A Short Hike is a pocket-sized but engaging indie game you can finish in under 3 hours, and explore for longer if you are particularly adventurous. Despite such a small playtime, A Short Hike doesn’t leave you feeling underwhelmed by a lack of content. There are many wonderful NPCs you can interact with and storylines you can choose to follow. Most importantly, A Short Hike is a game built for exploration and discovery. This article aims to guide you through the pixel game as a whole.
Visuals and Controls
The indie game, developed and made by Adam Robinson-Yu, also known as adamgryu, has stunning pixelated views. You, as an anthropomorphic bird, can explore the surrounding sea, cliffs, and lakes as you hike to Hawk Peak. You’re able to glide through the air, dive, and double-jump around the terrain. A Short Hike boasts a modern take on the old-fashioned pixel feel. Your characters and the world around you are obviously 3D, and yet at the same time, you find yourself feeling as if it is simply an expansion to the classic 2D pixel style.
The starting controls are a little wonky, with the keyboard bindings automatically set for the arrows, rather than the more modern WASD combination most are used to using to move around. However, it’s also relatively easy to change those controls. Another odd user interface choice is the ability to equip items tied to the in-game menu. This can be a little strange for the player, depending on what they are trying to accomplish in the game.
What You Can Do
While the controls are a little questionable, the overall gameplay is not. A Short Hike boasts loads of activities for its player to do as they hike their way through the game. Some of the things a player of A Short Hike can do include fishing, solving riddles via treasure maps, speeding along the water on a boat, and racing against NPCs and through several obstacles. The NPCs themselves offer many wonderful quests for the player to attempt. One of my favorite NPC quests, slight spoilers ahead, involves helping a college student pay their tuition. As a college student myself, I felt particularly invested.
One of the main goals of the game is to collect golden feathers to help you climb and fly higher to reach your goal. There are 20 golden feathers overall, but most players only need a total of 10 or 12 to beat the game. I found myself collecting 19 feathers, just exploring the map, and beating the game with around 14. If you manage to find silver feathers, of which there are 2, you will also be able to run, fly, and glide faster than before.
Make Time to Explore
In order to play A Short Hike to its full potential, a player should attempt to talk to every NPC they see. The pixel game has fantastic dialogue and a unique sense of time. As such, while you may not always get new content, you should try to talk to NPCs again, even if you think you may have already exhausted previous dialogue options. This persistence will open up new quests, races, and rewards that you otherwise might have missed. You may even hear a juicy rumor or two if you get lucky.
A Short Hike truly feels like the type of game that gives you as much as you put in. There is a lot to explore and find, and the game gives you many clues and suggestions. Sometimes though, you just can’t find, or aren’t willing to find, that one specific thing. No judgment here. Below, you’ll find a guide on where to find every feather and every treasure map riddle prize.
The Point of No Return (Major Spoilers Ahead)
As stated previously, there are 20 golden feathers to be found throughout the game. Each feather allows you to fly higher, climb longer, and reach the end quicker. Here’s where you can find each and every one of them.
Your first feather should be purchased at the Visitor Center. In order to do that, you will have to save up 40 coins, so make sure to keep an eye out and a shovel handy. While there, you can also purchase your second feather. You will only be able to get 2 of the 20 at the Center, but not to worry. There’s another feather close by.
A small hill to the left of the Visitor Center (as shown above) will hold the third feather you’re looking for. You will most likely need at least one feather to reach this hill, so you will have to spend money at the Visitor Center early on. So for those who discover this feather first, follow the red arrow to the opposite destination.
Shell Dealing
That’s right. You heard me. Those sometimes shiny, multicolored beach objects? You can collect those for a quest that will ultimately give you one of those sweet golden feathers. Depending on your ability to pick up shells as you traverse A Short Hike‘s terrain, this one might take you a while. You must first gather 15 shells, and deliver them back to our spunky NPC friend Jen. She tends to walk up and down a beach near the starting area. Jen will then make a shell necklace for you to deliver to your wonderful bird aunt. Your aunt, after receiving the gift, will give you a golden feather.
Shovel Frog
A frog sits on the sandy beach by the rock climbers and the Visitor Center. This frog has been trying to build a sandcastle with a huge shovel made for digging holes. Obviously not having much success, you can offer to trade their big shovel for a toy shovel. As you progress through the game, the frog will begin to build a true sand city and even run several campaigns for offices in said city. When the sand community grows, you will find a golden feather perched on top of one of the sand buildings. Not to worry, standing on top of it will not crush the sand structure. You’ll find it sturdy enough to hold you up and grant you yet another golden feather.
Royal Tower of Stone
This one’s simple and sweet! On the way from Hawk’s Peak Trail, you will encounter this large stone tower in Royal Ridge. It should be relatively easy to get up, and once you do a chest will open and offer a single golden feather for your use.
Artistic Encouragement
For this particular struggling artist, you will have to travel across what seems like A Short Hike‘s entire map. Well, not quite. You can find the painting raccoon in the following locations: Shirley’s Point, the lighthouse, above the waterfall on Good Creek Path, the graveyard, Outlook Point, and finally, back at the Visitor Center where the raccoon settles down and paints Ranger Jon. When our painter friend does finally make their way to the Visitor Center, he will have a golden feather to give you.
Lighthouse Feathers
While looking for the raccoon, you might as well stop by the lighthouse for the feathers there!
