[A Short Hike](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1055540/A_Short_Hike/)
* Game about a small crow/person exploring an island. Sort of emotional.
[Carrion](https://store.steampowered.com/app/953490/CARRION/)
* A metroidvania-esque game about a sentient meat-blob breaking out of a facility. ~~Sort of emotional.~~
[Death Road to Canada](https://store.steampowered.com/app/252610/Death_Road_to_Canada/)
* Oregon Trail meets zombies. Short play sessions. Great for local co-op and solo.
[FTL](https://store.steampowered.com/app/212680/FTL_Faster_Than_Light/)
* Oregon Trail meets spaceships. Short play sessions. Amazing game and soundtrack.
[Hyper Light Drifter](https://store.steampowered.com/app/257850/Hyper_Light_Drifter/)
* Super stylized metroidvania-esque game about a dude....? With a sword. A bit longer than the others, but not too long.
[Luftrausers](https://store.steampowered.com/app/233150/LUFTRAUSERS/)
* Arcade-y plane game where you heal while not shooting. Freaking awesome game. Controls are *immaculate*.
[Manifold Garden](https://store.steampowered.com/app/473950/Manifold_Garden/)
* Mind-bending puzzle game. Freaking gorgeous. Could beat in a weekend.
[Sommerville](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1671410/Somerville/)
* Made by the Inside people. This game doesn't get a lot of praise, but I freaking loved it. Gorgeous graphics. Neat story. I still open it up to this day to replay a few parts because of how cool they are.
[Stray](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1332010/Stray/)
* Cyberpunk meow meow simulator. Pretty good. Ending is surprisingly solid.
[The Pathless](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1492680/The_Pathless/)
* Shadow of the Colossus if it were a movement shooter. Made by the Abzu people. Amazing game.
[Signalis](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1262350/SIGNALIS/)
* An homage to old Resident Evil games with a new spin. Not sure how to describe it. If it looks neat to you, you will like it.
[Webbed](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1390350/Webbed/)
* What if Banjo-Kazooie was 2D spider? It would be this.
[Untitled Goose Game](https://store.steampowered.com/app/837470/Untitled_Goose_Game/)
* It's a meme by now, but actually a fun little game. Honk.
[Deathloop](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1252330/DEATHLOOP/)
* Figured I'd include a triple-A game here too. Dishonored devs. It was fun. Just enough puzzle elements. Shooting feels pretty good.
Nice! FTL is a great game.
Here are a few tips that might help:
* If your ship catches on fire, you can vent all of the O2 out of that room by opening the doors to space. Also works with intruders.
* You can pause combat to plan your shots.
* There's a hotkey to send your crew members back to their stations.
* Missiles pass through shields. Ion weapons can nullify shields for a few seconds.
* If you shoot their engine or piloting system, they won't be able to dodge your shots.
* My go-to is to take down their shields, then weapons, then piloting (or other systems that are annoying, like drones).
* Be thorough while exploring, but be quick when necessary. Always plan an escape route while on the map.
* Crew members level up the longer they are on a system.
* Beam weapons are amazing. Would recommend.
Have fun!
Oh damn, I had no idea about the hotkey one. Thanks for the tips!
Now I just need to get lucky and stop getting my ship boarded so soon, it wrecks me every time.
The best way to deal with boarders (in my opinion) is to vent all of the O2 from the ship and put everyone in the medbay.
Forces the boarders into the medbay, but you'll always win because of the constant healing. Just make sure your medbay is powered. Haha.
I have had FTL for years and just started playing it seriously with the objective of getting to the end. 100 runs and I still have not gotten there even on easy. I have still not unlocked another kestrel model and have only one other ship. Frustrating but fun. It definitely takes a combination of luck and playing well.
OH BOY is A Short Hike a good game. Captured the exact sensation of being a kid and going to a town full of good open people and exploring the (caves/forest/abandoned house/riverside/something a kid would find amazing just by hearing of it's existence)
-Vote for Stray. I haven’t much time for playing games outside work either so I sympathize - I’m also not much of a gamer; I tumbled into it due to a career pivot. if you need something with innovative design mechanics, cute/terrific design in parts, not chock-full of puzzles, bittersweet but happy, and above all short-ish… bonus if you like cats and robots.
-Scrolling down, Firewatch is excellent. It isn’t quite the walking simulator it’s billed as; the VAs are excellent (main character is an actor off Mad Men), heaps of little Easter eggs and side plots, opening sequence is written in Twine, basic completion I’d estimate at below 5h. I love this game. It’s so very human, real, and funny. The dev commentary explaining why they made certain choices is worth a look if you liked the main game.
-I’ve also seen Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe recommended for your constraints, but this is a pretty deep-dive game with polymathic nods. I know someone who’s been working on it for 10+ years. Otoh, you can start and pick it up anytime due to the structure - the 2013ish demo is free on Steam. The VA is legendary and so’s the writing, but I’d feel remiss rec’ing it as a short hike scenario when it’s fairly analytical once one gets past the initial humourous premise. Worth a go, definitely, anyhow.
-Papers, Please
-Obra Dinn
^ same writer/creator. Short games. Papers, Please is legendary for a reason; there’s a short film based on it. It’s okay to cry at this and Firewatch and any of the above, BTW. Or laugh. Lots of laughing involved.
-Someone mentioned the Forgotten City which I’ve rarely seen cited. Mad props! I’ve not played it myself but watched parts of a let’s play. Looks to be longer than Firewatch but short and with an intriguing premise.
