When a medium manages to transport me to a different world entirely, that's when I feel my time has been utterly, unquestionably well-spent. This is one of those times.

A Short Hike is a game jam-packed with charming characters, beautiful art direction, and dynamic music that makes you feel warm inside. It reinvigorates a childhood feeling of wonder, one which you'd be confronted with when playing games like The Legend of Zelda for the first time, slowly discovering its world's many creative twists and turns.
Yet, much unlike The Legend of Zelda, A Short Hike strips away the nuisances, the conflicts, the health bar and the bizarre puzzles. Instead, it leaves you with just a quaint island to explore: Small, yet never empty.
Every corner of this island has so much character that it's impossible not to build familarity. Entering an previously visited area of the island resurfaces memories of past adventures - the journey to the top of the island's mountain is a distinctly peaceful, yet never boring experience. It's the sort of game that you simply get lost in, the outside world forgotten, going on tiny adventures.

And tiny they are: With a total gameplay value of 3-4 hours, you're never stuck with one impression, one "quest" line (if you can call it that) for long.
And yet, I feel this small size is essential to the experience, to the presentation. Were the island any larger, it would lose its familiarity, its unique character and its feeling that there's more content hiding behind every corner. Truthfully, by the end of your playthrough (if you play it as thoroughly as me), you'll know the island like the back of your hand.
But that's no problem, because this is what gave it its special place in my heart.