What do you think is the optimum length for a game?

How long do you like your games to be?

  • Don't make any other plans; 50 hours plus

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Games are nothing but a waste of time, jackass!

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    22

@M

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As an adult, I don't have the free time to play games as much as I did as a kid/teen, and I'm not as patient as I used to be either, so, I find that I prefer shorter games these days. On the other hand, if I find a game that I really love, I never want it to end. How about you? Do you like really long games that you can play for months, something you can tackle in one sitting, or somewhere in between?
 

Yoshi

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It's all about the mix for me. I really like modern action/adventure games in the 8-15 hour range. However, I also have a select few story-driven games that I have put dozens and dozens hours into, e.g. The Witcher III, Zelda: BotW, and Fallout 4. Then there are the quick-play games that I enjoy enough to come back hundreds of times, e.g. arcade games, Rocket League, and whatever the current competitive FPS is.
 

RAZO

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Most of the time I'm just looking for a quick fix 1 hour or less so 8-16bit gen or arcade game is what I will usually play. Occasionally I'll play a new game that sucks me in and I'll put in a few hours each session.
 

andsuchisdeath

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I mean, sometimes I'll put 80 hours into an arcade game that takes 15 minutes to clear.

"Pick up and play in one sitting" and great when you have "no time", yet cumulatively more of a "time sink" than an rpg.

Best of both worlds? Worst of both worlds?
 

BlackaneseNiNjA

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I mean, sometimes I'll put 80 hours into an arcade game that takes 15 minutes to clear.

"Pick up and play in one sitting" and great when you have "no time", yet cumulatively more of a "time sink" than an rpg.

This pretty much sums up my preference as well. I'd say that's the essence of great arcade games in general. Easy to pick up and play, but difficult to master. Though largely subjective, I'd say the rest is up to balance and playability. Short but challenging equals the best of both worlds with respect to game length imho (rpgs aside, of course).
 
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Ip Man

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i don't really mind. i like all genres, so all the above have to apply.

i love arcade games which are usually short and sweet. but i also like a lot of games like the elder scrolls or even metroid and castlevania which i don't mind spending 40+ hours on.
 

Westcb

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4-10 hours, with checks points, save points all over the place :-) if arcade it needs to be 30 mins otherwise I'll never get through it. I can handle some longer games as long as I'm not having to grind to level a character up, I like that style the least even though I managed to enjoy several RPGs back in the day that relied on that heavily. I did enjoy BOTW when I was able to just "finish" the game when I felt ready without having to do everything in it. The option to play longer and have more stuff to do is great but I suppose that kind of game style can't be implemented easily in every genre.
 

Karou

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I don't really know but I remember being pissed notbeing able to reach a checkpoint that took more than half an hour to get to a few years ago because I just wanted to sleep for work, it was way different than when I was happy to have stayed up all night playing that final fantasy that had balthier and fran to get a stick from that flooded ruins place after crossing a desert.

so yup I think I got OLD awhile ago?
 

oliverclaude

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I'd say about 25 - 30 something minutes... and tenths of hours of practice to achieve that (see #4). 'Ongoing games that never end' are no games at all.
 

MattBlah

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I'd say around 10-15 hours. For me the Resident Evil games are perfect, which is why it has always been one of my favourite gaming series. After 20 hours I start losing interest, no matter how good a game is. Breath of the Wild is a good example of this. I had an amazing time playing it, but at the 25 hour mark I just lost all interest.

I love arcade games that you can pick up and play for 15 minutes, but if we're talking single player main games then 15 hours is about my usual limit.
 

bubba966

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It depends upon the type of game. If I want something short, I'll throw a Neo game or similar on. But most of the time if I've just bought a new game at $60 or more I'll want at least 20 hours out of it. I'd say my fav games out of the last decade have been Borderlands 1 & 2. And those I've put just over 1,000 hours into the first one, and just a bit under 1,000 hours into the second one. But those are games that I've never put that time into before, or since.

I used to be srsly disappointed if an RPG had me for less than 75 hours. Which was one of the reasons FFVII pissed me off, it was too short. Too fuckin easy too...
 

