In praise of short adventure games

I used to think longer meant better. Then I played a string of mobile adventures that overstayed their welcome, padding a thin story across far too many hours. These days I actively seek out the short ones.

Hollow Lantern is the game that converted me fully. It runs around four hours, tells a complete, melancholy little story, and then gets out of the way. Nothing is padded, every puzzle earns its place, and the whole thing lingers afterward precisely because it didn't drag.

Short games also suit mobile perfectly. You can realistically finish one over a few evenings, which means you actually reach the ending instead of abandoning it at the halfway mark like so many sprawling titles.

So don't let a short playtime scare you off. A tightly made four-hour adventure often leaves a deeper impression than something padded to five times the length. Finishing a game is its own small pleasure.