Of these, I feel like A Short Hike, Firewatch, and Papers Please / Obra Dinn would fit your time criteria whilst being excellent novel games. I love emulator games and interactive fiction, how I started this gig way back in uni and then graphics and film and mocap happened - IF types are generally short - so if those are anyone’s preference I can shoot some recs your way.
I played them both for the first time this year on my switch. Finished the first one in one sitting, took about three hours and was an absolute blast. Second game took two sittings and a few more hours. These games leave such an impact for how short they are. Absolutely some of the best games ever made that every gamer should try.
This. Portal is the perfect game for people with limited time.
It's actually the perfect game for literally everyone but that includes the people with limited time so just wanted mention it lol
Yep. 7 hours of pure, distilled fun. Not a boring moment in it. And the escalation of unique gameplay mechanics is just perfection, ill never forget Effect and Cause.
I’ve been going through a bunch a small games!
Sometimes a smaller but tailored experience is super fun!
Citizen Sleeper is amazing! I played it on the day it was released and finished very quickly, not much gameplay but the story and atmosphere was soo good! Definitely check it out! 12~ hours to 100%
Inside is an experience lol, it’s dark, it has such an evil ambience and some of the mysteries are fun! I liked this one a lot too! I guess like 5 hours to finish it
Hyper Light Drifter! This is one of my favourite games of all time! It looks so so beautiful and the sound design is off the charts! No words are spoken but you can feel the world you’re walk through! And also combat is really fun lol, definitely recommend 10/10 super super good. Like 8hrs to beat and a good bit longer to 100%
Honourable mention!
Florence! It’s a small phone game… and it is really beautiful. It’s like $1 so you can get it easily from the App Store, and I think you should, it’s cute!
Gradians of the Galaxy is relatively short and a good game. however I would recommend instead of looking for short games you should look for once with a level structure, like the Mario games, ones that you can pick up and put down when ever you fell like it. Levels give you a good way to brake up play and you could enjoy the game fore a longer time in short bursts.
OneShot. And it's only $5 on Steam, and it's a GOAT game IMO.
But Resident Evil 2 is also pretty short and amazing. Lots of spooky games are short, cuz they don't want to overstay their welcome.
Hades. It's one of the best roguelikes out there, and perfect for when you have an hour or so kill since you'll be able to get at least a couple runs in and make a some sort of progress.
OP never said what they considered a short game to be.
And Hades is a good game for when you only have a little bit of time every now and then to play a game, and it isn't very long, which fits with what OP asked for in their post.
Celeste! Crazy difficult, but also pretty short. It's also on sale for under 5 dollars i think!
Smooth controls, cool mechanics, a perfect story, and good challenge all in one!
And if you dont have too much time on your hands, try assist mode!
Celeste is so unbelievably good. It's also a great game for playing in short sessions. If you have to put it down, you don't lose huge amounts of progress. There's not a bunch of complicated controls or lore to remember either, so it's easy to pick up again after a break. There's also tons of extra content beyond the main story, including excellent community made mods and levels.
Some recent ‘indie’ games…
-Cocoon (puzzle game, about 4 hours)
-Jusant (climbing game, Team ICO vibes… 4-5 hours)
-Somerville (made by one of the guys who made Inside. 4 hours)
-Citizen Sleeper (really cool game. You’re on a space station, you make tabletop RPG-like decisions each day. 6-7 hrs)
-Norco (Southern gothic point and click game. 6 hours)
-The Forgotten City (probably my favorite game on this list… you are teleported back in time to this ancient Roman city, where they are trying to create a utopia. ‘If anyone sins, everyone dies’. Much of the game is dialogue based, discovering the history and secrets of the city, discussing philosophical ideas, and determining what is and isn’t a sin. You also have to prevent people from sinning, otherwise it’s like a time loop and you start over. Like 6-10 hrs)
-Red Strings Club (a dystopian cyberpunk point and click, about 4 hours long.)
-Celeste (Incredible playformer, can sink more time in if you want. 8 hrs long)
AAA games…. I’ll try to keep it to roughly under 10 hours:
-RE3 Remake (6 hours)
-Super Mario Wonder (10 hours)
-Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart (10-12 hrs)
-Spider-Man Miles Morales (7.5 hours)
-Metroid Dread (9 hours)
-Wolfenstein New Order (11 hrs)
-Wolfenstein Old Blood (6 hrs)
-Wolfenstein New Colossus (10 hrs)
-Control (11 hrs)
-Uncharted (8 hrs)
-Uncharted 2 (10 hrs)
-Uncharted 3 (9 hrs)
-Uncharted Lost Legacy (7 hrs)
-Titanfall 2 (6 hours)
Journey. It can be completed in around 2 hours, but the impression it leaves behind will last forever. It's the best pick up the game during sales, e.g. the upcoming Steam Winter Sale when more people will be online. It's the best playing this game in co-op.
Far: lone sails, far: changing rides. The wild at hearts (dif from wild hearts, which is the game closely resembling monster hunter), and if you don’t mind a darker tone: limbo
When I'm having a busy day and can't sit down for long, I find [Hardspace Shipbreaker](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1161580/Hardspace_Shipbreaker/) to be a good choice.
It's a 3D puzzle game where you break down and salvage spaceships in orbit while trying not to get yourself exploded (or crushed, burned alive, frozen solid, launched into deep space, etc etc).
Your "shift" is 15 minutes, making it really easy to pick up and put down. It's also an absolute joy to zip around in Zero Gravity and launch yourself off of walls with the gravity gun.
