Apple Arcade on the surface seems to be the kind of thing that springs forth out of necessity. Would Apple need to create such a thing if they hadn’t have let the App Store become a dumping ground where anyone and everyone could simply upload a game? It’s difficult to say for sure, but what we can say that as a service currently, it’s… okay? Most titles are somewhat hit and miss, with very few true exclusives to write home about. Most of the titles can be found on other services/platforms, but there are a few gems to be found. HitchHiker just so happens to be one of those.
Let me be clear right up the top of this, as a game HitchHiker has very little in the way of gameplay. It’s set in the first person where you are almost entirely stationary. Your unnamed protagonist very rarely gets out of his seat. You’re also going to be listening to a lot of dialogue. If that isn’t really your thing, then it’s safe to say this won’t be an experience you’re very likely to enjoy. But now that we’ve got the negatives out of the way…
HitchHiker is an incredible experience. Much like Kentucky Route Zero, it exists in a dreamlike world where the uneasiness of the supernatural gradually creeps in the longer you spend in the game. The first few minutes are fairly mundane. You’re an unnamed HitchHiker who is going west. You’re picked up on the side of the road by a man with a thick mustache, voiced by an actor doing his best Sam Elliott impersonation. This man also has this strange fascination with offering you raisins (and is quick to remind you that raisins are a way of life where he’s from) until something strange happens. You eventually have no choice but to accept his offer of a handful of raisins, thus you eat them. What could happen anyways? They’re just regular raisins, right? WRONG. Immediately your vision begins to shift, the man’s voice becomes distorted, and some very unusual occurrences begin to happen. You begin to question what is real. And crows begin to follow your truck, crows of course being the most frightening of all birds. Seriously, when crows show up anywhere, very rarely is that considered a good thing.
This first act of HitchHiker is emblematic of the rest of your journey. You’ll meet ever stranger characters and be placed in ever stranger situations. Eventually the player realizes that our protagonist is fleeing from something, rather than just hitching away from wherever he’s been. He’s fleeing from a catastrophic collapse of a relationship that we are given frustratingly little information about in the beginning, only to see it unfold beautifully the further into the game you progress.
All told, HitchHiker is a complete package that tells the unnerving yet beautiful story and doesn’t overstay its welcome. You can expect 3-ish hours of playtime, but it isn’t a story you’ll feel inclined to rush through, rather I found myself taking a pause for each chapter and reflecting on what I’d just experienced, rather than trying to mainline the entire thing in one evening. Much like a good book, the ending will stay with you for quite some time after it’s finished and leave you with a feeling that you cannot quite describe.
