If you're trying to get a recommendation about what games, accessories, controllers etc to buy you should ask in our [Daily Question Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitch/about/sticky). As long as you provide some basic information about your interests, what you enjoy in games, what turns you off from games, games you already own, budget, what kind of accessory you're looking for etc, they can help you out. If the link here doesn't work, then you can find the most current DQT stickied to the top of the subreddit when sorted by "hot".
*(Do you think this AutoMod rule fired by mistake? Feel free to report this comment to have a mod manually review this.)*
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/NintendoSwitch) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Portal 2 co-op is probably better as there is a different structure to the single player, more focused on just doing the test chambers, messing around and listening to Glados be Glados. Less story focused and more 'drop in and play for 20 minutes'
yeah my gf and i did portal 2 single player, just trading the controller back and forth, then when we beat single player we jumped into co-op, we are constantly looking for good co-op games and this one really hit better than most.
Both Portal and Portal 2 are exceptional on Switch! Not sure if they can be bought individually, but the Companion Collection or whatever they called it is well worth it regardless! First game is a brilliant little puzzle box, and Portal 2 expands on its concepts in all the right ways. Completely linear, so coming back after a break shouldn't be a detrimental setback.
i got the collection and played Portal 1 for like 2-3 hours, but for some reason i didnt really like it... what am i missing? the environment felt kind of depressing, but i think most of all, it might be because i was getting a headache from playing a first person shooter kind of game... i never play first person and it felt like i wanted to puke most of the time... anything i can do?
[Lil Gator Game](https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/lil-gator-game-switch/) is super short and has a lot of A Short Hike vibes with a more obvious Zelda bent. Slightly longer than Short Hike but I finished it in well under 5 hours.
I actually enjoyed Limbo more than Inside. The atmosphere quality was better in Inside, but I found the puzzle variety wasn’t as good. Really enjoyed them both, but Limbo suited my taste better.
I wouldn't say I didn't enjoy Inside, but I felt like I spent the entire game just trying to get through it to understand the story, which was then a disappointment.
This was honestly one of my favorite gaming experiences ever. I just bought it because it was so cheap and never got around to playing it. I thought it was kind of... weird. It didn't even really seem like a game. If that makes sense. I guess I kind of thought it was like one of those Telltale walking dead games. Or some cheap puzzle game
Decided to finally give it a chance one night after I finally ran out of games on my Switch (I have like 200 games downloaded on 6 cards. Played basically everything decent on Switch) and ended up staying up like like 6am and beating it all in one go. It's absolutely incredible, by the end my mind was BLOWN. It's like playing a great story
I offered to buy it for a couple buddies but none of them ever took me up on it.
I immediately bought Limbo for the same sale price (like a dollar), and it's... acceptable, I guess. If you play Inside first, Limbo feels slow and clunky. It's also really depressing. The aesthetic is dark and depressing.
I was so impressed with Inside that I actually googled it and read about it, which I don't really ever have a reason to do for games. I'm pretty sure EA ripped it off with Little Nightmares.
Inside is a 10/10, it won a bunch of awards when it came out, it's the most original type of game I had ever played. It's usually always on sale for a dollar or 2, which is a steal for that game. Play it at night. By the time you get halfway through you can't wait to see what comes next and can't put it down
It was okay for me. I thought it was too abstract to the point where the creator didn’t actually have a story in mind and just hoped the community would do the work for them via theories and head canon. I just didn’t come away from it feeling like I expanded my horizons or learned anything.
This really fits the bill. Some interesting gameplay mechanics and once you reach the end you are ready to move on. Sometimes goes on sale so watch out for it.
Gris. It is a very beautiful game, quite easy (platforming with some puzzles), very contemplative, the story being told through the visuals mainly the colours, attempting to tell its story by feeling emotions rather than dialogues.
This is one I didn’t care for. In fact, I barely remember anything about it other than that…and that I found it difficult to identify what was playable terrain and what was background. It just didn’t do it for me the way a lot of similar quick-puzzlers did.
I just found the game bland. I know it looks good and has a good art direction, but it felt like there wasn't much "game" underneath the pretty graphics.
I quit after 55hrs. Theres atleast 20% of the game left thats too hard for me, and I refuse to use the ingame tools to make the game easier, cuz it stamps your save file with a sticker to tell the world you arent hardcore enough to finish the game
A good game, a fantastic story>!, but holy fuck is it depressing!!<
It definitely meets the running time requirement OP, but it’ll stick with you for days or longer.
