Short games

czc

czc

Thread Killer Mk VIII
I've been think about short games recently as being an easy way to accomplishment. The feeling of completing a game. Its not something I've done too often in recent years. Listening to Totalbiscuit he feels the same. I reckon that most people these days do't have 100 hours to sink into a single game (or maybe just the stamina and patience.)

Now I haven't played Brothers, TB's personal favorite, but I really enjoyed Limbo. Then there are also games with short play sessions that are fun. Like FTL, I've played many short sessions of FTL. It can get frustrating but there is always that what if left in your mind.

So lets get your feelings on short games and games with short play sessions but major replayablity. Lets get a list going.
 
Its what really got me into Binding of Isaac (and subsequently got nudged in Rogue Legacy's direction). The "can take 5 minutes off to just play 1 game" without it ACTUALLY turning into 4 hours later "just one more quest" kinda thing.
 
With a 1 year old in the house, I like playing a game that I can just quit immediately if needed (which makes several online games tricky) or something I can pause, but I prefer just being able to quit. If I pause the game I don't know when I'll be getting back to my PC and I don't want my PC to idle in game for that long.
Idle Clicker games are perfect for this type of play, but not really engaging.

King's Quest is not that long (the first Chapter at least). It took me about 4 hours to finish the first Chapter and I really enjoyed it. I'm waiting for the price to drop on the second chapter before buying it. You do make several choices during the game, but how it impacts the game later on (if at all) will have to be seen. If there is any impact worth mentioning, one might want to replay the game to try the different choices.

I also like World of Tanks because the sessions aren't that long (usually 10 - 15mins), however you will get reported if you go AFK, so I usually only play this after the little one has gone to sleep.

So right now I prefer short games, or rather games with short sessions and which I can easily quit.
 
I just dont have the time to sink into games anymore... It took me nearly a year to do a play through of The Last of Us... Its not that i dont enjoy the games, heck i love them! But often i dont play for a lengthy period of time, or a play another game, and when i come back i need to re learn the game all over again...

Games like Drive Club, and Starwars Battlefront im enjoying because you can literally sit down for any period of time... But i must say something thats changed the way i game is the PS4 rest mode feature. Im busy playing through Dying Light in anticipation of The Following, and the ability to jump into rest mode when ever i need to do something else, and literally pick up where i left off has helped me a hell of a lot...

The Order 1866 is another game that people actually complained about being to short. I haven't played the game yet, but i bought it because i heard it was relatively short... I would far rather sink 7-10 hours into a game, and finish it, than play 20+ hours and end up leaving the game unfinished...

Then again... I didn't pay full price for The Order, and maybe if i had of dropped 7/8 hundred bucks on a new title that was over in roughly 7 hours i would be unhappy...
 
XbatousaiX said:
We need more shorter focused games the openworld bloat is getting out of hand.
Click to expand...

I agree with this to a certain extent, but i still love the open world game type... I think its actually a great way to give people the best of both worlds... If you dont want to play through all the "bloat" then just stick to the story, but the bloat could give people that want to spent hours and hours in a game the option with a sort of "side quest" vibe?
 
I tend to find that roughly around 10-14 hours is a good length for me. Too much longer than that and I seem to drift onto other games since to get in about 10 hours of game time takes me about 2 weeks depending how much free time I have.
 
These days I tackle at least one short game before taking on a long one. I like games of all lengths but I prefer the longer ones more. Yet it feels great playing a game and getting it over and done with.

I played a very short game this year called PLUG & PLAY. And I love it, except it's only 20 minutes long. I wish they could make a 6 hour version of it.

And you really REALLY have to play Brothers [MENTION=2399]czc[/MENTION]! If you have a controller. It is amazing!
 
Maybe one day I'll get a controller for the PC as well.

Another great game was Deadlight, really enjoyed that. Took around 6 hours, had to replay some parts but got through it.
 
I recently finished Grow Home, it's definitely a short game of roughly 4hrs but you can get some extra mileage if you do the post-game collectibles. It was a fun and relaxing experience.
 
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Apparently Unravel isn't all that long either. Around 6 hours by the looks of it.

You can always browse the HLTB website to find games with a sweet spot in length. They have a comprehensive search and ordering functionality.
 
I thought Brothers was just alright. I didn't see why it was so highly praised.

There's defiantly nothing wrong with short games though, especially ones that focus on all the content being: "all killer, no filler". It's the main reason that I'm tired of Open World games, you spend so much timing repeating the same things. Just copy pasting the same activity to make your game longer, doesn't make it more enjoyable.

A lot of the Vlambeer games are a lot of fun. To the Moon is another short game that will pull on the heartstrings.
 
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