10 Great Video Games That Are Way Too Short

Long gone are the days where the biggest video games could be completed in a single sitting. With the rise of open world IPs, collect-a-thons, and DLCs, modern titles can offer hundreds of hours of content.

Now, that's not suggesting brevity is a bad thing. Rather than filling a shooter, platformer, or RPG with filler quests or grinding-based gameplay, some pithy titles are kept short to ensure they don't outstay their welcome.

Even though Stray, Gone Home, and Portal can be beaten quickly, they wouldn't benefit from being any longer, since the story, characters, and mechanics had been fully explored by the time the credits rolled. Airtight games such as these are extremely replayable, meaning they'll keep players thoroughly entertained in the long run.

However, there are some amazing titles that climaxed far too soon. If a game is a part of a huge brand, spent an eternity in development, or cost the maximum retail price, it's insulting to see it draw to a close within a matter of hours.

Although the entries on this list are excellent, there just wasn't enough material to satiate players.

In Child of Light, a young girl called Aurora must venture through Lemuria with her luminous companion, Igniculus, to destroy the nefarious Queen of the Night.

The first thing that stands out in Ubisoft's underrated gem is the immersive combat. While our heroes are in the heat of battle, players can move Igniculus around the screen to refill health, collect items, and slow down enemies. This simple mechanic stops the turn-based battles feeling repetitive, since players need to be alert and adaptable throughout each encounter. Due to the whimsical atmosphere, watercolored art, storybook motifs, and rhyming dialogue, Child of Light truly is unlike anything else.

That's why it's disappointing how it only takes 10-11 hours to complete, according to HowLongToBeat, which is bewildering short for a role-player. By comparison, most RPGs from the 1990s took at least 20 hours to finish.

More time could've been spent fleshing out the characters, delving into Aurora's relationship with her mother, as well as her family's connection with the main villain. With such a breathtaking world to explore and unique battle system, it would've been a delight if Child of Light was considerably longer.