100 Hour Games are 90 Hours too Long

I like games, I play games. In the past few years I’ve had little time to play games. Between work, other hobbies, and going back to school I’ve had little time to play. Now I’m between jobs, and between semesters (I was paying for collage myself so loosing my job meant I couldn’t pay the last of what I owe so I can’t go next semester) yet I still am not spending hours a day playing games. I haven’t spent hours a day playing games sense I was a teenager and even then a 60, 80, 100 hour games were too long for me. I prefer a variety of games, I don’t just play one game then go to the next when that is done (unless it is very short). So when I hear or read that a game is 30, 40, 50, 100 hours it turns me off, my response is to think that I have better things to do with my time. I don’t mean being productive, I mean playing five games instead of one, going for a walks, taking pictures of nature, reading, writing, learning something interesting, etc, being productive is overrated.

Ans I don’t regret a single our wasted in this game.

There are exceptions. Rougelikes, because each play through is different (if it is a good roguelike), such as Hades, Dead Cells, The Binding of Issac, Minecract, or Terraria, in the last two they are more than just games, they are also creativity tools and have had major updates over time, as has The Binding of Issac. Then there are live service games which are supposed to get updated regularly giving players new experiences (don’t play these though, they all suck, enjoy your life). Fighting games can go one forever as long as the computer opponent is fun to fight or there are other people playing them. Then of course there are puzzle game, which as long as the puzzles are good can no on forever. These exceptions are exceptions, most games (not counting mobile games and you never should) are not updated (except for bug fixes, maybe) and most games are not roguelikes. Most games you play and finish, if it is a good game you play it again.

Just kill fifty more of these and you’ll be strong enough to go to the next aria.

The best length for most games is 8 to 10 hours. There are games that do need to be longer and games that need to be shorter (one of the games that emotionally effected me the most was Inmost, a 4 hour game), but anything (with some exceptions) more than 20 hours is just too long. I would say there are very few games that are truly long, for example: of 100 game (not counting roguelikes and live services of course) most are 30, 40, and maybe but unlikely 50 hour games that are padded out to 100 hours. If the grinding and other padding was taken away from 100 hour RPGs how many of them would still be 100 hours? How many would be 50 hours? How many would wouldn’t even be 30? Final Fantasy 3/6 took about 34 hours to beat, and that game still contained grinding so it could have been shorter. I’m not going to say there are no 100 hour games I’m saying most are just grindy and padded and I hate that. 8 to 10 hours, with some exceptions, is more than time to tell a good story, have good game play with out over staying its welcome, and if it is truly good then I can play it again and this time get some thing I missed.

There are plenty of good indi game waiting for you.

Many would respond to this with: “I only have so much money so I want a a lot of game for my dollar”. That is quantity over quality and quantity over quality often means bad quality. On top of that, one doesn’t need to spend $70 on a game, wait until the game goes down in price or just buy older or indi games for far less. For that $70 one could buy four or five older or indi games. A response to this would be: “I don’t want to miss out on the latest games.” FOMO is bad! Unless it is a concert, special sporting event, a rare event, or a once in a lifetime event, FOMO (fear of missing out) is bad. If the game is good, it will be there later and better, because of the bug fixes and other updates. If it’s bad then you’ll know to avoid it, or they might fix it making it good later. You have nothing to loose by waiting and so much to gain. Some would respond to that with: “But spoilers!” This whole thing the internet has about spoilers is toxic. If a spoiler ruins a game, series, movie, or book then the moment that was spoiled would have ruined it anyways. If the moment is truly awesome, it will still be awesome even if it’s spoiled or on the second play/watch/read. A good twist is still good even if you know it’s coming, a really good twist recontextualizes what came before it making the story better. On top of those spoilers are easy to avoid, most videos and podcasts on media will give spoiler warnings and spoilers on Discord and Redit are easy to avoid. There is no reason to spend $70 or more on a game now days. Regardless of the system we are spoiled for choice. There are thousands of older games and thousand of indi games, most of which are good. $70 can get one so much, that buying new is foolish.

8 to 10 hours, with some exceptions, is the best length rage for games. Most games will not over stay their welcome at those lengths, developers can spend more time creating higher quality game play, add more secretes, alternate endings, easter eggs, etc, things that will make repeated play throughs entertaining. Shorter games also mean it takes less time to make games which means less crunch in game development with benefits the people making games which leads to them making better games. All in all shorter games just make better games.

---

If you agree with me, just enjoined what I had to say, or hate what I had to say but enjoyed getting angry at it, please support my work on Kofi. Those who support my work at Kofi get access to high rez versions of my photography and art.