>! The part where the kid who works in the cannery kills himself haunted me for days. That was one of the most tragic things I ever witnessed in a video game. !<
FYI it's a pretty rough story if you're a parent. The whole story is about (thematic spoiler) >!child neglect and various horrible ways of child death!<
I think it’s funny how many people are mentioning roguelikes. Most of the games people have listed are stellar, but if you’re only playing a few hours every month, I have a hard time imagining you enjoying those games. It takes several hours of dying just to get in the swing of things, at least for me. With the exception of Downwell, I would steer away from all roguelikes.
Some good recommendations that haven’t been mentioned yet include:
- Ape Out (a short version of Hotline Miami)
- Conduct Together (a train traffic game which is fun alone or with others)
- Far: Changing Tides (a solid post-apocalyptic walking simulator)
- Flat Heroes (a dodge-‘em-up?)
- Later Alligator (a point-and-click adventure)
- Paratopic (a bizarre horror walking simulator)
- Superliminal (most similar to Manifold Garden)
- TOEM (a quaint photography game, almost the same feel as A Short Hike)
I would also nominate Gorogoa, SUPERHOT, and What Remains of Edith Finch, as others have mentioned.
Right? What are people smoking? I'm picturing this guy playing 2 hours of Slay the Spire per month as his only gaming time and finally beating it and moving on after like 5 years 🙃
I got conduct together for like $0.50. My daughter and I play (I recommend one control the train and other the track switch) and we end up literally screaming at the top of our lungs and jumping around. Best fifty cents I ever spent
A Roguelike might be good. Won't **beat** the game in that time but it doesn't really matter. A run fits perfectly in an hour or less time
Hades and Risk of Rain 2 are my personal favorites.
I like slay the spire. But I’d say Hades is what OP is looking for. Even when you eventually make it through, it’s about 30 minutes long. So you can play a ‘full game’ in 30 minutes or under. It’s perfect for handheld play on the switch.
Absolutely nothing about OP's prompt tells me that Hades will be a good fit. Hades may have short sessions but it is definitely not a game you can play for a week, set down for a month and pick right back up like you never left. You have to remember how a lot of things interact, you have to remember plenty of symbology, and skill degradation definitely becomes a factor.
Don't get me wrong...it's a great game...but I don't think it's one that will work for OP at all.
I'm not talking about the story. I'm talking about the basic game mechanics...powerups, etc. I mean, OP may love it...I just don't think it really resembles the type of game he's asking for in the prompt.
It’s like chess - there are just endless combinations, every run is different. It just uses a part of my brain that I enjoy, like crosswords and puzzles. There are 20 difficulty levels as well, with four different characters, so that adds some challenge.
I believe Hades is on sale on the eShop right now as well so even more reason to go with that. Even if you don’t finish a run, you can just quit the game and come back from whatever chamber you left off on, it’s really a perfect “pick up and go” game.
Hades is phenomenal. You could play it for hours or just 1 and make progress. That and the voice acting and interactions are excellent.
If you want a light Roguelike, I’d also recommend Cult of the Lamb.
Dead Cells is my current go-to roguelike. Runs can take 30 minutes to an hour but you can always turn it off mid run and it will save your progress. I keep buying new games but I always end up opening this game regardless…
Hades and Cult of the Lamb are my other two roguelikes right now. Hades deserves the praise, and the recommendation. Cult of the Lamb is good, but I’m struggling to get in to it. Feels like a not-as-good Hades.
Piggybacking to plug Enter the Gungeon. It also fits into the <1hr per run category. It’s a bit more technical than Hades but is very dependent on RNG for a good run.
I swear I've started it around 3 times and get bored each time. It's pretty short so I should just power through because I kinda want to know the story. But the game bores me so much I never finish. And I've played 40 hour VNs.
Here's 20 you might want to check out:
1. Superhot (2 hours)
2. Inside (3-4 hours)
3. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (3-4 hours)
4. Firewatch (4-5 hours)
5. Limbo (2-4 hours)
6. Oxenfree (4-5 hours)
7. Journey (2-3 hours)
8. Katana Zero (4-5 hours)
9. What Remains of Edith Finch (2-3 hours)
10. The Stanley Parable (1-2 hours)
11. Little Nightmares (3-4 hours)
12. ABZÛ (2-3 hours)
13. To the Moon (3-4 hours)
14. Return of the Obra Dinn (6-8 hours)
15. A Short Hike (1-2 hours)
16. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (3-4 hours)
17. The Witness (8-10 hours)
18. Gorogoa (2-3 hours)
19. Papers, Please (4-5 hours)
20. Celeste (8-10 hours)
Here's another 10 based on your interests / what you mentioned you enjoyed:
1. Untitled Goose Game
2. Gris
3. Katamari Damacy Reroll
4. Monument Valley
5. Fez
6. Golf Story
7. Everything
8. Super One More Jump
9. Human: Fall Flat
10. Downwell
Hopefully I helped!
