The world is so overrun with fantastic video games that players are stretched. Full-time adults who were once able to complete open-world RPGs in a matter of weeks can now struggle through the same game for months. Fortunately, some developers have noticed the excessive length of many AAA games and have countered this by offering players short, satisfying experiences.
Some of the best games of the past decade have been short affairs that experienced gamers can wrap up in a few hours or less. In a busy world full of adult obligations, it’s a blessing to finish a satisfying story in less than a day.
10 Perfect vermin is a gross little likeness
Perfect pests is a free game, although the developers do ask for donations through itch.io. A first-person puzzle game (of sorts), developed by Maceo bob Mair and Angad Matharoo, with sound by Chris Dang and music by Daniel Shypilov, Perfect pests is a fifteen minute game brimming with ideas.
The player starts out in an office with a sledgehammer and the story unfolds as they smash things. What seems like a crazy stress reliever turns into a Cronenbergian nightmare that is funny, disturbing and strangely gripping.
9 Hotline Miami is adrenaline fuel
Hotline Miami is arguably one of the fastest-paced games ever made. The player takes control of a mysterious gunman and clears levels full of gangsters and crooks. The gameplay is fast paced, but the player must carefully plan how to approach each room as one hit is enough to kill them.
Hotline Miami can be completed in under five hours according to most gamers, but those five hours fly by as the player races through each level, working out the most efficient way to complete each level.
8 Kirby’s adventure is a classic
Kirby games are designed as light challenges that players of all ages can complete so that most experienced gamers can get through them fairly quickly. However, the music, visuals, and smooth gameplay usually make those short gameplay sessions delightful.
Kirby’s Adventure for the NES is arguably the most essential Kirby game, though Forbidden Land gives it a fair run for its money. Adventure can easily be completed in under four hours, but it’s a great little adventure that introduces the Kirby tradition of the “surprisingly epic final battle.”
7 Untitled Goose Game is a delightful bird simulator
The time it takes to complete Untitled Goose Game can vary depending on how quickly the player can figure out how to complete the tasks on the goose’s to-do list. However, most players report that the game can be played in less than three hours.
However, gamers will want to spend more time in the goose world because spreading chaos in a sleepy village is fun and hilarious. The goose has so many ways of tormenting unsuspecting villagers that just messing around, regardless of the objectives, can make for a satisfying session. In addition, the music and art are charming, warm and relaxing, a stark contrast to the goose’s mischief.
6 Portal is rightly loved
Portal is such a beloved game, and it made such a huge impression when it first appeared in the Orange Box collection in 2007 that it’s easy to forget how short it is. The player only needs to complete 19 chapters for the big final part, and many of those chapters are basic tutorial levels.
Even gamers with shaky physics knowledge can usually finish the game in four hours or less. This is mainly due to how well the game teaches the player its mechanics. Each puzzle shows what the player can do with the portal gun or tests the player on what he has learned so far.
5 How to make a cup of tea is sweet and surprising
How do you make a cup of tea? is a free browser-based game on itch.io, created for a game jam by user Linky. It is a simple first-person adventure where the player has to make a cup of tea.
Every time the player makes a cup of tea, the environment around them changes in a strange way, although the charming music never changes. The player can sense that something isn’t right when the second level starts, and dog treats are on the counter where the sugar should be. It’s all resolved within an hour, and the finale is either funny or disturbing, depending on the player’s taste.
4 Inside Is a compelling mystery
Inside only takes about four hours to complete, but the game’s world feels huge and overwhelming, even if the time spent in it is short. The player takes charge of a young boy who for unknown reasons is on the run from capture by masked soldiers.
The boy eventually stumbles into a huge, labyrinthine building populated by terrifying monsters and mindless zombie drones. What makes Inside However, feeling so unique is that the layout of the building is non-Euclidean and completely disorienting. It’s the closest game to making a House of Leaves game.
3 Shredder’s Revenge is a short dose of nostalgia
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge was a retro throwback to the Ninja Turtles games of the 90s, and it was a huge hit upon its release in 2022. The story mode only takes a few hours to complete, especially if players work together in multiplayer mode, but hardcore fans of the franchise will likely spend a lot more time exploring the game’s various modes and challenges.
With its many cartoon cameos, returning voice actors and beautiful pixel-based graphics, Shredder’s Revenge Perfect captures the frenetic, hyperactive fun of its predecessors. It’s the game Turtles fans have been dreaming about since the 1980s.
2 Iron Lung is a fast, terrifying ride
The Steam page for Iron Lung tells the player in advance that it will take less than an hour to complete, but that hour is a thrilling, terrifying experience. The player takes control of a convict trapped in a submarine with no way of seeing what’s outside except through snapshots taken by a grainy camera.
Navigating the maze-like ocean floor blind is already tense, but things only get worse when the player realizes they’re being followed by something. The ending is abrupt and maybe a little disappointing, but the fears the player will experience along the way will have them shaking in their gaming chair.
1 Donut County is cute and satisfying
The gameplay for Donut County is easy to pick up and deliciously satisfying. The player takes control of a hole and on each map they have to swallow every object they can. None of the levels are too challenging and the whole thing can be completed in about two hours.
Despite the short length of the game, the characters are beautifully realized through the beautiful animation and the witty dialogues. Of particular note is BK, the raccoon that leads the player to take control of the hole. BK is an impostor and his motives are selfish, but he is such a witty little friend that players will almost certainly fall in love with him.
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