I have been on a kick lately with short games. Because I’m a parent with a hectic job, it’s really nice to be able to beat a game in just a few days.
I’ve played both Plague Tale games (10 & 20 hours respectively), Stray (7 hours), and Alan Wake (10 hours). All great stories, very atmospheric, and felt like just the right length for what they were.
Any other good story-heavy games that are pretty short? Throw any and all recommendations at me!
I’mma do it, I’mma be the one to bring up Undertale this time (estimated 2 hours, worth a few replays), there’s also little nightmares (2-4 hours depending on platforming skills) which is a spooky little game, but not too spooky if you ever play in front of the kids.
Returnal, Resident Evil REmakes, most Giant Bomb games, Firewatch, Hellblade…
If you liked Alan Wake, definitely give the RE remakes and Hellblade a shot, and don’t sleep on Firewatch. In fact, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is probably one of the most thoughtful and atmospheric experiences in gaming (at least in the field of 3rd person, pseudo action games).
I second Resident Evil games. But, they have multiple ends that require replay the games or a large portion of them. You can watch the endings on YouTube though. But iirc, RE VII, has a whole different portion of game influenced by a choice you make, than make you replay that whole part and it can be long.
Great idea for a post. I feel the same with games and novels.
Bastion or Transistor, both early Supergiant games.
Portal and Portal 2 must be on this list. If you’ve never played then, you must. It is that simple.
I’d look at Telltale-style games. They’re roughly 10 hours each ( five 2-hour ish episodes) and are almost entirely story driven. The gameplay is usually very simple. You choose dialogue choices to drive the story.
The best Telltale games are in my opinion: The Wolf Among Us, Tales from the Borderlands, The Walking Dead, Batman: The Telltale Series and its sequel, Batman: The Enemy Within. They’re also releasing the first episode of The Expanse (based on the TV show since the character Camina Drummer does not exist in the books) later this month.
Another series that is very much that same style but by different devs is the Life is Strange series. I’ve played the first one and the prequel called Before the Storm. They are very emotionally heavy stories so I’m taking some time before I can go into the sequels but I absolutely love that series and will preach it to anyone who will listen.
10 hours is definitely short but it also helps that they are all done in 2-hour episodes so you can easily take breaks.
Jade Empire - a little older Bioware action RPG, originally for the Xbox, but can be found on GOG. Runs between 12 to 20 hours.
Undertale - my favourite game of all time, easy to play, excellent story, and incredible soundtrack.
Have you tried What Remains of Edith Finch? It’s a good story heavy game that’s pretty short. Return of the Obra Dinn is a deduction puzzle game that can be done in short sessions. Celeste is also good for short sessions if platformers are more of your thing.
Gris. It’s like playing an art piece.
Similar vein, but I replay Journey often, as well.
You should give Guardians of the Galaxy a try. I’m not really a Marvel fan but the game is great and should take around 20 hours to complete.
Depending on your puzzle solving abilities, Outer Wilds (not Outer Worlds!) should only take around 15-20 hours.
Extra bonus, it can be played in very short sessions very easily and has a great in-game log of events in case you have to put it down for a little while.
Story-heavy: Uncharted series (between 10 and 16 hours per game), Hellblade (around 8 hours) and - if you can spare another 10 hours or so and Action RPGs are your thing - Nier Automata is really worth it (around 30 hours).
Gris was impactful enough for me that I’ll mention it here, since it was super short (4 hours at most).Hellblade is amazing! Needs to be played with headphones on for the beat experience! The sound design is incredible
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Ori and Ori: Will of the Wisps. These games are beautiful and atmospheric. The story is basic, but it’s a world to get lost in.
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All of the supergiant games (except for maybe Hades). So Bastion, Transistor and Pyre. Dripping with style, Bastion and Transistor have a pretty straightforward story, but it’s well told. Pyre’s story is a bit more complex, with a heavy focus on characters and your choices with them.
Pyre is criminally underrated.
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Journey is a game you could easily finish in one sitting. Short but sweet, and very easy to get swept up in the atmosphere.
What Remains of Edith Finch is a beautiful game in under 2h.
A Short Hike is a wholesome short little experience, really loved it.
Journey is one of my favorite games of all time and is shorter than most movies.
Titanfall 2 campaign was 6h or something and really cool!