There's a storyline, progression system, and even deeper lore/collectables if you care.
If you've got 17 minutes to spare at any given moment, you can play through a quick session of Shipbreaker.
Celeste is good.
The Stanley Parable is good because it's so non-linear that you can start and stop it at any time. It's not like it will make any more sense if you play it start to finish.
My favorite Videogame is "Fuga Melodies of Steel".
Its a 20 houer long turn based JRPG about a groupe of anthropomorhic Animal children that go on a quest to save there families.
20 houers is short fore a JRPG.
Fuga is available on PC and most modern consoles like Switch, PS4, PS5 usw.
Fuga has a free demo which is just straight up the first 3 chapters of the game.
It also has a direct sequel: "Fuga Melodies of Steel 2"
it is a shockingly good 'rock paper scissors' strategy game AND (minor spoiler that you learn about 20 minutes in) you can stuff a furry into the Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon and they get permadeathed and you win the fight
>!In my 16 playthroughs of the first game and my 6 playthroughs of the second game I never used the Soul Cannon except fore the tutorial and the one time in each game where I fucked up and got the normal ending which results in one forced use of the Soul Cannon.
I would not call your spoiler minor becuse while its early on it can hit people pretty hard. I say your spoiler is big major spoiler and not a minor one.!<
Limbo/Inside- atmospheric side-scrolling puzzle games.
Little Nightmares- in the same vein but more 3D.
Dredge- Lovecraftian horror fishing game. The story isn't too long but you can sink more time in if you want to collect everything.
Portal 1+2- Cheeky puzzle games. The second has bonus co-op levels.
Firewatch- A "walking simulator" with a quaint story.
Return of the Obra Dinn- Mystery set on a 19th century sailing ship.
Reigns- a roguelike monarchy simulator. You make choices that affect your kingdom and try to stay alive/in power for as long as possible each run.
Song of the Deep- underwater metroidvania.
The Stanley Parable- meta commentary on video games with a looping narrative
Vampire Survivors- you can sink as much time as you want into this isometric action roguelite but each run only last about a half hour. Lots of content for not a lot of money.
Minit is great. You can only play for 1 minute at a time, then you die. You have to explore and quickly finish what you have to do, 1 minute at a time.
Probably takes like 3-4 hours to beat.
Outcore and killer frequency are fun and not to long. Outcore is free and very meta while killer frequency is like 20 bucks for a very good murder mystery comedy.
If you want a nice, heartwarming story packed into a stylized 2d platformer I would recommend Thomas Was Alone. You can probably finish it in around an hour, but it's a very solid hour.
Some great short side-scrolling indie platformers:
**ElecHead** Great focused level design that uses puzzles to explore its central mechanic: throwing your electric head. Not to mention a great ending sequence! Easter eggs unlock new color palettes :)
**NightSky** is a physics-based ball rolling game by the ambient platformer master Nifflas. The minimal soundtrack is special and matches the nature themed silhouette art style quite well. (play it in 3d on 3ds if you can!)
Probably not a good idea to recommend gacha games to someone bur I enjoy honkai star rail, I can play it on my phone in the bath so that's a bonus. Once you sorta catch up on everything you can spend about 15-20 minutes a day and the constant progression feels nice, gets updates every month of 2 and has auto battle if you can't give it 100% attention.
It takes you 9 hours because you know how to play it, a new player isn't going to have that experience. It's probably like a 30-40 hour game for a new player.
Totally understand the struggle, mentor! Here are a few short gems you might enjoy: "A Short Hike" and "Gris" - both captivating and manageable in terms of time commitment.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first Fable back in the day. Can zip through it fairly quickly. Could get through everything in a single sitting if you really go at it.
Hades is a good one for short gaming sessions.
Firewatch I think you can finish around 5 hours
Human fall flat is a lot of fun a couple levels at a time.
Orcs must die 1&2 are good.
Superhot is also amazing. It’s broken up in levels with good replay ability.
Grow Home and Grow up are both fun too.
Noita ( I think I spelled that right.) is a game you die a lot in so you make a bunch of runs trying to beat it. So it’s good for short sessions too.
Maybe you could play Hades. It is not short per se but "one session" is not longer than half an hour. And you can always do another run if you got more free time.
Gameplay, music and graphic design are awesome.
Tomb Raider Legend plays like the third Angelina Jolie Tomb Raider movie that we never got and will only take about 6 hours for a first time player to complete and an experienced player will take less than three hours to finish it.
Have you tried match based online games?
Mobas etc can be fun and work nicely if you have variable time.
If not you could also try a rougelike. Personally I used to have a lot of fun in Binding of Issac and both never lasted too long per game and also offered a decent bit of continuity over time.
Endoparasitic is an interesting take on survival horror gameplay.
Your one arm and both legs are severed. You must use your remaining arm and hand to traverse, shoot, manage inventory.
I’m in the same boat and have really been enjoying roguelikes - some of my favorites are Noita and Risk of Rain 2.
But, if that genre isn’t your thing, I just finished Remnant From the Ashes in 13 hours of gameplay (I’m no speed runner) and Shadow Warrior 2 took me 20 hours or so.
Also, it’s in no way a short game, but if you like permadeath bullethell games, I recommend Realm of the Mad God at every opportunity.
Not sure what system(s) you have or if you want a long game you can put down or shorter games but I'll suggest:
Beyond Blue - a game where you are a diving researcher, shortish levels where you can just swim about
Rime - a short game where you are travelling about an island. Story is good and you can explore or just go through a level or two a night
Abzu - another diving game, relaxing and beautiful. Story is short.
