What Hedge's g adds

Hedge's g reports the difference between two group means in pooled-standard-deviation units, then applies a small-sample correction.

That makes it a good compact effect-size companion to a t-test, especially when sample sizes are modest.

Reading the result

A positive value means group 1 is larger on average. A negative value means group 2 is larger.

Rules like 0.2,0.5,0.80.2,0.5,0.8 are only rough guides; domain context still matters.