Thought on computer games and their length There's always a lot of discussion about computer games and their length, I thought I'd write my perspective on the topic. Mostly because I often encounter one-sided arguments that do not take into consideration, the different purposes that games can serve to people under various circumstances. "This game is too short!" What a stupid thing to say. There, you're triggered and won't care about my arguments. "This game was soo good I wish it could have gone on forever!" I get that feeling! I have it too! But for that particular game, we both know that it had to end where it did, had it went on, it'd have been a different game, you'd have had a different experience, and there's no reason to believe that it'd have been as good. The reasons for this are obvious, and yet I give a few keywords that you can extrapolate from: Team Energy, Budget, Focus, Script, Corp. Politics, Technology, Time and Motivation, just to new a few. "Long games are great!" No, but long games that are great, are great, not every game can, nor should be long. I'm not going to mention all the reasons why long games are appealing, people know, even people who prefer short games know. "Short games are great!" No, but short games that are great, are great. A story that is short, intense, focused, and well-told, just exactly in the same way that this article is not. People have different needs at different times in their lives, it's not even about priorities (as some gamers claim), it's about what you want out of a game at any particular time in life. When I had lots of free time, I wanted entertainment, of course, but I wanted it lightweight enough that it didn't "wear me out" when I played for 12 hours straight (which is an awesome thing to do, by the way!). I played so much, that shorter games blew past me, only a day or two of entertainment?! What was it even about? It was so packed, no time to just "be" and reflect, a blur.. In story-driven games, that's now my preferred type, because my perspective is different, I no longer have a lot of time, and other things are higher priority in my life right now than "setting aside 12 hours of gaming time a few days a week". For me to enjoy a game, I need three things: Time, Energy, Motivation. Time is simple to understand. Energy shouldn't be tough, but for those that struggle, it's the idea that a person can be depleted of some internal resource which makes them not want to do anything beyond some "difficulty" threshold. Finally, motivation, I've chosen to call it, it's when my life-situation aligns in such a way that there are no fires to be put out, and no other more pressing obligations, and so I feel that I am enough at rest to be able to enjoy recreation of the types provided by computer games (notice the plurality). When I have those three things, I want to play a game, and the kind of game is largely decided by the amount of each.. It's a complex matrix, I won't attempt to enumerate all, but a few examples I've identified as common: Low time, low energy, low motivation: Not playing, probably looking at games to buy instead.. Low time, low energy, medium motivation: OSU: Low time: Can be interrupted at any time Low energy: I can stop whenever I run out, there's no story or instructions to follow, just.. click.. circles.. Medium motivation: I want to DO something but the other factors makes my motivation to do so lower than it'd otherwise have been. Low time, medium energy, high motivation: Some FPS game, online: Low time: Can be interrupted without me losing some plotline or story or progress (that I care about anyway). Medium energy: It's not really that I get much more out of the game from having more energy, I might play better, but I'm not missing much of the game itself, since there's no story of importance, and the instructions are limited to "point at face, click mouse (like OSU!) High motivation: I really wanna DO something, and it should give me instant gratification (blowing peoples virtual brains out is satisfying for me). Medium time, medium energy, medium motivation: Something like Diablo or Diablo 2: Medium time: A quest can usually be done in a single short sitting, but I will want to do a few to "get into" it, the story is there, but it's not important to the game-play itself (I completed D2 first time without even noticing the story, yea go judge, see if I care). Satisfying to spend one or two hours or more. Medium energy: Not hard games (the way I play them), but they do require me to be at least somewhat conscious most of the time to get enjoyment out of. Medium motivation: I want to do something, but mostly I just want to "be", and be occupied with something slightly interesting. High time, high energy, high motivation: Cyberpunk 2077, Single Player FPS, deep RPG games: High time: I can spend at least a good portion of multiple days in a row doing what I want with my time (play games!), these big chunks allow me to immerse myself in the game I'm playing, to build the skill to climb to the next level, to get into the story. Be it Doom Eternal or Cyberpunk 2077, I want to LIVE there and be there and breathe it in, but I also want to see the end of it, to be able to contain the experience in my head, in a short enough amount of time that I can still remember the start easily enough, that I could give a coherent summary of most of what the story was about. I get a lot of enjoyment out of playing a game and completing it too. High energy: For me, I need more energy to fully immerse myself in, and enjoy these games, they require me to think and react and pay attention in order for me to get the most enjoyment out of them. High motivation: Since I know I want to complete the game, I can only play these when I really have the motivation to do so, am ready to take the plunge and spend the next many hours of my life doing this, getting that story, having those experiences. High time, medium energy, high motivation: Some RPG games, like Arcanum: High times: These games take a big chunk of time to go through, and for me, that time needs to be not spread too thinly, lest I lose my motivation, my energy or my path through the story (for me at least, RPG is a lot about RP, and it's easier for me to be someone else if I can do it for sustained periods of time, I'm not a good 30 minute king.) Medium energy: It's okay for there to be stories and instructions, but not too intense, or I'll deflate and default. High motivation: I really want to DO something, as much as my energy level allows anyway. I'm sure there's a lot more to be said, but those are my ways of thinking about games I play. I'm unconvinced that every game should be either short, medium or long, I think there are very valid reasons to want anything in between.