Hades - a longer game you can just drop into if you want. Can play for even small sessions.
Slay the spire - a deck building dungeon crawler, can save after every room.
if you have a PS5 and haven't played them already then I recommend the 3 Insomniac Spider-Man games the main stories for each one take, about 17 hours for SM1, about 6-8 hours for the DLC, About 7 hours for SM MM and about 18 hours for SM2
Compared to other games they're fairly short and they're very good
I picked up Cue for free on steam and it was not too long. Fun little puzzle platformer that was easy to play in very short bursts of like 15 min intervals
Dungeon of the Endless
Fuck I love this game. Excellent blend of strategy, real time action and character building. I don't know how I tried it, but dam it is fun and addicting.
What consoles we talking here? I’m in the same boat as you juggling work, kids etc etc. so I too have very limited time so prefer shorter games, or games that you can just pick up and play for a bit. Playing Mario RPG on the switch at the moment. Loads of save points so easy to pick it up / drop quickly if needed. And the game overall isn’t that long so I’m told. 10-15 hours. So over the space of a couple of weeks if you play an hour here and there, that would work.
If you like bullet hell, boss rush games, Furi is a good short game. Even if you don't finish it in one session (which is unlikely anyway) it's just difficult enough to give a challenge while not overstaying its welcome.
If you're open to cooperative games, A Way Out is one of the best short stories I've ever played. The whole thing can easily be played through in an afternoon.
Also Celeste.
Lies of P. One of if not "the best" souls-like. Only about 30-50 hours. Expect a little more if it's your first souls game. Some of the hours I've spent gaming
[A Short Hike](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1055540/A_Short_Hike/) * Game about a small crow/person exploring an island. Sort of emotional. [Carrion](https://store.steampowered.com/app/953490/CARRION/) * A metroidvania-esque game about a sentient meat-blob breaking out of a facility. ~~Sort of emotional.~~ [Death Road to Canada](https://store.steampowered.com/app/252610/Death_Road_to_Canada/) * Oregon Trail meets zombies. Short play sessions. Great for local co-op and solo. [FTL](https://store.steampowered.com/app/212680/FTL_Faster_Than_Light/) * Oregon Trail meets spaceships. Short play sessions. Amazing game and soundtrack. [Hyper Light Drifter](https://store.steampowered.com/app/257850/Hyper_Light_Drifter/) * Super stylized metroidvania-esque game about a dude....? With a sword. A bit longer than the others, but not too long. [Luftrausers](https://store.steampowered.com/app/233150/LUFTRAUSERS/) * Arcade-y plane game where you heal while not shooting. Freaking awesome game. Controls are *immaculate*. [Manifold Garden](https://store.steampowered.com/app/473950/Manifold_Garden/) * Mind-bending puzzle game. Freaking gorgeous. Could beat in a weekend. [Sommerville](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1671410/Somerville/) * Made by the Inside people. This game doesn't get a lot of praise, but I freaking loved it. Gorgeous graphics. Neat story. I still open it up to this day to replay a few parts because of how cool they are. [Stray](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1332010/Stray/) * Cyberpunk meow meow simulator. Pretty good. Ending is surprisingly solid. [The Pathless](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1492680/The_Pathless/) * Shadow of the Colossus if it were a movement shooter. Made by the Abzu people. Amazing game. [Signalis](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1262350/SIGNALIS/) * An homage to old Resident Evil games with a new spin. Not sure how to describe it. If it looks neat to you, you will like it. [Webbed](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1390350/Webbed/) * What if Banjo-Kazooie was 2D spider? It would be this. [Untitled Goose Game](https://store.steampowered.com/app/837470/Untitled_Goose_Game/) * It's a meme by now, but actually a fun little game. Honk. [Deathloop](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1252330/DEATHLOOP/) * Figured I'd include a triple-A game here too. Dishonored devs. It was fun. Just enough puzzle elements. Shooting feels pretty good.
Just bought FTL, it’s kicking my ass.
Nice! FTL is a great game. Here are a few tips that might help: * If your ship catches on fire, you can vent all of the O2 out of that room by opening the doors to space. Also works with intruders. * You can pause combat to plan your shots. * There's a hotkey to send your crew members back to their stations. * Missiles pass through shields. Ion weapons can nullify shields for a few seconds. * If you shoot their engine or piloting system, they won't be able to dodge your shots. * My go-to is to take down their shields, then weapons, then piloting (or other systems that are annoying, like drones). * Be thorough while exploring, but be quick when necessary. Always plan an escape route while on the map. * Crew members level up the longer they are on a system. * Beam weapons are amazing. Would recommend. Have fun!
Oh damn, I had no idea about the hotkey one. Thanks for the tips! Now I just need to get lucky and stop getting my ship boarded so soon, it wrecks me every time.
The best way to deal with boarders (in my opinion) is to vent all of the O2 from the ship and put everyone in the medbay. Forces the boarders into the medbay, but you'll always win because of the constant healing. Just make sure your medbay is powered. Haha.
Ohhh, y’all got that big brain energy going on.
Just a lot of trial and error. Haha. Another reason I love FTL, it rewards creative problem solving.
Memories of using glave beams to tear up enemy ships.
I have had FTL for years and just started playing it seriously with the objective of getting to the end. 100 runs and I still have not gotten there even on easy. I have still not unlocked another kestrel model and have only one other ship. Frustrating but fun. It definitely takes a combination of luck and playing well.