Tanooki

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In general 10-20, but being realistic about it I don't expect a 10-20 hour arcade style game, nor would I want to find a game like Breath of the Wild over in 10-20 hours either as it would limit and ruin the scope of such things. That said i wish more RPGs fell into the 30 and less hours club as they get dragged out and boring after so long plus you start to forget the reason you're even bothering from the script.
 

@M

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I agree with the comments on RPG length. I start a lot of them, but, even though I like them, I often don't finish them due to their length, particularly older 8 and 16 bit ones. When I was younger, like bubba966, I used to think the longer a RPG was the better, but, now, I'm like, "Gah, I can't spend eighty hours beating on palette-swapped slimes!"

Maybe I should have allowed multiple choice on the poll? I thought about doing that, but decided to just go with single votes as I figured that would give more interesting results [i.e., I was afraid that a lot of people would pick all of the early options (particularly 1-4), resulting in a more-or-less tie].

And to clarify a bit, for the sixth option, "Ongoing Games", I was thinking of things like World or Warcraft that have a persistent world where you can literally play for years and years if you want to. Also, I agree that you can accumulate huge amounts of time, even on short games, if you play them often enough, but I was referring more to a single play-through of a title, which I probably should have specified as well to avoid any confusion.
 

Tanooki

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I understood what you meant given the context and example other than the one you said with ongoing games, but that does make sense.

I only went maybe 1/2 into DQ7 on the 3DS so I bailed on my plan to buy DQ8 especially at full price as I'd enjoy it, then get tired and do other stuff, and was key why I wrote that hours comment last time. Yet with on-going I put 4 years of almost every evening 1-3+hours with my now dead best friend online doing Guild Wars with all 3 expansions, and then about a year on GW2 until he died. The way that game is designed and how you handle it, the time melts, and you can just easily set aside an effort on that where it doesn't get stale like a locked down game format (RPG, etc.) Truly two entirely different beasts.
 

HeavyMachineGoob

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Any more than 10 hours for a single player story mode / campaign is just too long. Banjo-Kazooie is a good example, usually takes me about 8 - 10 hours to finish. Donkey Kong 64 is too much, took me over 50 hours to get everything. I think after a 10 year wait, I'll play it again.
 

oliverclaude

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Yeah, it's 'play long and never again' vs. 'short but often'. The former reminds me more of regular work, than playing a game, though.
 

MattBlah

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Yeah, it's 'play long and never again' vs. 'short but often'. The former reminds me more of regular work, than playing a game, though.

This is a good point. A great game that takes 30+ hours is a one time thing, yet a great game that takes less than 10 hours you'll play again and again. I've lost count of how many times I have played through Resident Evil 2, and I am about to start my third play through of 4, yet I am in no rush to play through Windwaker again.
 

Syn

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If I only liked one genre I could answer this.
 

Syn

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You said that a lot more concisely than I did.

But what you posted had more depth to it. I considered examples but where do I stop.

I like to have arcade games on hand for when I have a free hour or less. Consoles for longer or weekend gaming.

Still haven't mentioned genres, lol.
 

heihachi

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I used to want a lot of hours out of games, like 30+ hours for single player. Now, my favorite games are ones that can generally be finished in 3-5 hours. For example, Metal Gear Solid 2, Resident Evil 1-CV, older Marios, and of course arcade games like Neo Geo. The best thing about these games is that they are 10-15 hours the first time through--but with experience and some dedication you can blaze through them and they're still just as fun.
 

Tanooki

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I think it's fair to say when a game crosses into too many hours, hoops, etc -- it becomes a job. A job you're paying to do, the worst kind of job there is.
 

JohnnyFever

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I think the best games are like me.... It may not go long but it has great replay-ability. If the gameplay is solid and fun I don't mind hope long or short the game is. I really like picking up metal slug or sam sho and just going at it for a few minutes.
 

sylvie

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usually, I only have the attention span and dedication to play something quick like an arcade game. but when im NOT doing that, I'm usually sinking tons of hours into an RPG that is already long.
 

oliverclaude

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...sinking tons of hours into an RPG that is already long.

I remember Chrono Trigger having that 'back then' novelty, an option to play the game again with all your grinding intact. They did that, so players could see the other endings faster. As a result, you could do an easy playthrough on one weekend. Such an option makes sense to raise replayability.
 
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