There are video games out there that can swallow up so much time. Hundreds to even thousands of hours can go into games like the Fallout or Animal Crossing series. Unfortunately, some gamers do not have time for that amongst their other hobbies and responsibilities.
However such gamers that are sort on time are in luck, because there are plenty of games out there that can be completed in just a single weekend. In fact there are so many, it was difficult to just pick ten for this list!
So here is a short list of short games that prove you don’t have to sacrifice sixty hours to have a good time. Big thanks to How Long to Beat for helping us find these short games.
10 Celeste
This platformer has won the hearts of many critics for its story and smooth controls. The plot centers on a girl climbing the top of Celeste Mountain. Urban legend says that who make it to the top of the mountain will overcome their inner struggles.
On average, the game can take seven to twelve hours to beat.
Celeste has become known as a therapeutic game that is easy to connect with. It is known as one of the best games to come out of 2018.
9 Life Is Strange
Taking about 14 hours on average, Life is Strange is a unique story-centered game. It introduces a genre we do not see much in video games: magical realism. It’s the story of a teenager, Max, who is studying photography at a prestigious school in Oregon. One day she just gets the power to control time.
Many stories would take this to a huge super-hero level, but Life is Strange manages to hold back. Max uses her power for the smallest thing like remembering a fellow student’s name, to bigger things like stopping a friend from being hit by a train. Besides its amazing story, the game has this laid-back aesthetic that draws you into the town and people. As short as the game is, it can leave a big impact.
8 Until Dawn
This one is for the horror fans out there.
On average, the game takes seven to nine hours to beat. The gameplay relies on choices and a lot of quick-time events. It plays out a lot like a movie, so it can be fun to even just watch a friend play this game. The story is a bunch of teenage friends hanging out on a remote mountain, you know, like how most horror stories start.
The funny part is that half, if not more than half, of the scares are just the friends messing around with each other. Don’t worry though, there is definitely more going on.
7 Telltales Walking Dead
Any Walking Dead fan that has not played Telltale’s Walking Dead is seriously missing out. With only about 14 hours of your time, you can beat the first season of the series.
TheWalking Dead has always been an emotional zombie story due to its amazing characters and constant death. Telltales Walking Dead took those aspects and made a story that could make the most cold-hearted player cry for a week. It’s very easy to laugh and cry with the characters through all their hardships. Also the gameplay is easy, it’s a point and click adventure!
6 The Wolf Among Us
Unlike Telltale’s Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us only got one season, but it was still awesome. Based off the Fables comics, you play in a world where fairytale characters are living in New York. You play Bigby (the Big Bad Wolf), who is the sheriff and are investigating a murder.
The game is loyal to the comics, which were already imaginative and brilliant. It dives into a noir aesthetic, and there are really cool fight scenes since magic is involved. The whole season only takes about nine hours to beat too.
5 Night In The Woods
A lot of love went into the writing and characters in this short game. Taking only about eight hours to beat, you play as a cat, Mae, that dropped out of college and returns to her hometown just to find out things are not the same.
The game has the same sort of dark humor and deep insights as hit shows Bojack Horseman and Rick and Morty while also keeping it sweet with its young animal characters. It’s a mystery, but also a coming of age story.
4 Undertale
With its sequel in the works and having come out for the Nintendo Switch, there is no better time to play this critically acclaimed title.
The funny part is that how long it takes to beat can fluctuate based on how many playthroughs it takes you to get the true ending. So it can be from six to nineteen hours!
If you don’t already know much about it despite its popularity, Undertale is about a kid who falls into an underground monster world. A crazy amount of creativity went into the gameplay, characters, and music for this game which is why it is so well-known.
3 Shadow Of The Colossus
Taking from six to nine hours to beat, Shadow of the Colossus has had many remakes since its original PS2 version, but it has always been a short game.
Shadow of the Colossus is a piece of art as much as it is a game. There are no characters to interact with besides your horse, a dead girl, and an ominous voice. You just have to beat 16 giants and this ominous voice will bring the girl back to life. It’s a very simple plot, but you learn that there is more going on as you get closer to the goal.
2 ICO
Made by the same company that did Shadow of the Colossus, ICO is similar in style but puzzle-based instead of combat-based.
Taking about six to eight hours to beat, you play a boy with horns who is trying to escape a castle he was imprisoned in. However, he meets a girl who also seems to be imprisoned but does not speak so he decides to take her with him. There is even a sweet little mechanic for hand holding!
1 Fatal Frame I OR II
It’s time to get out the old PS2 for these Japanese horror gems. There are definitely more recent games for this series that are for systems like the Wii and Wii U, except it’s these two first games that are the shortest. They range from eight to nine hours to beat.
The mechanics are creative, having you fight ghosts with a camera to capture them. It’s pretty genius for a horror game, since you have to allow these ghosts to get close to you to get a good picture.
