it some slack, it's a single dev", there's no need - it's excellent and joyful to play. You can finish the whole thing in a couple of hours, and there are also more achievements to do if you want it to last for longer. It's very highly polished, accessible, and fun.
Pros
- On your trip up the mountain, you also start to gather golden feathers. Initially, these let you double jump, and each one more you collect basically adds to a stamina bar, similar to the Switch Zelda games.
- You can climb anything, as long as you have enough stamina. So more golden feathers means you can climb taller things
- Fishing
- Lots of little things to discover
- Fun NPCs
- Well designed shortcuts
- At the top of the mountain, your feathers / stamina are more important as they don't regenerate until you reach a campfire, which makes you think a little more about what you climb
- The top of the moutain and the end of the game are really beautiful
- It's a game about simply having fun, rather than a big checklist
Cons
- As with most 3D platformers, it can be a little tricky to work out where you're going to land