A Short Hike Accessibility Report - Mac, PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One

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A Short Hike

Accessibility Report

26 Accessibility Features

We've documented 26 accessibility features for A Short Hike, including Large Text, Guaranteed Progress, Low Pressure, No Repeated Pressing and Remap Buttons. Its accessibility is strongest in Controls and Getting Started but it also has features in Reading, Visual, Navigation and Audio to reduce unintended barriers.

This report is created with input from accessibility experts and the player community to help people find games that have the accessibility features they require. Once you have found potential games on the database, there are excellent specialist accessibility sites that offer in-depth reviews to guide your purchasing decisions.

A Short Hike is an adventure traversal game where you play the penguin-like character Claire, who needs to climb a mountain in a beautiful national park to receive an important phone call. Presented in cute pixel graphics, the game invites you to explore the park, help other animals, and find seashells and even buried treasure. In return, you’re given greater stamina and tools with special powers so you can make it to the top of the mountain. And that’s just the start.

Our accessibility examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked A Short Hike accessibility 3 years ago. It was re-examined by Angela Hickman Newnham and updated 3 years ago.

Accessibility Notes

There's an option in the game to adjust the size of the pixels which is designed to help with motion sickness. There is a little bit of screen shake at the peak of the mountain when the updraft starts.

Game Details

Release Date: 05/04/2019, updated in 2021

Out Now: Mac, PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Players: 1

Genres: Adventure, Traversal (Action, Communication and Narrative)

Accessibility: 26 features

Components: 3D Third-Person, Open World, Pixels and Weather

Developer: Adam Gryu (@AdamGryu)

Costs: Purchase cost

Controls

We've documented 8 accessibility features for Controls in A Short Hike which deal with how you control the game, different options for alternative inputs and whether you can remap these settings to suit your needs.

Gamepad

Can play with the following:

Multiple Buttons & Single Stick: Can play with multiple buttons and a stick.

Mouse And Keyboard

Can play with the following:

Keyboard Alone: Can play with just the keyboard.

Remap Controls

Can customise the controls for the game as follows:

Remap Buttons: Can re-map all buttons so that you can use alternatives that better suit your play.

Swap Sticks: Can swap the sticks over so that you can use the opposite sticks to control the game.

Remap Game Menu Access: Can remap buttons to pause, access and navigate the game menu. This enables you to specify which buttons pop-up the game menu.Whether you can remap menu navigation buttons isn't considered here.

Invert X/Y Axis: Can invert the direction required to control looking and aiming. This enables you to match your instinctive orientation when looking.

Button Combinations

Specific button operation required to play

Rapid Repeated Pressing Optional: Quick, repeated button pressing (more than 2 times a second) is not required, can be skipped or switched to holding a button to trigger a repeated action.

Controller Vibration

Vibration Optional: Controller vibration not used in the game or you can disable it.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Controls

If you want to play A Short Hike, but it doesn't offer the Controls accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Controls accessibility:

The Gecko Gods (13 Controls Features)
Lifeslide (12 Controls Features)
Pine Hearts (11 Controls Features)

Difficulty

We haven’t documented any accessibility features for Difficulty in A Short Hike which deal with how you can adjust the challenge of play, and whether this is locked once chosen or can be adjusted as you play. The following games are similar to A Short Hike, and offer accessibility features for Difficulty:

Pine Hearts (2 Difficulty Features)
Valley Peaks (1 Difficulty Feature)

Getting Started

We've documented 6 accessibility features for Getting Started in A Short Hike which deal with what support is offered to get started with the game. This includes customising the experience when you first open the game via any onboarding processes it provides as well as tutorials and other assistance when you first start playing.

Assistance Getting Starting

These features aid your play of the game in terms of cognitive load on learning controls, dealing with pressure and coping with the environment and challenges.

Tutorials: There are helpful tutorials and instructions on how to play. Information is provided in a timely manner, with appropriate level of detail.

View Control Mapping: You can view a map of controls during play. This clearly displays the mappings of actions to buttons/keys/mouse/keyboard without having to leave the game. This includes games that always display buttons to press during play.

Low Pressure: Game tasks aren't time-limited or there's a low-pressure mode. This avoids the pressure of being put on the clock for overarching missions, or failing tasks because you didn't reach a destination in time.

No Jump Scares: No sudden loud noises or popping-up scary visuals that unexpectedly appear without warning, or the option to disable them.

Assistance For Progressing

These features aid your progress through the game offering different ways of maintaining your progression.

Guaranteed Progress With God Mode: There is no fail state for any game level, where you lose progress or have to start again. Or there are options to make failing impossible: infinite health or lives, unlimited time. Sometimes called God Mode or Unfailable.

