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Best sub-20 hour games?

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!

Pseu ,
  • 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.
  • 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.
Chobbes ,

Pyre is criminally underrated.

HowlsSophie ,

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.

silent_g ,
@silent_g@beehaw.org avatar

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.

HowlsSophie ,

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.

knokelmaat ,

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!

98codes ,

Firewatch comes to mind

smegforbrains ,

Stray.

TheKracken ,

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.

any1th3r3 ,

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).

nlm ,
@nlm@beehaw.org avatar

Hellblade is amazing! Needs to be played with headphones on for the beat experience! The sound design is incredible

Crankpork ,

Journey is a game you could easily finish in one sitting. Short but sweet, and very easy to get swept up in the atmosphere.

all-knight-party ,
@all-knight-party@fedia.io avatar

If you're cool with visual novels, Doki Doki Literature Club is an incredibly interesting game, not very long. It really stuck with me.

nlm ,
@nlm@beehaw.org avatar

Pretty important to go in blind with this one! It’s a great game!

Plus_a_Grain_of_Salt ,

Hey Op don’t play it in front of the kids, you’ll thank me later.

nlm ,
@nlm@beehaw.org avatar

True!

It’s not a horror game though. It’s more of a creepy tension. And some bloody bits. Overall it’s for the atmosphere you play it, you really get sucked into the mind of the protagonist.

Plus_a_Grain_of_Salt ,

See, you get my worry. The tension’s not bad, just a lot for the kids.

nlm ,
@nlm@beehaw.org avatar

Very true. :)

There’s a bit of gore in there too, not much, but still.

Segab ,

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.

lvl13charlatan ,

Undertale and Untitled Goose Game though the latter isn’t very story oriented.

orca ,
@orca@orcas.enjoying.yachts avatar

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.

EmDash ,

Limbo and Inside are both short and atmospheric, but not story heavy at all.

jeanofthedead ,

Oof, I would tend to disagree. Those stories are dark (despite being unexplained) and have stuck with me for years.

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