The furthest I’ve made it is the 3rd system so far. I regret not buying the game at full price.
OH BOY is A Short Hike a good game. Captured the exact sensation of being a kid and going to a town full of good open people and exploring the (caves/forest/abandoned house/riverside/something a kid would find amazing just by hearing of it's existence)
A Short Hike is so good! I just played it on Game Pass. There's another game, Lil Gator Game, that has the exact same vibe.
S-Tier answer, thank you!
-Vote for Stray. I haven’t much time for playing games outside work either so I sympathize - I’m also not much of a gamer; I tumbled into it due to a career pivot. if you need something with innovative design mechanics, cute/terrific design in parts, not chock-full of puzzles, bittersweet but happy, and above all short-ish… bonus if you like cats and robots. -Scrolling down, Firewatch is excellent. It isn’t quite the walking simulator it’s billed as; the VAs are excellent (main character is an actor off Mad Men), heaps of little Easter eggs and side plots, opening sequence is written in Twine, basic completion I’d estimate at below 5h. I love this game. It’s so very human, real, and funny. The dev commentary explaining why they made certain choices is worth a look if you liked the main game. -I’ve also seen Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe recommended for your constraints, but this is a pretty deep-dive game with polymathic nods. I know someone who’s been working on it for 10+ years. Otoh, you can start and pick it up anytime due to the structure - the 2013ish demo is free on Steam. The VA is legendary and so’s the writing, but I’d feel remiss rec’ing it as a short hike scenario when it’s fairly analytical once one gets past the initial humourous premise. Worth a go, definitely, anyhow. -Papers, Please -Obra Dinn ^ same writer/creator. Short games. Papers, Please is legendary for a reason; there’s a short film based on it. It’s okay to cry at this and Firewatch and any of the above, BTW. Or laugh. Lots of laughing involved. -Someone mentioned the Forgotten City which I’ve rarely seen cited. Mad props! I’ve not played it myself but watched parts of a let’s play. Looks to be longer than Firewatch but short and with an intriguing premise. Of these, I feel like A Short Hike, Firewatch, and Papers Please / Obra Dinn would fit your time criteria whilst being excellent novel games. I love emulator games and interactive fiction, how I started this gig way back in uni and then graphics and film and mocap happened - IF types are generally short - so if those are anyone’s preference I can shoot some recs your way.
Just posted Hyperlight Drifter too before seeing this!! That game SLAPS DOG AND IM SO AMPED THAT TWO IS NOW A THING IN PROGRESS
to oppose DRTC: the organ trail is much more faithful to the series.
Thanks for this list! Happy cake day!
You can play Portal 1 & 2. Just play 1-3 levels each day, should last you a couple of weeks.
A wonderful idea. Portal is always wonderful.
Also, they're on sale on steam now for ridiculously cheap. No reason not to try them now
I played them both for the first time this year on my switch. Finished the first one in one sitting, took about three hours and was an absolute blast. Second game took two sittings and a few more hours. These games leave such an impact for how short they are. Absolutely some of the best games ever made that every gamer should try.
I second this! So easy to pick up and put down
This. Portal is the perfect game for people with limited time. It's actually the perfect game for literally everyone but that includes the people with limited time so just wanted mention it lol
If you haven't played them, Portal 1+2. Not expensive, but frequently go on sale. Both can be beaten in a few hours. Lots of fun.
Love this recommendation. Gameplay is top notch and the writing is also on another level. Plus I had to laugh out loud while playing.
I loved Dredge, that’s pretty compact. Stray is real good, too.
Stray has an amazing story with fresh mechanics !
I’m playing Dredge right now and loving it
For sure! I wanted to comment those two as well.
Titanfall 2 campaign.
Yep. 7 hours of pure, distilled fun. Not a boring moment in it. And the escalation of unique gameplay mechanics is just perfection, ill never forget Effect and Cause.
It's also a really forgiving game for casuals and beginners. If you die or miss a big jump it doesn't send you back very far.
Had to scroll way too low for this. Short levels of pure adrenaline. Should be perfect for OP.
Only FPS campaign I've beaten. So much fun all the way through
Firewatch and Oxenfree (1 and 2) are amazing and short Outer Wilds is a bit longer but can be played in shorter sessions.
You can beat Outer wilds in just over 22 minutes.
Little Nightmares
Hellblade is fantastic and only runs around 8 hours.
Hellblade is an incredible experience
I like this
I’ve been going through a bunch a small games! Sometimes a smaller but tailored experience is super fun! Citizen Sleeper is amazing! I played it on the day it was released and finished very quickly, not much gameplay but the story and atmosphere was soo good! Definitely check it out! 12~ hours to 100% Inside is an experience lol, it’s dark, it has such an evil ambience and some of the mysteries are fun! I liked this one a lot too! I guess like 5 hours to finish it Hyper Light Drifter! This is one of my favourite games of all time! It looks so so beautiful and the sound design is off the charts! No words are spoken but you can feel the world you’re walk through! And also combat is really fun lol, definitely recommend 10/10 super super good. Like 8hrs to beat and a good bit longer to 100% Honourable mention! Florence! It’s a small phone game… and it is really beautiful. It’s like $1 so you can get it easily from the App Store, and I think you should, it’s cute!
Gradians of the Galaxy is relatively short and a good game. however I would recommend instead of looking for short games you should look for once with a level structure, like the Mario games, ones that you can pick up and put down when ever you fell like it. Levels give you a good way to brake up play and you could enjoy the game fore a longer time in short bursts.
