Microsoft have announced the next batch of games coming to Game Pass, and just like the last line-up, indie gems are carrying this fortnight’s offerings. August begins with venerated A Short Hike, which crosses paths with fellow hiker Death Stranding on its way off the Game Pass mega mountain.
]]>Our list of the best open world games on PC is for those who look at a forest and think about seeing what's in the middle. For the players who really do want to climb that mountain. Sure, the size of games these days means in some sense they all have an open world, but here we're leaning in to those games that want you to adventure, where the onus is on exploring and seeing what you find. These are the games where part of the destination really is the journey, and you can tell the devs wanted you to stop and look around every so often to see what you could find. They might not be for everyone, but if you're the sort of person who likes getting lost in a game for a long time, then these open world games will help you do that.
]]>A Short Hike is one of my favourite games and I've completed it twice, once on PC and once on Switch. Now I'm thinking of having another go thanks to A Short Hike 99, an "unofficial" multiplayer mode created by original developer Adam Robinson-Yu as an April Fool's gag.
]]>A phenomenal new bundle of indie games is raising money for two charities supporting relief efforts in Ukraine. The Bundle For Ukraine on Itch.io includes almost 600 games, and you can have the lot if you pay at least $10. Games include Celeste, A Short Hike, Superhot, Hidden Folks, and oh so many more worth mentioning. Barely 11 hours after launching, the bundle has already raised over $593,000 towards its $1 million goal. Probably because it's a great deal for a good cause.
]]>Red Dead Redemption 2 may be a good Animal Crossing substitute for people suffering from AC-FOMO at the moment, but I'd argue that the best PC stand-in for Nintendo's cozy life sim is Adamgryu's A Short Hike, which you can currently get on the cheap as part of Itch's stupidly good value Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality.
Indeed, it made the long wait until Animal Crossing: New Horizons that bit shorter when I gorged myself on it over the Christmas holidays last year, and I often find myself returning to it even now. Despite being infinitely smaller in stature than Animal Crossing, my frequent dips into this cosy island jaunt became a bit like opening a tin of Cadbury Heroes, promising myself I'd have just the one and then an hour later finding the entire box had mysteriously disappeared in a puff of plastic wrappers. I just couldn't get enough of it. So if you, too, are feeling hungry for some Animal Crossing, why not ease that growling stomach with a little Short Hike. I promise it will do wonders for your digestive system.
]]>This weekend, indie-centric storefront Itch.io kicked off their massive Bundle For Racial Justice And Equality. Pulling together a collection of 749 (and counting) indie darlings, hobby projects and unsung curiosities for a meagre $5, Itch's massive bundle has currently raised well over $400,000 for legal defence funds across the United States - and there's no sign of slowing down anytime soon.
]]>While the Game Developers Conference is not happening this week, postponed by Covid-19 health concerns, its two big awards shows went ahead on livestream. The vile waterfowl of Untitled Goose Game ran off with the Game Of The Year Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards, and the chill A Short Hike scooped the Grand Prize at the Independent Games Festival Awards. A Short Hike and fellow winner Mutazione are both free for keepsies on another few hours too. If you enjoy having your preferences validated by awards from distinguished-sounding bodies, read on!
]]>It's freebie o'clock on the Epic Games Store once again. This week's a proper bonanza, too. Between A Short Hike, Anodyne 2: Return to Dust and Mutazione, there's no shortage of familiar and fantastical indie worlds to poke around in. All three are free to add to your library for good 'til March 19th, when they'll be slapped back to full price to make way for The Stanley Parable and Watch Dogs.
]]>Folks still like freebies 'round these parts, right? Hope so, because there's a pretty kickin' lineup of games to snatch on the Epic Games Store over the next week. Offworld Trading Company and Gonner are both free right now. That's one capitalism strategy simulator and one procedurally generated platformer for your library. Both are free until March 12th, at which point Epic roll out three more free games: A Short Hike, Mutazione, and Anodyne 2: Return To Dust.
]]>The Independent Games Festival Awards have announced their finalists, once more reflecting the esteemed opinions of RPS writers. Sad mutant blueberry simulator Mutazione is the favourite for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, and is also in the running for the Art, Audio and Narrative awards. Two thirds of Alices agree that it is well good.
Other grand prize contenders include AI and sadness visual novel Eliza, uplifting flap-about A Short Hike, irresistible card-pusher Slay The Spire, and irritable waterfowl punter Untitled Goose Game. Also in the running is Anodyne 2: Return To Dust, the only game on the list that someone at RPS hasn't thrown lavish praise at. Soz, Anodyne.
]]>2019 was a great year for PC games - aren't they all? - but you might not yet know what the very best PC games of 2019 were. Let us help you.
]]>It's been a tough weekend for a lot of people. And there's a tough season coming up, too. Despite Saint Nick's PRs working over time to make us all cheerful, Christmas can actually be a sad and stressful time, can't it?
Listen: it’s ok to be sad. It's fine. You feel what you feel. So, I asked the RPS hivemind what their gaming happy places were, so we could all share them together. They might turn out to be places you'd like to visit too.
]]>Correct me if I'm wrong, but flying seems to be missing the point of hiking. Where's the challenge? Where's the adventure? Where's the knee-breaking burden of scaling a mountain when you can just flip-flap all the way to the top? Seems like cheating to me, really.
I guess it's not really about the stress, is it? It's not like I'm in any physical shape to judge. A Short Hike is about the pleasant side of going for a nice long walk: finding wee nooks and crannies, chatting with your fellow walkers (and swimmers, and flappers). And would you look at that, it's out today.
]]>“Hike at your own pace — there’s no need to rush to the summit!” is good advice, both in life and in A Short Hike. The mountain explore ‘em up invites you to chat with fellow ramblers; find secrets that’ll let you scale more of the peak; and generally walk, climb, swim, and fly at your leisure. Here’s a breath of fresh air of a trailer.
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