After reading My Side of the Mountain, I packed my first “go” bag. It was a drawstring backpack and had all the essentials: tiger stuffed animal, Dodgers baseball cap, three leftover Halloween candy bars, a Nancy Drew book, a hand-drawn picture ID I assumed would suffice, and an itchy sweater just in case I got cold. I remember being pretty confident in this bag. I hid it under my bed and waited for the perfect day to run away.
It never came. At the time, I lived in the middle of the desert and I also had a loving family that I didn’t want to worry. But that desire was there. I looked at distant sandy mountains and thought, I could definitely climb those. If I was on a walk, I’d glance at cacti knowingly, sure I could get water from them. I was always looking for places I could hide from the elements, keep a lookout, or find a lost treasure.
A Highland Song, released this past Monday from Inkle Studios for Nintendo Switch and PC, perfectly captures a lonely child’s wonder, curiosity, and unrealistic confidence in their ability to survive the elements. Players meet Moira as she sits on the window ledge of her house, staring at the lochs and cairns beyond the isolated cottage. Her mother yells at her to come down, and Moira shouts back, “I want to run away!” And then, she does.
Highland Mood
Moira is a precocious young teenager who is sick of the lonely hillside cottage and her nagging mam. She has one point of contact with the outside world: her Uncle Hamish, who lives by the sea and has invited her to come visit. At the start of the game, she embarks on her journey with only a few hand-drawn maps, and it’s the player’s job to help her reach her destination in time without freezing to death or falling into a ravine.
I went to Scotland in October with a close friend for two weeks, and I missed it as soon as I left. A Highland Song is a gorgeous love letter to Scotland that made me feel I was there again. The heather covers these hillsides. Rain comes and goes in waves, the sunlight peaking out. History pools in crevices, gravestones in crags telling stories of long lost loves and clan wars. The musical tracks are delightful, and even more so as Moira sprints with glee, dancing and jumping to the fiddle.
Moira speaks occasionally throughout the journey in a conversational, trusting tone, the way a young adolescent might write in a journal or confide in a school friend. She’s funny and insightful. This is how we learn more about Moira and her life, and why she is interested in making this dangerous journey toward the ocean, which she has never seen before, to visit her Uncle Hamish. The story spools out over time, and enticed me to learn more.
Moira reflects on the letters she and Hamish have exchanged, and through these remembered conversations, we can also learn of folk tales and local stories. Moira is a sympathetic character, and I found myself worrying over things she said, wondering if she was being misled or what pains she’s had to deal with as a young girl all on her own.
The experience is made all the better thanks to great voice acting. I know the Inkle team is based in Cambridge, and the loving care with which the script is written made me wonder if someone was homesick.
A Different Tune
While it’s billed as a rhythm-based game, most of the gameplay in A Highland Song actually involves platforming up and down rocks and hills, looking for paths forward. Players have to carefully manage Moira’s energy and balance, lest she lose her grip or stumble if sprinting.
One of the songs to which you can race through the hills; it’s a delight.
The highlights of gameplay are those featured heaviest in promotional material—occasional, optional segments where Moira follows a beautiful deer in a rhythm mini-game. Moira leaps and bounds in sync with local bands that Inkle worked closely with to develop the soundtrack. This part of gameplay is delightful, and also useful, as it gets Moira closer to where she needs to go. Moira’s musical sprints were by far my favorite stretches; these moments of A Highland Song capture the joy of being young, unafraid of a knee scrape or a tumble.
Moira keeps track of items in her knapsack and journal, and as she meets people or runs into obstacles on her journey, she may discover that something found can provide solace or yield a new clue. Inkle consistently rewards the player for paying attention to their surroundings, and there’s always a wonderful feeling that there is more of the world just beyond your reach.
Inkle’s other games to date have been visual interactive novels that push the boundaries of the genre, delivering rich storylines with exciting twists on the relatively simple experience of reading and clicking. By comparison, A Highland Song is a very different beast with its platforming movement and rhythm-based action. It’s a joy to see a development team you love challenge themselves to try something new.