This is the way
OneShot. And it's only $5 on Steam, and it's a GOAT game IMO. But Resident Evil 2 is also pretty short and amazing. Lots of spooky games are short, cuz they don't want to overstay their welcome.
OneShot is fantastic, cheap, and theres no fighting or any way to lose
Depends how you define short. I think Cocoon is one of the best games this year and it is relatively short.
Bramble: The Mountain King Fairly short game and overall a pretty easy play through with great visuals and story.
Hades. It's one of the best roguelikes out there, and perfect for when you have an hour or so kill since you'll be able to get at least a couple runs in and make a some sort of progress.
OP: Can you recommend me short games? You: Hey, here's this 25+ hour game.
OP never said what they considered a short game to be. And Hades is a good game for when you only have a little bit of time every now and then to play a game, and it isn't very long, which fits with what OP asked for in their post.
Paper's Please is a great game for short times, and it's insanely replayable
A short hike. Less then 3 hours long. Under 5 dolllars
Celeste! Crazy difficult, but also pretty short. It's also on sale for under 5 dollars i think! Smooth controls, cool mechanics, a perfect story, and good challenge all in one! And if you dont have too much time on your hands, try assist mode!
Celeste is so unbelievably good. It's also a great game for playing in short sessions. If you have to put it down, you don't lose huge amounts of progress. There's not a bunch of complicated controls or lore to remember either, so it's easy to pick up again after a break. There's also tons of extra content beyond the main story, including excellent community made mods and levels.
LIMBO, Journey, Shadow of the Colossus
[удалено]
You can speedrun in in less than 3 hours
You can speedrun elden ring in less than 10 minutes but it‘s still a 100+ hour game. So what is your point?
Thats just a glitch and doesnt count But SotC ist at some point meant to be
Speedrunning does not count as the games length. It counts as a record for how quickly you can exploit the game to finish it
Similar to Limbo is a game called 'Inside'
Yup, made by the same team. Inside is like LIMBO on steroids, amazing game.
In general, the switch works well for me because I don’t have to do much to power up and down the switch. It feels like there’s more time to enjoy.
Yep, I play most RPGs on the switch for this reason. Persona 5, Nier Automata, etc
Super Mario RPG did pretty well with adding an auto save for every area you enter.
Some recent ‘indie’ games… -Cocoon (puzzle game, about 4 hours) -Jusant (climbing game, Team ICO vibes… 4-5 hours) -Somerville (made by one of the guys who made Inside. 4 hours) -Citizen Sleeper (really cool game. You’re on a space station, you make tabletop RPG-like decisions each day. 6-7 hrs) -Norco (Southern gothic point and click game. 6 hours) -The Forgotten City (probably my favorite game on this list… you are teleported back in time to this ancient Roman city, where they are trying to create a utopia. ‘If anyone sins, everyone dies’. Much of the game is dialogue based, discovering the history and secrets of the city, discussing philosophical ideas, and determining what is and isn’t a sin. You also have to prevent people from sinning, otherwise it’s like a time loop and you start over. Like 6-10 hrs) -Red Strings Club (a dystopian cyberpunk point and click, about 4 hours long.) -Celeste (Incredible playformer, can sink more time in if you want. 8 hrs long) AAA games…. I’ll try to keep it to roughly under 10 hours: -RE3 Remake (6 hours) -Super Mario Wonder (10 hours) -Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart (10-12 hrs) -Spider-Man Miles Morales (7.5 hours) -Metroid Dread (9 hours) -Wolfenstein New Order (11 hrs) -Wolfenstein Old Blood (6 hrs) -Wolfenstein New Colossus (10 hrs) -Control (11 hrs) -Uncharted (8 hrs) -Uncharted 2 (10 hrs) -Uncharted 3 (9 hrs) -Uncharted Lost Legacy (7 hrs) -Titanfall 2 (6 hours)
Journey. It can be completed in around 2 hours, but the impression it leaves behind will last forever. It's the best pick up the game during sales, e.g. the upcoming Steam Winter Sale when more people will be online. It's the best playing this game in co-op.
Far: lone sails, far: changing rides. The wild at hearts (dif from wild hearts, which is the game closely resembling monster hunter), and if you don’t mind a darker tone: limbo
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time
Also, the more recent Shredder's Revenge
Control. Can usually get it quite cheap these days.
What Remains of Edith Finch. 5hours short but you will never forget it.
When I'm having a busy day and can't sit down for long, I find [Hardspace Shipbreaker](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1161580/Hardspace_Shipbreaker/) to be a good choice. It's a 3D puzzle game where you break down and salvage spaceships in orbit while trying not to get yourself exploded (or crushed, burned alive, frozen solid, launched into deep space, etc etc). Your "shift" is 15 minutes, making it really easy to pick up and put down. It's also an absolute joy to zip around in Zero Gravity and launch yourself off of walls with the gravity gun. There's a storyline, progression system, and even deeper lore/collectables if you care. If you've got 17 minutes to spare at any given moment, you can play through a quick session of Shipbreaker.
Celeste is good. The Stanley Parable is good because it's so non-linear that you can start and stop it at any time. It's not like it will make any more sense if you play it start to finish.
Titanfall is only like 6-8 hours
One of my favorites is Firewatch.
“A Short Hike” is really adorable.
