We have a clear winner so maybe we’ll close the poll early so we can get started this weekend… I’ll leave that decision up to y’all.
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I don’t know. Could see a late shift from behind for one of the other titles.
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I refrain from voting since I definitely currently only play Stardew Valley and I don’t think I find 6 others that let me bribe them to vote for SV. 
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I am embarrassed to say I completely forgot to post the winner. Oops!
And the winner is…
This is a cozy adventure game developed and published by Adam Robinson-Yu in 2019 who hails from Canada. It has been nominated for several awards and won the Seumas McNally Grand Prize and the Audience Award at the 2020 Independent Games Festival. This is a pretty short title so even though we’re starting late, we should still be able to play a new game in October. :))
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I haven’t started a Short Hike yet but I have recently finished a previous unofficial Game Club game which was Caravan Sandwitch (highly recommend) and been making good progress on Ikenfell (currently on chapter four).
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I played A Short Hike back when it was making waves as the latest big indie game rec. It is a game where you walk around and glide about, talking to other characters and finding things… and that’s basically it. Which is fine, since that’s all it’s going for. You can finish it all in one sitting, or (perhaps preferably) take your time with it in 15-minute increments before bed. Not a game I feel a need to go back to, but it’s worth checking out if you’re in the mood to just “hang out” in a video game for a bit. The aesthetic is pleasant.
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I’m a big Short Hike Head, A Short Hiker if you will, and I’m not afraid to put that out there. It’s definitely short, but I’ll keep my full comments to myself till people are done and ready to discuss.
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My homework is to play this sometime this weekend between sessions of Ghost of Yotei since no one else had yet and I nearly beat it ages ago and just forgot so I’ll be starting over fresh. :))
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I will play it in my mind 
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@BMO is playing mind games with us. 
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I just have to relive playing it in my mind because I’m to avoid screens as much as possible right now. So no games for me for a week 
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I started playing a Short Hike today. I’ve played it before a long time ago but never got around to finishing it. So I erased my file and restarted my hike. I was surprised to see I had earned no achievements. I must’ve played it shortly after it released and then Steam achievements were patched in post-launch.
I explored the settings a bit and made sure the graphics were the crunchiest pixels available. I was hoping there would be widescreen support but there isn’t. The game still looks great but exploration games with large vistas always look incredible on widescreen. It also adds a little more work to posting screenshots cause I have to crop out the extra space. Ah well. While poking around in the settings, I found this cute little message from the devs.
Okay. Settings confirmed. Time to start the game!
Usually my strategy when starting a game is to turn around and see if there’s anything behind me. This game takes place on an island and so going in the opposite direction meant swimming in the water east around the outskirts of the island. This turned out to be a mistake.
I was swimming for so long and seeing everything out of order and I thought if I just kept swimming, I would make it back to the starting point but I severely underestimated the size of the island because I was swimming for like a solid 10 minutes and I still didn’t find the starting point. There weren’t any real consequences or spoilers but it just felt wrong so I restarted my file AGAIN and followed the proper route. Much better.
The goal of hiking Hawk Peak Trail is introduced by a fellow bird friend outside your cabin. The conversation holds some mystery about your character and from the conversations I had with other animal friends later, the puzzle pieces are adding up to an apathetic or depressed mental state. I hope by the end of this game, Claire finds some peace and renewed vigor. I know after a hike I usually feel much better. I should probably make time to go on one soon now that the weather is getting cooler.
My favorite part about this first conversation is when our friend says “Ahh, it’s so lovely here. I could sit here all day. And I will.”
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The next friend I encountered very kindly told me how to glide. I proceeded to keep asking him to repeat himself. I think I may have made an enemy.
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It’s time to announce our next theme! You’ll never guess what it is! The new theme is…Halloween! 
Please suggest 1-2 games that evoke Halloween vibes for us to play on Oct. 15th. It can be anything from cozy to creepy. If you can connect it to Halloween, it’s up for a vote. Please have your suggestions in by Oct. 12th.
Of course, continue playing/discussing a Short Hike or any of our previous game club winners. You are welcome to refer to my Grouvee Game Club shelf that I update regularly for games we’ve played previously.
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I guess I can’t suggest Stardew Valley again despite it having a Halloween event.
I can only opt for a short game that I will definitely be able to play and finish in time and that I already own (spent all my moneyz on the Steam sale), so these two are my suggestions:
I guess this will be right in the feels.
A series I feel really bad to not have touched yet.
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I think I have both of those games! I at least have the games preceding Rusty Lake Hotel but I know I have Detention. I tried playing it once and got too scared hahaha. I’d be willing to try it again though.
I’m going to suggest more retro games I’ve been meaning to play so I’ll nominate Doom (1993) and Diablo (1997).
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I have a bunch of games I could recommend but I’ll pick one that I want to replay and another that I’ve been meaning to play for the first time.
This game despite technically being a part of the Splatterhouse series is actually a really cute famicom platformer. I think you can play it without sailing the high seas by getting Namco Museum Archives Vol 1 on Steam or Switch. It’s pretty short as well iirc.
This one is an old-school FPS that I think is supposed to have tons of horror movie references and an overall spooky atmosphere. There’s a rerelease on Steam called Blood Fresh Supply.
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I do have other Rusty Lake games too, if it is prefered to start with an older one that would be ok for me too. I did not check which one started the series, this one seems to be more known?
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Nah. Your first choice is perfectly fine. I don’t think it’s important of the order at all. I may pull what I did with last year’s Halloween pick. The winner was Silent Hill 2, and I hadn’t played the first one yet, so I played both!
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My pics are:
- Costume Quest
- Spooky Express
Spooky Express come out 21 October and looks like a fun Halloween themed puzzle game.
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