As you can see, on the lighthouse platform lays a chest. If you open it, maybe with the help of a flower boost, you will find a golden feather lying inside. If you’ve got a good eye, you’ll see a second chest in the upper left corner of the above screenshot. This chest is actually the prize of the treasure map riddle In Her Shadow. You must dig a hole where the chest appears, with the shovel from our sandy frog friend, and out will pop a hidden chest. This chest will gift you with the second lighthouse golden feather.
In the same area, to the southwest of the lighthouse, you will find a beautiful waterfall. By said waterfall is a rock, where you will find a third golden feather waiting for your arrival.
The Feather to WIN
If you shimmy along the edge of the main island, you will eventually come across two friends devising a brand new game for you to play! In order to win the golden feather prize, you must reach a score of 10 hits. While that may seem like a low number, you’ll have to pay close attention in order to hit the beachball back successfully with your stick. Make it to 20 hits and you’ll win a decent chunk of coins. My personal record is 21. Some would argue I was not made for even video game athletics.
Outlook Point Feathers
As you continue to make your way up Hawk Peak’s Trail, you will come along Outlook Point. This is one of the destinations where you will find our painting raccoon friend, and also two golden feathers.
Right on the cliff, next to the lookout, is a chest holding a golden feather. If you take the time to look through what is called a “tower viewer”, over on the edge of the cliff, you will see off in the distance an island this guide will take you to in search of a silver feather for speed.
The second golden feather you can find in this area is below on a ledge. Easy to miss as you hurry up the trail, but not to worry, that’s what this guide is for.
Jackpot before the Freeze
Before the frozen section, there are 5 feathers to be had. One lays right up on the rock next to where you’ll have to climb. Hop on and collect it.
Along with the feather on the rock, there are four feathers to be bought from our fellow leaning against the cliff you must climb. After buying at least one feather from him, if you manage to collect 400 coins, you can gift those to our fellow bird in order to complete a quest that will give you a silver feather. Explore those dialogue options early, because after you give him 400 coins (which you will have to do either way to collect every feather) he lowers his price from 100 to 40 coins per his remaining golden feather stock. Which, I really wish I knew before buying all of his at the higher price.
If you’re having trouble collecting the coins, I recommend attempting to get 20 hits in Beachstickball and finding the treasure for the three treasure map riddles we go over later in this guide.
Feathers on Ledges
At this point, you’ve probably amassed a great amount of golden feathers! If you’re going for an achievement, 100% completion, or have just found that you don’t have quite enough feathers to do as you please, here are two more feathers to find hidden around the map.
Above Meteor Lake, if you go up and to the left, you will find the teeniest tiniest ledge to ever be found. Somehow, it holds a golden feather, and can also hold you too if you land right. If you have trouble making the climb to it, there’s a flower you can water nearby that will give you an extra boost.
Our second feather lies on a cliff above where you meet our parkour racer friend Avery to race to the abandoned building. It will take a decent amount of feathers to climb to this cliff, but you will find a chest with your golden reward waiting for you at the top.
Boat Race Grand Prize
Our last golden feather is ready for you to win via a boat racing challenge. Near the ledge you just visited, you can find a bridge to the Orange Islands.
As you make your way down the bridge and to the connected path, you will come across a deer reading what seems to be a fantastic book series in a yellow building. Ask him if you can rent his boat, and if you have 100 coins, you will unlock access to it for the rest of the game.
Talk to the deer’s kid nearby and invite them with you. Once both safely inside, cruise around for a bit before exploring more dialogue with your deer friend. Once you do, they will propose a race. Take them up on their offer and follow their course until you come across a ramp. Go up the ramp and your boat will break, but not to worry, it can be fixed. The deer kid will ask you not to tell their dad, but they don’t get in any trouble if you do. Their dad will fix your boat right back up for you and all will be well.
Once you’ve both broken and fixed the boat, the deer kid will open up their challenge once more, this time without any ramps. Complete it under the time limit and you will win your final golden feather.
Silver Feathers for Speed
As previously mentioned, the Outlook Point tower viewer shows you a mysterious island. Make your way to it. If you’re having a hard time finding it, go back to your aunt’s house and towards the surrounding sea. Eventually, you will arrive at Pat’s Peak Island.
Climb to the very top and you’ll find a silver feather waiting for you.
Our second and final silver feather is a quest reward. After giving 400 coins to the previously mentioned bird waiting below the icy cliffs, which you should do as soon as possible, he will give you a wristwatch. This wristwatch belongs to a ram who stands in between two trailers behind the Visitor Center. Return the watch to him and he will give you your final remaining feather.
Treasure Map Finale
Now that you’ve found all the feathers you can find, it’s time to go out with a bang! Or, if you skipped ahead to fund some required purchasing, here are the three remaining treasure map riddle answers for A Stormy View, The King’s Throne, and The Treasure of Sid Beach.
A Stormy View
To the left of the yellow building you rent your boat from, you will see a magnificent rock arch. On the beach nearby, you can dig up a chest and find the treasure for A Stormy View.
The King’s Throne
In order to find the hidden treasure for The King’s Throne, one needs only to follow the path from the previously mentioned stone tower in Royal Ridge. Follow that path down until you come across a rock that looks vaguely like a throne. Dig, and you will find yourself some sweet sweet treasure.
The Treasure of Sid Beach
Your final treasure can be found at one of the starting beaches. Near where the rock climbers practice at the start of the game, and close by your resident sand castle city, you will find a chest buried between two rocks. There lies your treasure, matey!
Congratulations
Now that you have found every feather (22 in total) and every treasure map reward, you’ve completed most of, if not the entire game! Your humble guide wishes you luck with any further A Short Hike goals. Congrats on making it to the end!
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