I'm a fan of short games and view them as a great interactive alternative to movies. I'm always looking for recommendations for new games and would appreciate some pointers in this category.

For reference, below are some short games I played this year, sorted by my ranking. I also include typical play times based on HL2B + my actual playtime in parenthesis (it normally takes me longer, as I prefer to play leisurely).

Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons - typical time 3h (took me about 6h), 9/10
Contrast - typical time 3.5h (took me 4:25), 9/10
Lifeless Planet - 5h (7:45), 8/10
The Stanley Parable - 1h (5:04), 7.5/10
Verde Station - 1.5h (2:05), 7/10
The Plan - 10m (7m), 7/10
Dear Esther - 1h (1:41), 6.5/10
To The Moon - 4h (6:30), 6.5/10
They Breathe - 45m (40m), 6/10
Soul Gambler - 1h (2:20), 6/10
Gone Home, 2h (4:48), 5/10

Thanks!

9 years ago*

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A bird story. It's from the same makers of to the moon. The story isn't quite as good but still worth a play through

9 years ago
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Thanks. I have this game in my library but haven't played it yet. Is gameplay more interesting than TtM? This is one area that I didn't really care for, especially the tile-based puzzles.

9 years ago
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There are no puzzles and basically no gameplay, you just walk around and interact with objects.

9 years ago
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I played them both-- I enjoyed TtM (mostly for its story), but A Bird Story just didn't grip me. There was essentially zero gameplay, whereas in TtM at least there was some. Maybe a real bird-lover would enjoy it more.

9 years ago
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On thing to note is that the character form A Birds Story will be the character in the sequel of To The Moon

9 years ago
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Never Alone, Wolfe, You have to win this game

9 years ago
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Thanks. Never Alone is on my wishlist. I'm just waiting for the right price. I have Woolfe in my library. It looks great, though for some reason the reviews are so so. I think I'll play it soon and find out.

Edit: The main complaint about Woolfe seems to be "way too short for $10". Since I already own the game, this is an issue at all. Really looking forward to play this game.

9 years ago*
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Game was free for members of IGN Prime some months ago, who pay monthly subscription, so maybe you can find it cheap on Steam Trades.

9 years ago
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The Stanley Parable takes more than 1h if you want to see all of it.

9 years ago
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Definitely. My HL2B submission is for 5:04. I told you guys I play leisurely ;)

9 years ago
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Ah, yes, I didn't notice these weren't your playtimes.
I'm glad you took your time with this one, doing only one playthrough would be missing the point of the game ^^

9 years ago
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Yes, I thought it might not be clear. I now added my actual play times in parenthesis.

9 years ago
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It was clear, it's just my fault for not reading the post before commenting ^^

9 years ago
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I loved Morphopolis. It's a truly atmospheric game and only 2-3 hours long.

9 years ago
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Thanks. This is another game in my library that needs some love. Looks really nice.

9 years ago
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A bit longer than yours, but definitely worth it.

The Cat Lady - 8h - 11/10
Limbo - 4,5h - 8/10
The Darkness 2 - 6h - 9/10
Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon - 4,5h - 8,5/10
Deadlight - 4h - 7,5/10
Spec Ops the line - 6h - 8,5/10

9 years ago
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Definitely Limbo. And, if you haven't played all the famous indie puzzle platformers, Braid and FEZ fall into this category too. (Although in all these cases how long it takes you depends on how quickly you figure out the puzzles. I got stuck on a couple in Braid.)

In a slightly different vein, Antichamber is a 3D short puzzle game, and quite good. It's like Portal, if MC Escher had designed it while doing LSD.

9 years ago
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Yep Antichamber is great too !

9 years ago
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I share your view of The Cat Lady. Probably the best game I played in recent years. Funny thing is I left it minimized (in the hospital level) and went abroad, so my Steam library lists it as "580.0 hrs on record" lol :-)

Here's my review of it:

http://steamcommunity.com/id/Yirg/recommended/253110/

Among the other games that you mentioned I only played FC3 Blood Dragon but left it mid way because I hated the save system. I haven't given up on it, but it'll be a while before I give it another chance.

9 years ago
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Wow, I thought Bood Dragon was longer

9 years ago
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Well, to be fair I've almost ignored all the secondary quests (I think secondary quests in Far cry are boring :|)

9 years ago
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The Cat Lady +1

One of the best games I've ever played as well.

9 years ago
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hydrophobia prophecy, i find this game quite nice, and it is a shame that it is so short, the story was intriguing and the power were fun, i finished it in around 5 hours

You may also want to look at "episodic" games, i played 6 h to finish alpha kimori part 1, and if i remember well, i finished the chapter one episode 1 of the walking dead on xbox in a few hours too

9 years ago*
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Deadpool, but i guess its not on steam. Roughly 4-6 hours of guaranteed laughs.

9 years ago
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Why is it even removed?! The indie games and such that get removed are obvious and often viral for the reasons they got removed but why Deadpool, why. D:

9 years ago
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They also removed bulletstorm. had to get it on origin , which i barely use (havent finished it yet, i was at the t rex with the minigun) then the suckers added it again to steam :S I aint buying it again.

9 years ago
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Short version: licensing bullshit. Long version: Marvel/Disney decided to terminate the licenses on a whole string of games. Deadwood and Marvel vs Capcom games were the high profile victims but there were some older ones as well.

9 years ago
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Portal, maybe?

9 years ago
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Yeah, my playtimes are always far longer than HL2B.
Here are some more short-ish games:

  • Adam's Venture 1, 2, and 3: 4 or 5 hours (each) but some of that time was to 100%
  • Beyond Gravity: 6h, but again, 100%
  • Fatale: sort of in the "is it a game?" category, but took me just over an hour
  • Hero of the Kingdom: if you don't care about 100%, main storyline can be done in a few hours
  • Journal: story-based. 4h for slow me to 100%
  • Light: 4h to 100%, could probably be done in half that time
  • Lilly Looking Through: 3h for me (though I used a guide for part)
  • Lume (94 mins)
  • The Moon Sliver (3h, and I dawdled)
  • Retention ("is it a game?")
  • Trauma (2h for me)
9 years ago
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I have some reviews of short games. There are links to reviews, those will tell you more than I can tell you here and also you will see how many hours I played those games. I finished them all so this is a time to finish, not only to start.
http://steamcommunity.com/id/necrolophous/recommended/270490/
http://steamcommunity.com/id/necrolophous/recommended/233550/
http://steamcommunity.com/id/necrolophous/recommended/310370/
http://steamcommunity.com/id/necrolophous/recommended/373330/
And also 3 movie about gaming:
http://steamcommunity.com/id/necrolophous/recommended/374570/
http://steamcommunity.com/id/necrolophous/recommended/207080/
http://steamcommunity.com/id/necrolophous/recommended/245550/
If you will like my reviews, I would be glad if you will give me thumbs up. I hope you will enjoy those games and movies.

9 years ago
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Papo & Yo

9 years ago
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A non-comprehensive list of short games that I personally enjoyed & recommend (with the average 'Main Story' time from HLTB):

Bastion - 6½ Hours.
Transistor - 6 Hours.
Apotheon - 8 Hours.
Invisible, Inc. - 5½ Hours.
Mark of the Ninja - 8 Hours.
Never Alone/Kisima Inŋitchuŋa - 3hrs.
Child of Light - 11 Hours.
Valiant Hearts: The Great War - 6hrs.
Thomas Was Alone - 3½ Hours.

9 years ago
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tiny big grandmas leftovers around 2,5 hours, very memorable game with great ost

9 years ago
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Short (4 hrs or less) games I enjoyed (scores might be biased because I tend to like everything):

140 - 40 min (7/10)
Another Perspective - 2 hrs (7.5/10)
A Bird Story - 1 hr (8.5/10)
Among the Sleep - 3 hrs (8/10)
Deadlight - 4 hrs (6.5/10)
DLC Quest - 3 hrs (7/10)
Evoland - 4 hrs (6.5/10)
The Fall - 4 hrs (8.5/10)
Finding Teddy - 2 hrs (7/10)
Gunpoint - 3 hrs (9/10)
Home - 2 hrs (7/10)
I Am Alive - 3 hrs (5.5/10)
Labyrinthine Dreams - 2 hrs (6.5/10)
Master Reboot - 3 hrs (7/10)
Mind: Path to Thalamus - 3 hrs (7.5/10)
NaissancE - 3 hrs (7/10)
The Novelist - 4 hrs (9/10)
Papo & Yo - 2 hrs (8.5/10)
Portal - 1.5 hrs (9.5/10)
Pretentious Game - 1 hr (8/10)
Q.U.B.E. - 2 hrs (7/10 w/ story, 8.5/10 w/o story)
Qora - 3 hrs (6/10)
Residue: Final Cut - 4 hrs (7.5/10)
A Story About My Uncle - 3 hrs (9/10)
Thomas Was Alone - 3 hrs (10/10)
Year Walk - 1.5 hrs (5.5/10)
Zeno Clash - 4 hrs (6.5/10)

9 years ago*
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A Bird Story, Gunpoint, Cave Story +, Bastion, Transistor, Hotline Miami and Thomas Was Alone.

9 years ago
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I'd also recommend Out There Somewhere. It's a really short but surprisingly deep platformer

9 years ago
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+1, game is simple but in the good, retro terms of simple.
While most puzzle games are quite short to begin with, I'd addTetrobot & Co to the list, it's cute, looks and plays great and it's really clever! (and difficult Love it.)

9 years ago
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"Please, don't touch anything" is my short recommendation

9 years ago
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Estranged: Act 1 (FPS, Half Life 2 mod, 1 hour)
Spoiler Alert (platform game, 1 hour)
Defy Gravity Extended (platform game, between 1 and 3 hours)
Half Life 2 Episode 1 and 2 (FPS, 3-5 hours each)
Brothers A Tale of Two Sons (puzzle 3-4 hours)
NightSky (puzzle/platform, 2-4 hours)
Gunpoint (puzzle/platform, 2-4 hours)
Dear Esther (exploration/walking simulator 2 hours)
Love (platform, 1 hour)
VVVVVV (platform, 1-3 hours)
140 (platform, 1 hour)
Type:Rider (platform/puzzle, 3 hours)
1000 Amps (platform/puzzle, 2 hours)
Rochard (platform/puzzle, 4 hours)
Night Shift (puzzle, 1-3 hours)
Make It Indie! (interactive movie, 12 seconds)
Eversion (platform, 1-2 hours)
The Wonderful End Of The World (platform, 2-3 hours)

Some titles might already be in the thread.

9 years ago*
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Why does Homesick seem to fit the description in every one of these game recommendation threads lately...

Oh well, for the millionth time during the last couple of weeks, I'm recommending Homesick. It's essentially Explore An Abandoned Building Simulator 2015. I have a "thing" for abandoned buildings, so the game was an emotional experience for me.

It's not just walking around like Dear Esther, though, there are puzzles. The graphics are near photorealistic and they've absolutely nailed the atmosphere of an abandoned building 100%.

Why didn't you like Gone Home, by the way?

9 years ago
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About Gone Home, this is a quote from my review in Steam:

"Pretty boring game. Builds up the atmosphere of a horror game and never really delivers. What it does deliver is a relatively uninteresting story with characters I didn't really connect with. Maybe I played it too leisurely and when I was too tired to care, but I assume that a better game would do more to pick up my interest and pace."

9 years ago
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Ah, right. Well, if you assumed it would be a horror game, then I see how you could be disappointed. That's a common complaint, for some reason. I personally don't understand why anyone would assume it's a horror game; it was never advertised as such and the tense atmosphere in the beginning, in my opinion, was a relatively accurate representation of what one might feel in that situation. The ghost/Ouija board sub-plot did feel out of place at first, though.

9 years ago*
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I actually didn't know what the game is about. I try not to read anything about plot of games or movies. It just helps me enjoy them more. For games to be added to my wishlist they just need to have a combination of good grades, the right genre and interesting screenshots. Gone Home has all three. But then I started playing it, and it had the look&feel of a horror game, which is fine, but it's not where it ends up.

9 years ago*
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Yeah, I understand. I think I should mention, in case you do end up playing Homesick, that I actually had this problem (kind of) with that game. There's even more of a horror vibe to it at first than there is in Gone Home because the surroundings look like something out of Outlast or Condemned, but it's actually quite relaxing and it never really turns into a horror game (I won't say anything about the plot, though).

9 years ago*
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You could definitelly try Nihilumbra and Oscura. Both are short artistic platformers, beautifully done in my opinion.
Nihilumbra is more about the narration and Oscura is more about platforming. Neither of them is particularly frustrating, but they're not mind-numbingly easy, either, which I think is good :)

9 years ago
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LIMBO is a good one.

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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THAT.

9 years ago
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I enjoyed Tengami(1.5 hours).

9 years ago
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The Music Machine, its maybe like 1,5/3Hs at most, and its really good.

9 years ago
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I really enjoyed Morningstar: Descent to Deadrock. (2-4 h, point and click game)

9 years ago
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