All quests completed, all campsites fully developed. The immediate point of comparison to Haven Park is the excellent A Short Hike, with both games putting the player in control of an anthropomorphic bird, exploring an island from an overhead perspective. However, beyond that there are significant differences, with Haven Park having a less well-defined overall goal, based primarily around restoring a somewhat dilapidated nature park and developing a number of campsites scattered around the area with a 'lite' Animal Crossing like approach, attracting (permanent) 'visitors' of whom a handful will set you a basic quest. Movement abilities are simple running and jumping, without any flight ability; a simple set of skill upgrades are split between those with an exploration focus and camp-building.

With no real element of danger (the worst that you might encounter is falling from a height and having to climb back up) and a charming, cheerful approach to the scenario, Haven Park is an enjoyable, relaxing time to play through. It lacks the degree of polish and satisfying self-containedness of A Short Hike, but not meeting that high bar isn't an overly strong detractor.

Reviewed on Sep 07, 2022


Comments