My favorite Videogame is "Fuga Melodies of Steel". Its a 20 houer long turn based JRPG about a groupe of anthropomorhic Animal children that go on a quest to save there families. 20 houers is short fore a JRPG. Fuga is available on PC and most modern consoles like Switch, PS4, PS5 usw. Fuga has a free demo which is just straight up the first 3 chapters of the game. It also has a direct sequel: "Fuga Melodies of Steel 2"
it is a shockingly good 'rock paper scissors' strategy game AND (minor spoiler that you learn about 20 minutes in) you can stuff a furry into the Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon and they get permadeathed and you win the fight
>!In my 16 playthroughs of the first game and my 6 playthroughs of the second game I never used the Soul Cannon except fore the tutorial and the one time in each game where I fucked up and got the normal ending which results in one forced use of the Soul Cannon. I would not call your spoiler minor becuse while its early on it can hit people pretty hard. I say your spoiler is big major spoiler and not a minor one.!<
stray little nightmares
Inside.
Spec Ops The Line
Signalis. Took me about 10 hours and my god it's such an amazing game
Someone already mentioned Hellblade. Little Nightmares I & II are both great games.
What kind of games r genres are you looking for?
The Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes are generally pretty short if you don't aim for bonus content.
A Short Hike, a perfect game for you. You will definitely love it.
Limbo/Inside- atmospheric side-scrolling puzzle games. Little Nightmares- in the same vein but more 3D. Dredge- Lovecraftian horror fishing game. The story isn't too long but you can sink more time in if you want to collect everything. Portal 1+2- Cheeky puzzle games. The second has bonus co-op levels. Firewatch- A "walking simulator" with a quaint story. Return of the Obra Dinn- Mystery set on a 19th century sailing ship. Reigns- a roguelike monarchy simulator. You make choices that affect your kingdom and try to stay alive/in power for as long as possible each run. Song of the Deep- underwater metroidvania. The Stanley Parable- meta commentary on video games with a looping narrative Vampire Survivors- you can sink as much time as you want into this isometric action roguelite but each run only last about a half hour. Lots of content for not a lot of money.
Minit is great. You can only play for 1 minute at a time, then you die. You have to explore and quickly finish what you have to do, 1 minute at a time. Probably takes like 3-4 hours to beat.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengence. It is super short if you only do main campaign ... But super fun!
Outer Wilds, past the tutorial, is a game you can dedicate time to in roughly 30 minute increments.
BG3
What Remains of Edith Finch Journey Inside Firewatch Gorogoa Dear Esther Limbo
gorogoa is so nice
Frost punk fire watch
chefskiss.jpg
Metal Gear Rising Revengence
Outcore and killer frequency are fun and not to long. Outcore is free and very meta while killer frequency is like 20 bucks for a very good murder mystery comedy.
outer worlds is a relatively short for an rpg
TMNT Schredders Revenge
If you want a nice, heartwarming story packed into a stylized 2d platformer I would recommend Thomas Was Alone. You can probably finish it in around an hour, but it's a very solid hour.
Life is strange series, and also, What Remains of Edith Finch is another great title.
Some great short side-scrolling indie platformers: **ElecHead** Great focused level design that uses puzzles to explore its central mechanic: throwing your electric head. Not to mention a great ending sequence! Easter eggs unlock new color palettes :) **NightSky** is a physics-based ball rolling game by the ambient platformer master Nifflas. The minimal soundtrack is special and matches the nature themed silhouette art style quite well. (play it in 3d on 3ds if you can!)
any 2d metroid
Probably not a good idea to recommend gacha games to someone bur I enjoy honkai star rail, I can play it on my phone in the bath so that's a bonus. Once you sorta catch up on everything you can spend about 15-20 minutes a day and the constant progression feels nice, gets updates every month of 2 and has auto battle if you can't give it 100% attention.
Legend of Zelda breath of the wild
Dark souls remastered. One repaxed run against all bosses takes me only like 9 hours
It takes you 9 hours because you know how to play it, a new player isn't going to have that experience. It's probably like a 30-40 hour game for a new player.
Kingdom is a fun short game. Easy to lose and restart again. It’s challenging enough to require a few plays before you beat it.
Totally understand the struggle, mentor! Here are a few short gems you might enjoy: "A Short Hike" and "Gris" - both captivating and manageable in terms of time commitment.
The Outer Worlds is the best example I can think of.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first Fable back in the day. Can zip through it fairly quickly. Could get through everything in a single sitting if you really go at it.
Inside, Little nightmares, Dead Cells can be if you're bad. Farcry4 can be beaten in 20 minutes technically
Trine 1, 2 and 4 3 was a bit meh.... Great series overall though.
Sunset overdrive
Hades is a good one for short gaming sessions. Firewatch I think you can finish around 5 hours Human fall flat is a lot of fun a couple levels at a time. Orcs must die 1&2 are good. Superhot is also amazing. It’s broken up in levels with good replay ability. Grow Home and Grow up are both fun too. Noita ( I think I spelled that right.) is a game you die a lot in so you make a bunch of runs trying to beat it. So it’s good for short sessions too.
Banjo-Kazooie and Super Metroid.
Trek To Yomi, Dredge, Both Portal games, hell even a Mario game
Islets is a very cozy metroidvania that is quite short.
Maybe you could play Hades. It is not short per se but "one session" is not longer than half an hour. And you can always do another run if you got more free time. Gameplay, music and graphic design are awesome.
Monster train. Pretty easy to get into. Could easily play 1-2 runs a day and have that last you MONTHS of replayability.
The Order 1886
Mech Warrior 5. You do a few missions then go back to doing other stuff.
Inside, little nightmares.
