A fish ate my podcasting license…
Welcome back to NOCLIP Pocket! Today, we’re going to be talking about A Short Hike, an indie adventure game and the third game in our deeply important series of bird based games on Pocket. A Short Hike is a very minimalist game, both in style and length, but there is still a good bit to do and explore, even if the game’s world isn’t so big. Part platformer, part adventure game, you spend much of your time in the game collecting items to reach new heights and complete tasks to deepen your relationships with the animal characters who inhabit the camp in which the game takes place. It’s these charming characters that give the game it’s personality. To the point where it feels reductive to refer to doing things for them as “completing tasks,” as the rewards you get for finishing them are much less important than the mostly tiny stories they all have. Combine that with a surprisingly satisfying set of movement mechanics and a dynamic soundtrack, and you get a really focused experience that oscillates between calming exploration and exhilarating flights around the island. We’re going to be talking about the host of different activities available to do in the game’s open world, how the dialogue really sells the game’s light but personal narrative, and how close we are in age to the target demographic for fishing.
Thank you for joining us again this week! This game comes from a half-joking suggestion on our Discord server we got after posting the Unfinished Swan episode, and I’m personally really happy to have been made aware of it. This type of short, calming game is really welcome during stressful times (see, e.g., a global pandemic, playing Resident Evil VII, etc.), so I hope if you decided to play along this week that this game was able to put you in a more relaxed headspace. Next time, we’re going to be talking about Phasmophobia, partly to act as a counterpart to what we’re playing for the main podcast next, and partly as an excuse to screw around online with some friends, so I hope you’ll join us for that!