What is your ideal length for a Video Game?

Anything to do with games at all.

How big do you like em?

Under 5 hours
2
6%
5-10 hours
7
19%
10-15 hours
13
36%
15-20 hours
6
17%
20-30 hours
1
3%
Give me them meaty 40 hour+ adventures!
7
19%
 
Total votes: 36
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OrangeRKN
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PostRe: What is your ideal length for a Video Game?
by OrangeRKN » Wed Nov 24, 2021 3:46 pm

Skarjo wrote:9 feet.


I was going to say 8 foot dammit :lol:

Actual answer really depends on the game! I think any length is fine as long as it is justified and not just padded for the sake of having more content or a longer playtime, and that's where a lot of big games fail.

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Jenuall
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PostRe: What is your ideal length for a Video Game?
by Jenuall » Wed Nov 24, 2021 3:53 pm

I'd just like to give a shout out to the fact that the truncated title for this thread on the main page is "What is your ideal length..." :lol:

As for my actual answer - there isn't one really as it very much depends on the type of experience a game is offering. One of the main criteria for a good game IMO is that it doesn't outstay its welcome and so the ideal length will vary. Some games will deliver a perfect punch in a few hours where drawing it out any longer would dilute the impact and reveal weaknesses in the mechanics, where other games can have me smiling after 100 hours and still have new aspects that they have yet to reveal.

Despite my dwindling resources of time available to play games which others have suggested as a catalyst for shifting desires toward shorter experiences, I still find myself drawn to deep, long games that require large commitments - these are still the types of games that I like. It just now takes me even longer to finish them! :lol:

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VlaSoul
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PostRe: What is your ideal length for a Video Game?
by VlaSoul » Wed Nov 24, 2021 4:24 pm

Per game it really depends on how well it can justify its runtime. There's stuff with a lot of padding these days that could be cut down immensely, could be made into something more focused than an open world game ect

My sweetspot is 10-15 hours; doesn't overstay its welcome and won't leave you too wanting, in addition most games do not need more time to express the ideas they have. Honestly, in terms of where I am in life I find it hard to justify playing longer games anyway so I'd rather play a focused action or platform game of that length.

I also hit 400 hours on europa universalis 4 in a year and a half so idk maybe I'm a liar

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Dual
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PostRe: What is your ideal length for a Video Game?
by Dual » Wed Nov 24, 2021 4:32 pm

Long as strawberry float

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Robbo-92
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PostRe: What is your ideal length for a Video Game?
by Robbo-92 » Wed Nov 24, 2021 4:48 pm

It varies so wildly between genres of games that I’d find it impossible to give a one size fits all kind of answer!

Metroidvanias for example - the sweet spot for me is definitely around 10 to 15 hours for a first playthrough, I found Hollow Knight started to drag on quite a bit towards the end, think my playtime was in the high 30s by the time I saw the credits.

RPGs - obviously this covers white a range of games these days but I could play some of the games in this genre indefinitely if the game had loads more meaningful content there I’d spend hundreds of hours till I’d seen it all, few examples being Skyrim, The Witcher 3, Pokémon (all the mainline ones).

Racing games - much like above, if the game has enough tracks, cars etc I’d definitely put the hours into it, despite them being one of my favourite genres of games they’re not my most played anymore. For example, WRC 9 with my wheel is absolutely amazing to play (I’ll probably get WRC 10 if it ever goes down as cheap as 9 did which was under £5!) but at the same time it’s not exactly a relaxing game to play in the evening to unwind :lol:

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Xeno
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PostRe: What is your ideal length for a Video Game?
by Xeno » Wed Nov 24, 2021 6:15 pm

The main issue I have is I like sandbox games such as Rimworld and Factorio and I can easily play a save for well over 80 hours. If it's a story led game I would say 15 to 20 hours seems reasonable.

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dmin
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PostRe: What is your ideal length for a Video Game?
by dmin » Thu Nov 25, 2021 7:16 pm

Tomous wrote:Anything up to 20 hours is usually ideal for me, being the parent of a young terror who takes up a lot of my time. Anything more than that and it does tend to become a bit of a slog to get through.

Pretty much this. I voted 15-20 as in real terms that equates to about 2 weeks for me. It's a real undertaking taking on big open world games. Especially, as I like to see / do as much as I can. Case in point, playing tsushima at the mo and as much as I'm enjoying it, it's becoming a bit of a slog. It's why I've never got round to starting witcher 3, despite owning it since I got my PS4.

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Gemini73
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PostRe: What is your ideal length for a Video Game?
by Gemini73 » Thu Nov 25, 2021 7:38 pm

Around 10-15 hours these days. With big games like AC, for example, I can hit that 20hr mark and move on to something else unless I'm really enjoying it, but it's rare. Sometimes I'll return to a big game, but being as I jump from one game to the next, depending on mood, it's rare I'll finish huge games to completion.

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Steve
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PostRe: What is your ideal length for a Video Game?
by Steve » Fri Nov 26, 2021 1:33 am

I've been gaming since around 1985. In that time I've probably completed about 20 or 30 games. I just lose interest after a while so an ideal length for me doesn't matter.

When we are expected to shell out up to £70 for a game these days I do expect a certain standard and length to a game though. I never play Call of Duty online but had been looking forward to Vanguard's campaign. I was bitterly disappointed to see how short it was so I didn't bother with it. I may pick it up at some point if it ever gets a steep discount...

I love open world games where I'm free to explore and chip away at the game. I've probably spend 100's of hours on each and every GTA game but never completed any of them. To me it didn't matter, I was just enjoying exploring and causing carnage.

I play a lot of sports games which don't have a length to them. I know people turn their noses up at each new NHL & FIFA release for example, but I strawberry floating love those games. FIFA for example is probably my most played game each year going back to around 2007. I am happy to lose several 100 hours a year playing it.

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Rocsteady
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PostRe: What is your ideal length for a Video Game?
by Rocsteady » Sat Nov 27, 2021 4:24 pm

8 hours.

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Qikz
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PostRe: What is your ideal length for a Video Game?
by Qikz » Sat Nov 27, 2021 5:02 pm

5-10 hours for me although I don't mind longer as long as the gameplay loop is fun.

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Peter Crisp
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PostRe: What is your ideal length for a Video Game?
by Peter Crisp » Sat Nov 27, 2021 9:18 pm

Football Manager has a pretty reasonable game length.
Who needs kids or a wife when you can take Aldershot Town into the final of the Champions League?

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Zerudaaaaa!
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PostRe: What is your ideal length for a Video Game?
by Zerudaaaaa! » Sun Nov 28, 2021 7:41 pm

No ideal length for me. I like a game to be just as long as it needs to be (and not, for example, padded out just for the sake of bumping the hours up).


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