Short and sweet isn't exactly the modus operandi of most big games companies, but it's certainly a motto that appeals to a lot of gamers. Sometimes, you just don't have time for a super-long game like Persona 5 or The Witcher 3, which can feel like taking on another job—a fun job, to be sure, but a time-consuming obligation nonetheless, assuming you want to see all a given game has to offer.
That's why brief, condensed gaming experiences, which so often come from the indie space, are so valuable. Lightweight and focused, the following recommendations are tailor-made to provide audiences with the best entertainment or artistic value in the shortest amount of time. Put another way, they are all killer, no filler, and well worth diving into this weekend.
Steamworld Dig
How long to beat Steamworld Dig
- Main story: 5 hours
- Completionist run: 8.5
Steamworld Dig is one of those games that feels like it shouldn't be as good as it is. On the surface, it's a rather standard—even derivative—mining and resource-management game with light RPG elements, but it's shockingly addicting. Perhaps it's the robo-steampunk art design or the charming Wild West backdrop, but Steamworld Dig is notably compelling, and you could very well tear through its main story in an evening or two, making it an ideal, lightweight snack to unwind with at the end of the week.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 93%
- Released
- August 7, 2013
- ESRB
- e
- Developer(s)
- Image & Form
- Publisher(s)
- Image & Form
WHERE TO PLAY
SteamWorld Dig is a platform mining adventure with strong Metroidvanian influences. Take the role of Rusty, a lone mining steambot, as he arrives at an old mining town in great need. Dig your way through the old earth, gaining riches while uncovering the ancient threat that lurks below...
After making a huge impact on the Nintendo 3DS eShop, we've decided to bring SteamWorld Dig to PC/Mac/Linux. Introducing HD graphics, achievements and more, the game has been optimized for Steam!
Key Features: A rich world of steam-driven robots, inspired by Steampunk and Western themes, Explore an underground world full of secrets, treasure and terrors, Uncover the remnants of human civilization, a degenerate race of dynamite-wielding troglodytes, Randomized worlds with emergent gameplay.
Additions: Compared to the Nintendo 3DS version, this release has: HD graphics: Beautiful, high-resolution (1080p) graphics, Gamepad support: Keyboard, gamepad - play the game your way!, Achievements: Completionists rejoice!, Eye candy: Animated character portraits, bloom filter and more!, Trading cards: With a character set like this? Of course!
SUPERHOT
How long to beat SUPERHOT
- Main story: 2.5 hours
- Completionist run: 20 hours
Few games are able to deliver on their premise in the same way that SUPERHOT does. In its case, the premise is rooted in a core mechanic: time only moves when the player moves, and at the player's speed. The player's offensive abilities, most of which are determined by the environment they are in, are all informed by this unique temporal system, and the result is an experience that is both intense and startlingly tactical. Its main campaign is short and sweet, but I've milked close to 100 hours out of this game over the years, so it definitely has long legs.
SUPERHOT is great on any platform, but SUPERHOT VR is especially fantastic, and arguably the definitive version of the game.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 76%
- Released
- February 25, 2016
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Drug Reference, Violence
- Developer(s)
- SUPERHOT Team
- Publisher(s)
- SUPERHOT Team
WHERE TO PLAY
Blurring the lines between cautious strategy and unbridled mayhem, SUPERHOT is the smash-hit FPS in which time moves only when you move.
No regeneratig health bars. No conveniently placed ammo drops. It's you, alone, outnumbered and outgunned. Snatch weapons from fallen enemies to shoot, slice and dodge through a truly cinematic hurricane of slow-motion bullets
Do you crave meaning? Acceptance? Decrypt a deep and multi-layered narrative. Find the answers you seek. Mind is software. Let the System set you free.
Innovation - a truly original hybrid puzzle-shooter title like no other. Time only moves when you do. No need to hurry, take your time.
Story & Lore - in a way you have never experienced before.
Many Extras – delve deeper into SUPERHOT with mini-games, challenges, ASCII art, and [redacted].
Challenge Mode – replay SUPERHOT with no restarts, speed runs, and more.
Endless Mode – how long can you last against unyielding waves of enemies?
Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus
How long to beat Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus
- Main story: 10 hours
- Completionist run: 18.5 hours
An astonishing breakout game from indie developer Squid Shock Studios, Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus is about as charming as it looks, though it hides mechanical depth behind a cutesy facade. Indeed, there are countless stylish, hand-drawn indie side-scrollers out there, but few manage to be as relentlessly fun as Path of the Teal Lotus, whose locomotion and combat systems facilitate addictive gameplay that will spirit you through its brief campaign.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 80 /100 Critics Rec: 72%
- Released
- July 18, 2024
- ESRB
- Everyone // Mild Fantasy Violence, Alcohol And Tobacco Reference, Mild Language
- Publisher(s)
- Humble Games
WHERE TO PLAY
DRIFT DOWN FROM THE CELESTIAL REALM: Flow with acrobatic grace and agility through a mysterious world of myth and legend in Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus, a colorful hand-drawn adventure inspired by Japanese folklore.
