We need more 2~3 hours long games.

Not everything needs to be a 60 hours epic, developers need to do a few more bite sized games. This weekend I was able to finish 3 games (Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, Skylar and Plux and Stories: Path of Destinies), after having spent more than two weeks with Dragon Quest XI.

What I mean is both games have an audience and developers shouldn't focus only on RDR2 like games.

12 to 15 hour is perfect length. anything beyond it can get boring.

Yeah, already bored of AC Odyssey and I don't think I'm even half way through the main quest. What's worse is that they somehow have taken the main quest and split it up into all these independent chunks which pushes and pulls you all over the world. It's fun, but I don't want to spend all this time in a very dilute, repetitive world to be honest. I know it sounds like I am looking a gift horse in the mouth, but I don't want my games to be work, to be drudgery.

Still...2-3 hour games is a bit short. I don't mind a game being <10 if it's priced at 30 dollars, but I still want value.

Dragon Quest XI could have been half the size easily since they just sent you around all the exact same places for the second half of the game, shameless padding that didn't need to happen. It turned a great game into a bit of a chore by the end of it for me.

@blueinheaven: I kinda liked the post game... But it did get repetitive.

@mrbojangles25: those 3 games were all 20 dollars or less at launch and I got them all for less than 5 bucks each.

Just play some Xbox games. 2-3 hours is about when you realize they’re garbage and you turn them off.

Mega Man 11 just came out, which was great, so there are options out there.

I'm finding as I get older that I appreciate the smaller 2-3 hour experiences just as much as a 60+ hour experience.

But there's obviously room for both.

If I'm putting down £15, fine. If I'm putting down £50, I want value for money.

no problem if the game is reasonably priced.

@hrt_rulz01: yeah, I'm also into both... Depends on my mindset that day.

Does anyone have a tip for similarly short games that aren't expensive? Preferably available for PC or PS4

Firewatch was a pretty fun game I played on PC and was quite interesting; managed to beat the game over the weekend but if you have 4-5 hours you can do it in a day.

As for the thread, I'm open to both. As long as the story is enjoyable and keeps me interested and the game itself is also fun I don't mind so much how long the game is but 10-20 hours is pretty good for me. If a game tends to be over 40 or more hours long than I'll have to make sure the game is worth playing. A game like Red Dead Redemption 2 is perfect because I'm a huge fan of Red Dead and Rockstar so it'll keep me hooked through the end. A game like Assassins Creed Odyssey? That game looks awesome but from the reviews that I've read it just comes off as a chore; gameplay wise; when I feel a game is just having me do menial tasks and I don't feel like I'm getting much done then I won't even bother getting the game because I'll be bored halfway in.

@dagubot: it looks kinda interesting and I'll definitely put it on my radar and will get it when it's on sale. Thanks

I'll just bust out Blazblue, Street Fighter 4 or some other fighting game if I want a short game

Maybe flash, mobile, multiplayer, and card games serve that purpose? It's really hard to find a good 2-3 hour long single player game, shortest is like 5 hours.

Journey is a great game you can play through in one sitting.

@judaspete: I've played it almost 10 times already, GREAT game

@xh117: I just finished 3 of those this week, that's why I wish there were more of them.

As long as they're $20

10-15 hours is the standard for linear games with no grinding without speedrunning.

There are games like that. Do you mean that we need more AAA 60 bucks games that are only 3 hours long? In that case I can't disagree more. **** that. Sounds like you'd want less value for your money if that's the case.

If you can play short games 10 times over, you can just play longer games..

such as?

Gamers wanted games to be longer.

Now they're too long.

ha.

games are not supposed to be stories.

its stupid path the industry is taking

Y'all clearly didn't read the OP. I never said I wanted 60 bucks game to be 3 hours long and I never said all games are too long... The examples I gave were all of the 5~20 dollars range. My last paragraph clearly stated that there's an audience for both. All I said is that there are a lack of short games in the market today because everyone wants to make the next The Witcher.

About playing Journey 10 times, it was through about the last 5 years, and even if it wasn't... If I want to play ten 3 hours games doesn't mean I have to want to play a 30 hours game instead, those are completely different experiences and comparing them solely by the time spent playing is dumb. My thread is not about a lack of time to play games, is about wanting to play something for an afternoon, finish it and move on to the next.

I disagree. I loved DQXI all the way through, revisiting areas is part of the reason. It allowed you to see how characters have changed since you started your adventure, it made it feel more real. I agree that post game got a bit repetitive, for "spoiler" reason. But, it's post-game for a reason.

for those that play story games I think your point is completely valid.

Agreed. Much appreciate the shorter games more and more everyday.

There are plenty of 2-3 hour indies on steam. It's not feasible for a full fledged development studio to spend their time making them, if that's what you're referring to.

howlongtobeat.com is your friend. Also useful when i want to estimate the time needed to commit to a game

Reason people play dota / counterstrike / etc and games like they are billions.

Small short sessions and done with it. pure gameplay on top of it and everytime a different experience.

Looks like you have never played any Xbox games.

For me that's too short. I think the 10-15 hour mark is the golden ratio of video game lengths. (Generally speaking of course.)

If we're talking a game like Team Fortress 2 or PlanetSide 2 it's different.

A 2 to 3 hour game is fine as long as its priced accordingly. Charging $1 per hour of gameplay sounds fair to me.

@rafaelmsoares: My my have times changed. I bet if you turn the clock back about I don't know the beginning of this gen, so 2013, games would get bashed to hell if they were 10-15 hours long. Now devs are making longer games with more packed in content and people don't want it. Very difficult to please people in this hobby.

Check out the Indie market then. I feel like people are still not taking Indie's seriously when there's actually plenty of quality to find.

Why do people always pretend that huge AAAs are all we have? There are literally hundreds of indie games on current gen platforms that can be completed in 2 or 3 hours, and many of them are amazing.

Wow, a dollar an hour huh?

Because every gamer on the planet obviously wants the same things. You're a true genius.

Sure, as long as they're priced proportionately. Say... ...$20 each?

@shellcase86: for me 3~5 dollars per hour of content is reasonable

@dzimm: well, people keep paying $60 for 10 hours of content, so I don't see why 3 hours games can't be 20 bucks.

Mega Man 11 and Resident Evil 7 are great examples of recent ~3 hour, high quality games.

Sure. If a 60-hour game costs $60 then why shouldn't a 3-hour game cost $3?

Ehhh nop. There are plenty of 2-3 hour games starting with Uncharted and Call of Duty lol and ending with gazillion of indie games on Steam.

No but they do amass their complaints. The most popular being, that a six hour game is not worth $60.

Now games are too long.

Not all gamers want the same thing. But groups of them get together to shout about it and then cry when things go the other way. AKA be careful what you ask for.

@dzimm: there's plenty of 10 hours games that cost 60, tho... And those are the majority.