As I’ve grown up, time has become more and more precious to me and, while I do play plenty of games that are considerably long, I’ve grown in appreciation for games that are short, hence my frequent use of HowLongToBeat.com. I’ve spoken before about the ideal video game length but I thought it would be interesting to recommend some games that I would consider to be fantastic while, simultaneously, being quick and short to play.
The first game that I would like to bring attention to is a delightful puzzle game called Path of Giants. I got this game as part of Humble Choice and am incredibly glad to have had the opportunity to play it now. You play as three explorers who are searching for treasure and must control each explorer to traverse puzzles. I wouldn’t regard the game as being particularly hard but there are a few puzzles that will take some particular effort to figure out. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the puzzles themselves, the pleasant graphics and the soundtrack and, despite encountering a couple of bugs, I ended up 100 percenting this game which only took me about four hours.
Next up is a set of two games that I found particularly delighting as a fan of animation and Don Bluth. The two Dragon’s Lair video games were released in 1983 and 1991 respectively and consist of quick time events where you navigate beautifully animated cutscenes. The games are renowned for their difficulty but there are plenty of options that can help make the experience easier for you. As much as I enjoy the first Dragon’s Lair game, it’s Dragon Lair II: Time Warp that I particularly love. The sheer creativity and beauty of the animation is stupendous and the core gameplay feels a little more fair than the first game. If you only play through each game once then you can expect to complete each game in less than an hour. Doing the additional content, as I did, will add a couple more hours to your playtime but these games are still remarkably short.
The Stanley Parable has seen a new release called The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe that adds plenty of content but I would still consider that game to be quite short. The Stanley Parable has you play Stanley who notices that all of his coworkers have disappeared one day. A narrator, who frequently engages you in conversation, attempts to guide you though the building and it is up to you whether you wish to follow his directions or follow your own path instead. What ensues is a game that is incredibly funny but also explores the concept of choices in video games. I managed to get each version done in only 4-5 hours but it’s worth noting that the vast majority of content from the original Stanley Parable is present in The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe.
The last game that I want to bring attention to is The Henry Stickmin Collection. The game is broken up into chapters in which you guide Henry Stickmin throughout various bizarre and hilarious situations. The first five games were released on Newgrounds but were remastered alongside a new sixth chapter for The Henry Stickmin Collection. A great deal of the humour comes from seeing things go horribly wrong for Henry Stickmin and the increasing variety for each chapter is superb. It took me about five hours to see the results of every choice but each episode itself can be quite quick to complete by itself with the exception of the final one.
Sometimes you just want to play a great, short game and I think that each game here succeeds in that purpose. Let me know your thoughts on these fantastic video games that are quick to play, whether you have played these games, other great games that have short playtimes and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Thanks for reading and if you wish to seek any of the titles I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs! Also feel free to follow my curator page on Steam “JRPG Reviews” for thoughts and opinions on any JRPGs that I play and my YouTube channel “Victory Achieved Gaming” where I guide my friend through challenging games.