Looking for some casual, relaxing games to play to relieve stress with your significant one? Look no further – we’ve got a list of games similar to A Short Hike, which should prove helpful in your search.
A Short Hike is an open-world game that is heavily focused on exploration. As an anthropomorphic bird called Claire, your main objective is to reach the peak of a mountain in the Hawk Peak Provincial Park. Other than that, you are free to wander around and explore at your own pace. You can glide, climb, and run; you can also play minigames and unlock upgrades to make your character more proficient at exploration, allowing you to move faster and reach new places.
The freedom of movement combined with pretty, colorful visuals and relaxing music, create a serene atmosphere that makes A Short Hike a perfect title to play for couples together.
However, if you’re already familiar with that title, you may be interested in learning more about games that are similar in terms of gameplay or other aspects. Fear not, we’ve got you covered; here’s a list of some of the best games like A Short Hike you can play right now.
| Game | Release | Genre | Developer | |
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 | Haven Park | 2021-08-05 | Adventure | Fabien Weibel |
 | Toem | 2021-09-17 | Indie | Something We Made |
 | Beasts Of Maravilla Island | 2021-07-09 | Adventure | Banana Bird Studios |
 | Lil Gator Game | 2022-12-14 | Action | MegaWobble |
 | Cozy Grove | 2021-04-07 | Indie | Spry Fox LLC |
 | Time On Frog Island | 2022-07-12 | Indie | Half Past Yellow |
 | Alba A Wildlife Adventure | 2020-12-11 | Indie | Ustwo Games |
 | Trials Of Wilderness | 2018-10-08 | Adventure | MightByte Games |
 | Here Comes Niko | 2021-08-03 | Indie | Frog Vibe |
 | Yonder The Cloud Catcher Chronicles | 2017-07-18 | Adventure | Prideful Sloth |
 | Sable | 2021-09-23 | Indie | Shedworks |
 | Frog Detective 2 The Case Of The Invisible Wizard | 2020-12-09 | Indie | Thomas Bowker |
 | Journey | 2020-06-11 | Adventure | thatgamecompany |
 | Night In The Woods | 2017-02-21 | Action & Shooter | Infinite Fall |
 | Carto | 2020-10-27 | Indie | Sunhead Games |
 | Firewatch | 2016-02-10 | Indie | Campo Santo |
 | Wytchwood | 2021-12-09 | Indie | Alientrap Games Inc |
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure
| Release date: | 2020-12-11 |
| Genre: | Indie |
| Developer: | Ustwo Games |
Join Alba as she tries to stop turning local wildlife and the natural environment into a luxury hotel.
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure focuses on the character of Alba Singh and her wildlife preservation efforts. The game features an open world and visuals full of bright, vivid colors, which, combined with relaxing gameplay that revolves around exploration and taking pictures of local fauna and flora, makes it a surprisingly similar experience to the one offered by A Short Hike, despite multiple gameplay differences.
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TOEM: A Photo Adventure
| Release date: | 2021-09-17 |
| Genre: | Indie |
| Developer: | Something We Made |
If you’re looking specifically for a hiking game, try this one.
TOEM combines hiking with taking photos; the in-game camera is your primary tool that will be used to help people and solve puzzles. Your main objective is to ascend the mountain and personally witness the phenomenon known as the titular “Toem”. The game’s art style deserves a special mention here; a unique take on 3D visuals disguised as simple hand-drawn 2D doodles makes a much better impression than you’d have thought.
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Journey
| Release date: | 2020-06-11 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | thatgamecompany |
Those who appreciated the traveling aspect of A Short Hike will surely love Journey as well.
Journey is a perfect example of a game that can be considered a small piece of art, where not the destination, but the titular journey is all that matters. The game is linear and follows a very simple gameplay formula but it doesn’t mean it’s boring. You’ll be navigating through a variety of unique landscapes and settings that make the experience joyful and unforgettable.
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Night in the Woods
| Release date: | 2017-02-21 |
| Genre: | Action & Shooter |
| Developer: | Infinite Fall |
A silly adventure with hilarious dialogues and spooky moments might also be something that will satisfy your needs.
Similarly to A Short Hike, you can expect a lot of walking here. However, the focus is more on the story and dialogues, rather than exploration. As such, even though the game features an open-world environment, there’s little to no incentive to go out of the way and look for hidden secrets or collectibles. The game is rather light in terms of atmosphere, although it does touch on some heavier themes, such as depression, addictions, and social anxiety.
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Carto
| Release date: | 2020-10-27 |
| Genre: | Puzzle |
| Developer: | Sunhead Games |
How about a game where the world itself is a puzzle?
Carto is a game where the titular young girl gets lost and has to find a way to reunite with her grandmother. Although you can’t glide or jump like in A Short Hike, and the world is flat, you can do something else: manipulate map tiles to create new paths and access new areas. It’s a unique gameplay mechanic that requires getting used to, but quickly becomes very fun and intuitive to utilize to your advantage.
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Firewatch
| Release date: | 2016-02-10 |
| Genre: | Indie |
| Developer: | Campo Santo |
On the list of hiking video games, one can’t forget about Firewatch.
Firewatch is a first-person adventure game that focuses mainly on the exploration of the open-world surroundings while trying to solve a certain mystery. Although walking around and admiring the views can be relaxing, the game encourages players to push the story forward, and the story itself has a spooky, eerie element to it, caused by seclusion and the feeling of being watched.
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Wytchwood
| Release date: | 2021-12-09 |
| Genre: | Indie |
| Developer: | Alientrap Games Inc |
Finally, on the list of solid alternatives to A Short Hike, we’ve got Wytchwood.
Wytchwood is a bit more complex game due to the nature of its gameplay focused on crafting a variety of useful items that can be used to solve puzzles and help during the adventure. For this reason, the game may not be as relaxing as other options on the list, as it requires a bit of thinking and squeezing some brain juice. If that’s not an issue, you should definitely give Wytchwood a try.
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Conclusion
There are quite a few games that resemble A Short Hike to choose from, each being similar for different reasons. Whether you’re more into the exploration aspect, freedom of movement, or sandbox-like experience, you’ll surely find something that you will be able to enjoy playing together with your significant other. Prepare a cup of hot chocolate or another kind of beverage of your choice and begin a new journey in one of the marvelous games presented above.