Game Club Discussion: A Short Hike

[elf]

Now that we've had time to play (...and possibly, time to forget why we played and lose track of time because of NaNoWriMo), let's talk!

This month's megabundle game was/is (for another week) A Short Hike (itch.io version), "a little exploration game about hiking up a mountain."

Here are some potential questions to discuss, but you're not required to answer any of them. Feel free to make up your own questions and answer those, or just talk about what caught your attention.

1. What did you think this game was going to be, before you played it? What was surprising about it? 2. How far did you get in the game? Do you want to play more? 3. What was the central focus of the game, and what was on the sidelines? How did the sidelined parts support or detract from the central focus? 4. What kind of worldbuilding does it have? What questions about the setting were left unanswered? 5. Did you particularly like or dislike any of the characters? 6. What parts were most frustrating? What parts were most fun? 7. Did you use a keyboard, a controller, or both? How do you think that affected the game?

Comments

[isis]

Huh, I very quickly figured out I was supposed to get a golden feather (the only one I needed...) from the park gift shop, but then discovered I needed MORE...

I think the controller definitely makes this a little easier, but I still couldn't manage either the ball game or the race.

[melannen]

I didn't have enough coins the first time I stopped by the shop at the park, and I saw the one on the rock behind the shop right after, and since the ranger was kind of discouraging about buying them I figured that was the one I was supposed to get. And I got SO CLOSE enough times that it seemed like getting up there really was supposed to be a puzzle to solve, and got frustrated and stopped playing. And then I saw in a post on this comm that you were supposed to get *more than one* feather and realized I was probably supposed to get them both, so I went coin-hunting, bought one, and once I had one the second one was easy. But if I hadn't gotten that hint I probably would have quit.

I did OK enough on the ball game that if I really worked at it for awhile I'd probably get it, but it wasn't fun enough to be worth it. I think the race is a lost cause.

[melannen]

I got a controller for Christmas and the difference in difficulty is huge! I was able to make the very last climb that I had struggled and failed with immediately and easily with the controller.

Also this game seems like it's a really good one to get confident with the controller with, so I'm going to keep playing around I think. Nearly everybody seems to have a different dialogue once you've been up to the peak, and at least some of them will go back up to the peak with you, which is fun!

But I think I wouldn't recommend it without a controller.