Discordant Keys
Inkle’s inexperience with platformers, however, was sometimes palpable. It is often difficult to direct Moira exactly where you’re trying to go, which sometimes led me to accidentally flinging her off a cliff. There are path markers that can be used to move to a different ridge, but the option to click on them doesn’t always appear unless Moira stands in just the right spot. I often set off for a destination I had seen from a peak, only to never quite be able to get there.
The biggest struggle is with the landscape itself. I was frequently confused about when I could jump between layers of the hills—the lush, dreamy art is gorgeous, but there is a lack of depth perception that sometimes makes it difficult to know what options are available to explore at any given moment. I realize that adding little highlighted ridges would probably reduce the immersive feeling, but so does rising fury.
I also occasionally got lost, which I didn’t mind as much, because I felt that resonated with Moira’s experience. Less charming was feeling stuck, which I felt often. I frequently had to circle back multiple times and painstakingly attempt jumping around an entire mountain. Thankfully, I eventually realized there’s an option to load up a past auto-save, though it’s tucked deep within the game’s settings menu.
Early in the game, Moira (and players) discovers that if she stands on a peak, she can get a better view of the surrounding area and compare it with hand-drawn or spare maps she’s found. If the player correctly matches the location on the map to a location she can see, Moira can identify shortcuts and locations of collectibles. I was delighted with the tutorial of this mechanic, but unfortunately, I really struggled with it throughout the rest of the game. I very rarely was able to get it right, and there’s no hint option. Other times, I found a location on my own that I was sure had been on a map, but because Moira hadn’t properly matched it, I couldn’t always get there or find the treasure.
While the platforming and maps aren’t perfect, A Highland Song nails the dreamy feeling of being on an adventure that’s so delightful that one can’t help but sing.
Back to the Chorus
Time mechanics have played a part in every Inkle release I’ve played. A ticking clock is a key part of the studio’s aesthetics. Each game requires players to strategize to make things work within given parameters. In 80 Days, it’s the core challenge, getting around the world with a difficult boss, steampunk mysteries, booking last-minute travel, and packing smart. In Sorcery!, players have a limited amount of time in a fantastical medieval city to explore and solve puzzles—you can’t do everything, but you must do your best. In Overboard!, you’re an aging starlet in a time loop aboard an ocean liner trying to frame others for a murder you’ve just committed before it docks.
In A Highland Song, Moira has five days to get to the sea, the reasons for which get revealed as the story continues. There are mysteries and mysticisms, all rooted in the classic human question of Where do I belong? As the days ticked on, I found myself getting just as anxious as Moira that she wouldn’t make it, watching the sun sink. When Moira started to lose confidence in her journey, I did too, feeling bad I was failing her.
There’s so much to explore in A Highland Song, but because I had such a hard time making my way through the map, I had to rush. It’s the first time in an Inkle game that I’ve felt a bit of a misalignment between the time restriction and gameplay.
But, just like in every other Inkle game, replayability is a major factor. Players are meant to try again, discovering new ways forward. There are multiple ways through each mountain pass, and the journal tracks a couple dozen possible peaks that can be climbed.
On my first playthrough, I did not make it in time, poor Moira shivering on a snowy mountaintop. The game continued the next morning, simply informing me that I was a day late. On subsequent playthroughs, I found that some items I had collected carried over along with all my maps, empowering me to make the journey faster. I also learned new anecdotes and memories from Moira. Her story, like the valleys, continues to unfold the longer you explore. There’s gold (and magic) in these hills.
Final Thoughts
A Highland Song is a beautiful game about a difficult journey, uplifted by gorgeous watercolor art and a gracefully told story. I felt a deep kinship with Moira. This is a game for anyone who has ever looked at the world beyond their window and felt an ache to crest the horizon.
Inkle’s newest release is a meditative adventure that would be perfect for fan of games like Old Man’s Journey, A Short Hike, or Inside (if Inside was happy and not a horrifying nightmare). It’s not for everyone, but then again, neither is running away.
A Highland Song is a game for and made by those who know what it is like to yearn and dare to try.
Score: 8.0/10
A Highland Song, developed by Inkle Studios, was released on December 5, 2023, for PC and Nintendo Switch.
Disclaimer: A review code was provided by the publisher.