Save Progress Anytime: The game automatically saves progress or you can save any time. This doesn’t mean you never lose progress, but it does mean you can stop whenever you want (without having to get to a save point) without losing progress.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Getting Started

If you want to play A Short Hike, but it doesn't offer the Getting Started accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Getting Started accessibility:

A Walk With Yiayia (12 Getting Started Features)
Pine Hearts (10 Getting Started Features)
Wilderless (10 Getting Started Features)
Feather (8 Getting Started Features)

Reading

We've documented 5 accessibility features for Reading in A Short Hike which deal with how much reading or listening comprehension is required, how well the game provides visual and audible access to the text and whether subtitles and captions are a good fit for purpose.

Reading Level

How much reading is required to play the game's main path or story and how complex the language is. The presence of voiced characters doesn't reduce this requirement, as it's recorded as a separate datapoint.

Simple Minimal Reading: Minimal reading is required. The quantity and complexity of reading are at a level that a primary/elementary student (9-year-old) could understand.

Text Visibility

Large Clear Text: All essential text is large and clear or can be adjusted to be. The general text used throughout the game in menus, instructions and other key information (excluding subtitles that are assessed separately) is at least 1/20 (46 pixels on 1080 screen) the height on landscape screens and at least 1/40 height on portrait screens. We base this on the full line-height, including the space above and below the letters.

High Contrast Text: Text colour contrasts to the background or can be adjusted to be. The text in menus, instructions and other information is presented in high contrast with a solid background.

Subtitles

All Speech Subtitled (Or No Speech In Game): All spoken content has subtitles, or there is no speech in the game. This means there is no requirement to hear spoken dialogue or narrative to play the game.

Captions

Speaker Indicator: Textual captions indicate who is speaking (or there is only ever one person speaking). This can also be indicated visually in the game with character icons or placing text in speech bubbles next to the person speaking.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Reading

If you want to play A Short Hike, but it doesn't offer the Reading accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Reading accessibility:

A Walk With Yiayia (7 Reading Features)
Season: A Letter to the Future (7 Reading Features)
Pine Hearts (6 Reading Features)
Lil Gator Game (6 Reading Features)

Navigation

We've documented 2 accessibility features for Navigation in A Short Hike which deal with how the game provides guidance and assistance to navigate its worlds. These are only for games that have traversal and exploration in 2D and 3D spaces.

Menu Navigation

Menu Audio Cues: Navigating menus provide an audio cue for each selection.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Navigation

If you want to play A Short Hike, but it doesn't offer the Navigation accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Navigation accessibility:

Sable (7 Navigation Features)
Pine Hearts (4 Navigation Features)
Spilled (4 Navigation Features)
Wayfinder (4 Navigation Features)

Visual

We've documented 5 accessibility features for Visual in A Short Hike which deal with how you can adjust the visuals to suit your needs, and offer additional information if you can't hear the game.

Contrast

Medium Contrast: Game uses generally well contrasting and bright visuals, or has a slider to make this the case.

Visual Distractions

No Flashes: No flashing strobe effects or you can disable them. This includes the absence of flashing from dramatic visual effects, explosions or weather effects like lightning.

Audio Cues for Visual Events

Audio Cues for Visual Events: Audio is provided to indicate visual events. Game events or progress highlighted by visual icons, effects or animations are also accompanied by audio to signify that progress. This is useful for blind players.

Menu Audio Cues: Navigating menus provide an audio cue for each selection.

Motion Sickness Friendly

Motion Sickness Friendly: Doesn't have 3D movement elements that may trigger motion sickness, like motion blur, depth of field and field-of-vision. Or includes the ability to disable motion blur, depth of field and field-of-vision effects.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Visual

If you want to play A Short Hike, but it doesn't offer the Visual accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Visual accessibility:

Moonglow Bay (7 Visual Features)
Sable (7 Visual Features)
A Walk With Yiayia (6 Visual Features)
The Gecko Gods (6 Visual Features)

Audio

We've documented 2 accessibility features for Audio in A Short Hike which deal with how you can adjust the audio of the game and whether audio cues compensate for aspects of the game that are hard to see.

Adjustable Audio

Balance Audio Levels: Set music and game sound effects separately. This enables you to select your preference as well as ensure critical game sounds aren't obscured by other audio.

Play Without Hearing

Play Without Hearing: No audio cues are necessary to play the game well.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Audio

If you want to play A Short Hike, but it doesn't offer the Audio accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Audio accessibility:

Pine Hearts (3 Audio Features)
Lil Gator Game (3 Audio Features)
Moonglow Bay (3 Audio Features)
Feather (3 Audio Features)

System Accessibility Settings

In addition to the accessibility features provided in the game, you can also use system-wide accessibility settings:

Nintendo Switch
Nintendo Switch has some built-in features, including a lockable zoom, that can be used on all games.

PC
Windows has extensive accessibility features. Some, like colour correction, work with games. Lots of accessibility software can be used with PC games, from voice recognition to input device emulators.

PlayStation 4
PlayStation 4 has a range of accessibility settings. Some are system only, some work in games (invert colours and button mapping).

Xbox One
Xbox One has a system features, the excellent co-pilot share controls mode and adaptive controller support for all games.

Read more about system accessibility settings.