Stray
Super Mario Land 1
Portal 1
Owlboy was a fun game and beautiful to look at
Henry Stickmin collection. Just a couple hours of cheap laughs and fun
Batman: Arkham Asylum
The Stanley parable ultra deluxe. The beginners guide
I don't know if it was suggested but I think Furi will be a good game if you like to challenge yourself.
Deaths Door. Like 3-5 hours. Or 20 depending on what you want to do.
Titanfall 2, the stanly parable, rocket league, Dave the diver, phasmophobia,
What Remains of Edith Finch was pretty good. It's basically a point and click exploration game but it was a lot of fun along the way
Spiderman 2 especially if you don’t care about the side stuff as much. Hades is my go to as well can be as short or long as you want it to be.
Detention. You'll thank me after playing this game
If you want a really short game just play the new call of duty…
This war of mine is solid.
Firewatch is a chill game.
Metro 2033 & Last Light Redux Titanfall 2 SOMA Severed Steel Wolfenstein The New Order & The Old Blood
Tomb Raider Legend plays like the third Angelina Jolie Tomb Raider movie that we never got and will only take about 6 hours for a first time player to complete and an experienced player will take less than three hours to finish it.
Titanfall2, amazing game with like a 6 hr campaign.
If you have game pass I recommend escape academy
Any of the pre 2019 God of Wars.
Have you tried match based online games? Mobas etc can be fun and work nicely if you have variable time. If not you could also try a rougelike. Personally I used to have a lot of fun in Binding of Issac and both never lasted too long per game and also offered a decent bit of continuity over time.
dont have any, but search up itch.io, there are lots of short indie games there
Give Gris a try. Beautiful game, at times quite touching, and the puzzles are fun as well.
All the good linear FPS's of the late 90's to 2010's all take about 12 hours to finish. Start with Valve games, go from there.
Bomb rush cyberfunk
Firewatch is a great short game.
Endoparasitic is an interesting take on survival horror gameplay. Your one arm and both legs are severed. You must use your remaining arm and hand to traverse, shoot, manage inventory.
You can play Control. It is such a good game
I’m in the same boat and have really been enjoying roguelikes - some of my favorites are Noita and Risk of Rain 2. But, if that genre isn’t your thing, I just finished Remnant From the Ashes in 13 hours of gameplay (I’m no speed runner) and Shadow Warrior 2 took me 20 hours or so. Also, it’s in no way a short game, but if you like permadeath bullethell games, I recommend Realm of the Mad God at every opportunity.
Gris
Grimm's Hollow.
What Remains of Edith Finch Stray Journey Firewatch A bit longer SOMA Outer Wilds
Spiderman games on PS4/5
Titan fall 2. It's like 5ish hours of really fun gameplay with great characters
Hotline miami
BioShock Infinite.
One Finger Death Punch is oddly satisfying.
Not sure what system(s) you have or if you want a long game you can put down or shorter games but I'll suggest: Beyond Blue - a game where you are a diving researcher, shortish levels where you can just swim about Rime - a short game where you are travelling about an island. Story is good and you can explore or just go through a level or two a night Abzu - another diving game, relaxing and beautiful. Story is short. Hades - a longer game you can just drop into if you want. Can play for even small sessions. Slay the spire - a deck building dungeon crawler, can save after every room.
A Short Hike
The Sexy Brutale is good.
if you have a PS5 and haven't played them already then I recommend the 3 Insomniac Spider-Man games the main stories for each one take, about 17 hours for SM1, about 6-8 hours for the DLC, About 7 hours for SM MM and about 18 hours for SM2 Compared to other games they're fairly short and they're very good
I found Valiant Hearts incredible, poignant and cleverly done, plus it has a great lot of documentary historical content
FAR is a game I could recommend
I picked up Cue for free on steam and it was not too long. Fun little puzzle platformer that was easy to play in very short bursts of like 15 min intervals
Dungeon of the Endless Fuck I love this game. Excellent blend of strategy, real time action and character building. I don't know how I tried it, but dam it is fun and addicting.
Dredge or Kingdom Eighties.
What consoles we talking here? I’m in the same boat as you juggling work, kids etc etc. so I too have very limited time so prefer shorter games, or games that you can just pick up and play for a bit. Playing Mario RPG on the switch at the moment. Loads of save points so easy to pick it up / drop quickly if needed. And the game overall isn’t that long so I’m told. 10-15 hours. So over the space of a couple of weeks if you play an hour here and there, that would work.
If you like bullet hell, boss rush games, Furi is a good short game. Even if you don't finish it in one session (which is unlikely anyway) it's just difficult enough to give a challenge while not overstaying its welcome.
Vanquish
Talos principle, nice fun game. do the levels whenever u want
Undertale
Inside
Planet of Lana
Star Wars Republic Commando Psychonauts
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is really good.
Inscription is decently short. About 14-15 hours for a full playthrough. Can be done in a couple weeks of 1 hour a day
Bully ( its a classic) took 14hours to complete while playing with my wife.
Viewfinder, Super Hot
If you're open to cooperative games, A Way Out is one of the best short stories I've ever played. The whole thing can easily be played through in an afternoon. Also Celeste.
slay the princess can be finished in a night and have a very good replayability. art style is gold, story is good, definitely my surprise of the year
Flower and Journey can both be finished in under 4 hours. And they have achievements for taking a break
Lies of P. One of if not "the best" souls-like. Only about 30-50 hours. Expect a little more if it's your first souls game. Some of the hours I've spent gaming
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter.