The question of how long a video game should be to justify its price has sparked endless debates within the gaming community. On one side, advocates for lengthy gameplay argue that titles such as The Witcher 3 and Assassin’s Creed: Shadows provide hundreds of hours of entertainment, making them worth the investment. Conversely, others argue that a game’s quality and pacing are what truly matter; filling a game with mindless tasks and endless “checklists”can detract from its overall value.
For those gamers who simply seek to clear titles from their backlog without extensive time commitments—whether to unlock achievements or simply for the satisfaction of completing something—this article presents a curated list of games that can be completed swiftly. Organized from the longest to the shortest completion times, these titles offer a range of experiences that can be enjoyed in record time.
The completion durations listed herein are sourced from How Long To Beat and Speedrun.com.
Spoiler Alert: The discussion includes alternative endings for Far Cry 4, The Witness, The Stanley Parable, and Gone Home.
10. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
A Masterclass in Stealth
The Metal Gear Solid series typically offers a playtime of 10-20 hours, delivering a compelling mix of action, adventure, and stealth. In contrast, Ground Zeroes serves as a brief prologue to The Phantom Pain, focusing on stealth gameplay as players attempt to infiltrate a military base in Cuba and rescue two targets.
While the average playthrough lasts around two hours, seasoned players can finish the game in an impressive 26 minutes. The stealth mechanics are so solid that the record for the “No Kills, Stealth”run is only slightly longer than its more violent counterpart.
9. Florence
An Expressive Narrative Experience
Florence is a narrative-driven game that allows players to traverse the life of Florence Yeoh, transitioning from mundane routines to exploring the joys of romance and personal passion. Unlike traditional puzzle-based games, it necessitates minimal effort to unravel its story.
Quick players can finish the game in about 16 minutes, while enjoying a standard experience typically takes 30-40 minutes.
8. Far Cry 4
A Unique Take on FPS Adventure
In the first-person adventure game Far Cry 4, players spend an average of 17.5 hours embroiled in a civil war set in the fictional realm of Kyrat. However, it includes an interesting Easter Egg where players can complete the game without firing a single weapon. By waiting in Pagan Min’s mansion for about 15 minutes, players are led to the conclusion of the game!
This makes for a refreshing departure from typical gameplay mechanics and provides the satisfaction of completing the title swiftly.
7. Twelve Minutes
Engaging Time-loop Narrative
Twelve Minutes is a gripping time-loop game featuring characters voiced by James McAvoy, Daisy Ridley, and Willem Dafoe. The narrative revolves around a husband returning home to a life-changing surprise, only to be abruptly interrupted by a police officer.
One loop of the game takes 12 minutes, and if players leverage knowledge gained from each iteration, the entire experience can be completed in approximately 14 minutes.
6. Outer Wilds
An Intriguing Exploration
Outer Wilds presents players with an exciting challenge as they explore a solar system doomed to destruction every 22 minutes. Each cycle allows players to gather knowledge that aids in uncovering mysteries and developing strategies to avert disaster.
While newcomers will take around 17 hours to complete, expert players can minimize this to just 7.5 minutes with the right strategy.
5. My Name Is Mayo
A Trophy Hunter’s Paradise
My Name is Mayo offers a comically simple premise: click on a jar of mayonnaise 10, 000 times. As players progress, they unlock quirky costumes and humorous lore. Completion time varies based on clicking speed, averaging around 45 minutes, though the quickest completion takes just 7 minutes and 7 seconds.
4. Minutes
The One-Minute Challenge
Minit challenges players to survive in 60-second intervals due to a curse placed upon their sword. Each run reveals fragments of the story until players piece together a path to ending the curse.
The full gameplay experience usually lasts around 1 hour and 30 minutes, but seasoned players can navigate through it efficiently in under 7 minutes.
3. The Witness
The Quickest Easter Egg
The Witness is a puzzle game offering a surprisingly quick completion option via an Easter Egg ending, allowing players to finish the game in under 2 minutes.
By exploiting certain visual cues in the environment, players can solve a secret panel shortly after entering the game, unlocking the game’s conclusion in just 1 minute and 25 seconds.
2. The Stanley Parable
An Exploration of Choice
In The Stanley Parable, players navigate the life of Stanley, who finds himself in a world devoid of instruction. This genre-bending exploration game features numerous endings, with the quickest being the “Coward’s Ending, ”where players reset the game within just over a minute after starting.
For those willing to explore further, completing all available endings takes approximately 3 hours in the original game and 12 hours in the Ultra Deluxe edition.
1. Gone Home
Discovering the Family Mystery
Gone Home is considered one of the trailblazers in the ‘walking simulator’ genre. Players return to an empty house to investigate a mysterious absence. Following a careful exploration, the game can take around 2 hours to complete, but there’s a specific route that allows completion in under 1 minute, unlocking the “Homerunner”achievement.
Detailed guides are available, such as on YouTube, to help players achieve this achievement efficiently.
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