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!
Checkout Somerville. It has its quirks, but I loved it overall. If you’re familiar with the game Out of This World (often referred to as Another World and vice versa), you’ll probably dig it.
Another one I recommend is Planet of Lana. Lovely little story and easy gameplay. This one really grabbed me and was an enjoyable, short playthrough.
I went through a similar period. Played a handful of easy-to-pick-up short adventure games.
I’m usually way more into short arcadey yet narrative games like Hotline Miami, but based on your list I’d wholeheartedly recommend What Remains of Edith Finch. It’s a bunch of very short story vignettes, so even if you only have 30 minutes you know you’ll complete one.
Night in the Woods might also interest you. I would always play one in-game day (which is about 1 hour each) to relax before going to bed.
I haven’t finished Spec Ops: The Line, but I recommend that. It looks like your average American propaganda third person shooter but the story is actually super interesting and thought provoking. Looking at https://howlongtobeat.com/, it’s 6 hours for the main story.
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).
Oxenfree, A Night in the Woods, Afterparty, and Gris. Gris is a masterpiece when it comes to visuals but not story-heavy. The other three are entirely story.
Seconding Oxenfree. It’s one of the few multi-choice/multi-ending games where I was completely content with the ending I got, and didn’t feel like the game ever lied to me or ripped me off for choosing the “wrong” thing. I had stayed away from it for so long because I wasn’t ready to deal with choice anxiety that I get in a lot of games of that type, but for whatever reason, the game never made me feel like that.
Oh yes choice anxiety was definitely a thing. I think I felt that more with Afterparty and even played the game a second time to try to alter things but at the end of the day, I realized it’s not that serious and simply enjoying the game made it a better experience.
I beat Myst in 19 hours of continuous game play without a guide or the internet. Best? Well, if you intend to beat it, it’ll take a lot of thinking through stories.
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Checkout Somerville. It has its quirks, but I loved it overall. If you’re familiar with the game Out of This World (often referred to as Another World and vice versa), you’ll probably dig it.
Another one I recommend is Planet of Lana. Lovely little story and easy gameplay. This one really grabbed me and was an enjoyable, short playthrough.
I went through a similar period. Played a handful of easy-to-pick-up short adventure games.
I’m usually way more into short arcadey yet narrative games like Hotline Miami, but based on your list I’d wholeheartedly recommend What Remains of Edith Finch. It’s a bunch of very short story vignettes, so even if you only have 30 minutes you know you’ll complete one.
Night in the Woods might also interest you. I would always play one in-game day (which is about 1 hour each) to relax before going to bed.
Journey is a game you could easily finish in one sitting. Short but sweet, and very easy to get swept up in the atmosphere.
I haven’t finished Spec Ops: The Line, but I recommend that. It looks like your average American propaganda third person shooter but the story is actually super interesting and thought provoking. Looking at https://howlongtobeat.com/, it’s 6 hours for the main story.
I’ll always recommend What Remains of Edith Finch into these sorts of conversations. Absolute one of my favourite shorter experiences.
Stray.
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
Oxenfree, A Night in the Woods, Afterparty, and Gris. Gris is a masterpiece when it comes to visuals but not story-heavy. The other three are entirely story.
Seconding Oxenfree. It’s one of the few multi-choice/multi-ending games where I was completely content with the ending I got, and didn’t feel like the game ever lied to me or ripped me off for choosing the “wrong” thing. I had stayed away from it for so long because I wasn’t ready to deal with choice anxiety that I get in a lot of games of that type, but for whatever reason, the game never made me feel like that.
Oh yes choice anxiety was definitely a thing. I think I felt that more with Afterparty and even played the game a second time to try to alter things but at the end of the day, I realized it’s not that serious and simply enjoying the game made it a better experience.
Portal and Portal 2 must be on this list. If you’ve never played then, you must. It is that simple.
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!
Ori and the blind forest is a great platformer that is about 8-10 hours long.
Donut County is a fun little game that takes about 5 hours or less.
Axiom Verge (and 2) is a neat Metroid like game that is around 15 hrs.
Gris. It’s like playing an art piece.
Similar vein, but I replay Journey often, as well.
If you’re cool with visual novels, Doki Doki Literature Club is an incredibly interesting game, not very long. It really stuck with me.
Pretty important to go in blind with this one! It’s a great game!
Undertale and Untitled Goose Game though the latter isn’t very story oriented.
I beat Myst in 19 hours of continuous game play without a guide or the internet. Best? Well, if you intend to beat it, it’ll take a lot of thinking through stories.
I haven’t played Myst since the 90s! Such a great game.