Undertake a mystical journey as Bō, a celestial blossom (fox tentaihana) descended from the heavens to fulfill a mysterious ancient prophecy. Use your legendary bō staff to bounce and glide fluidly through an otherworldly realm of hand-drawn, dreamlike landscapes, strange and adorable yokai, and massive monsters summoned from ancient legends of Japan.
DISCOVER A MYSTERIOUS AND HAUNTED WORLD: Explore a diverse and interconnected world in a 2.5D side-scrolling action-platformer with Metroidvania elements. Journey to a haunted castle, a thriving Japanese-inspired metropolis, and many more strange and wondrous places—then find ways to travel back and fully explore newly unlocked paths and surprises.
FIND YOUR FLOW: Navigate the world’s platforming challenges with acrobatic precision, elegance, and finesse. Use Bō’s distinctive move-and-reset system to reach new areas efficiently or recover when your footing flounders.
- Engine
- Unity
- Genre(s)
- Adventure, Metroidvania
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch, PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
- How Long To Beat
- 10 hours
Mouthwashing
How long to beat Mouthwashing
- Main story: 2.5 hours
- Completionist run: 3.5 hours
Here we take a turn from cute to dark and distressing: Mouthwashing is one of the most haunting, thought-provoking, and surreal games I've played in quite a while. It takes place on a marooned space delivery ship in the far future, its crew already butting heads, to put it mildly. What unfolds from this starting point is a brutal and confronting story about responsibility, jealousy, and the devastation of losing one's integrity. For as bizarre and psychedelic as it can be, it's also undeniably human and sobering, and an absolute must-play.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 84 /100 Critics Rec: 92%
- Released
- September 26, 2024
- Developer(s)
- Wrong Organ
- Publisher(s)
- Critical Reflex
WHERE TO PLAY
Mouthwashing is a first-person horror game following the dying crew of a shipwrecked space freighter.
Who could have known what good ol’ Captain Curly was capable of? Guess he thought his crew dying alongside him was only right. But some men can’t even kill themselves properly. Maimed, limbless and unable to speak, but alive, Curly is now at the mercy of the crew he has doomed to a slow death.
Descend into Madness
Follow the lives of the crew as they weather starvation, isolation, and each other. People were never your strong suit anyway.
Zero Chance of Rescue
The ship will run out of power within six months. Food rations long before that.
Immersive Storytelling
Pay attention to your surroundings.
Psychological Scares
Your eyes are lying.
Unforgiving Narrative
Hope to die, or for goodness sake, pray that everyone else did.
Who's Lila?
How long to beat Who's Lila?
- Main story: 2.5 hours
- Completionist run: 7 hours
Another surreal, oft-disturbing narrative experience, Who's Lila can perhaps best be described as a supernatural detective game, though even that in-a-nutshell description is insufficient. The truth is, Who's Lila is probably not like any other game that you've played before. Its combination of Lynchian story beats, Super Mario 64 main menu face-tweaking, and sharp writing make for a uniquely unnerving game, one that will likely stick with you for much longer than its brief runtime.
- Released
- February 24, 2022
- Developer(s)
- Garage Heathen
- Publisher(s)
- Garage Heathen, IndieArk
- Engine
- Unity
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Verified
WHERE TO PLAY
Who's Lila is a point-and-click adventure where, instead of choosing dialogue options, you control the character's face manually.
Life’s never been easy for William, but today is special – a girl named Tanya Kennedy suddenly goes missing and the only thing Will's friends know – he was the one to see her last.
Will you remain secretive and make William act as though nothing happened, or will you let true emotions show through his mask?
In Who's Lila, a specifically trained face-recognizing neural network allows you to make this choice! In dialogue, instead of choosing a text option, input facial expressions by moving parts of the character’s face. The neural network will then analyze the emotion and output the result, thus progressing the plot.
Apart from the struggles provided by your own face, you will be met with a gritty dither-punk world of Who’s Lila. Prepare yourself for dream-like landscapes, surreal architecture, steam-filled factory interiors, and David Lynch-inspired beauty of the industrial and the mundane.
«Sometimes there is fear in the unknown, but we are good detectives and we have to know everything»
David Lynch
Will you make sense of this strange story, or will you lose yourself in the beautiful mystery? Will you try to discover every possible turn of events, or will you stick to a single storyline?
And most importantly, will you be able to answer the ultimate question:
Features:
- Neural network-powered emotion detection
- 15 endings and choice-driven gameplay
- Steam achievements
- Ditherpunk visual style
- 6+ hours of gameplay
- Unlockable palettes
- 50+ unique soundtrack pieces written specifically for the game
- And more..
- Genre(s)
- Horror, Psychological, Point-and-click, Visual Novel, Puzzle
- Platform(s)
- PC
- How Long To Beat
- 2.5 hours