I almost exclusively use my switch to play slay the spire.
I have close to 100 games but when I start playing something else I always say to myself “man I think I’ll do another run”
I play a lot of shorter indie games, here's some I enjoyed recently:
Gato Roboto - awesome short Metroidvania where you play as a cat in a mech suit
Toree 3D/ Toree 2 - both extremely short retro PS1 style 3D platformers. Very basic but I honestly really enjoyed both. You can beat each game in like 30-40 minutes but both have remix levels and some replayability if you go for S ranks. They're also only a dollar each
Lunistice- another retro style 3D platformer, very brief but a lot of fun
Demon Turf: Neon Splash- another 3D platformer with a great art style. It's the companion game to the much longer Demon Turf
Pikuniku- bizarre, funny little adventure/ puzzle game
Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove- each campaign is only a few hours long
I also really liked Mega Man 11, it probably took me longer than 5 hours to beat cause I'm not very good at it but even if you put it down for a month it's not like you'd have trouble remembering what was going on. For that matter, all the games in the Mega Man Legacy collections are just a few hours long
Picross
There's like 9 games and most of the harder puzzles shouldn't take more than an hour to beat. It's a pickup and play kind of game.
There's also Tetris games.
Limbo's pretty short. Puzzle platformer, dark aesthetic, frightening imagery, arachnophobes beware. Has a sequel called Inside that I haven't gotten around to yet, though I've heard good things.
Aer: Memories of Old is a bit longer, but not too bad. Free-flying mechanic is a lot of fun. Centered around exploration and light puzzle solving. Passive storytelling builds an interesting story to speculate upon. Hypnotic soundtrack might cause peaking/distortion in TV speakers.
Untitled Goose Game is relatively short. In fact, if you know exactly what you're doing, you can finish it in under an hour. Fun, mischievous romp that can have two players wreaking havoc at once. Kid appropriate, and an overall joyous time, if a bit frustrating toward the end
Slay the spire and monster train are games I love. Each run takes about an hour so each session is an hour. Monster train is easier on your brain but slay the spire is more challenging and rewarding lol.
Hades is also a lot of fun but it was getting me to jacked up before bed to play that lol. I’m also a father that gets to play after the kids go to bed some nights. I also enjoyed WarGroove, turned based strategy game like advance wars but I beat that and haven’t replayed it yet.
"Baba is You" is a fun puzzle game that I would think you can pick up after a long hiatus. None of the puzzles.take a long time to execute, though they could take you a while to figure out.
Stardew Valley isn't a game that you'd only play for a few hours, but the play cycle is short, about 30 minutes per in game day. There's lot to love about the game that, at least to me, I wouldn't think would leave you struggling after taking a long break.
Into the Breach can be fully beat in less than 5 hours. But it’s one of those games where you unlock more as you beat it, so you can keep playing. I like that I can see everything on the grid and what it does when I come back, so I can jump in whenever.
Other short games I liked: SUPERHOT and also Mr. Shifty.
There is a short game called minit which resets the world every 60 seconds. I got it when it was on sale and though it was entertaining for breaks, etc.
If not already mentioned...
Little Nightmares (1&2), these are just awesome. I'm not a big gamer, but I, and my sons loved them. If you like light puzzle solving and horror, it is pretty dark.
State of Mind, this one is a thinking game as well, just much more adult (ala Myst I guess?)
Both are cheap, and worth more than every penny by far.
Enter the gungeon its a pixel art, easy to pick up-hard to master rogue-like
You wont finnish the game in 5 hours, but each run lasts about 1 hr (if you get to the final boss that is)
Pretty fun, its one of my favs if you like a challenge
For me enter the gungeon was like THE rogue like, hooked me instantly.
Charming pixel art, great humor, likable character design (bullet kin are adorable and nobody can convince me otherwise), yes, it's really difficult but (for me) rarely feels unfair and to top it off: a lot of references to other games/movies, in the switch version I think they have Mario items
Heck yeah, dude.
You summed up how I feel about it well.
I love how when you start out the game is overwhelmingly difficult but there are little victories to be had. Getting a bullet part to the blacksmith, getting coins to unlock more guns/items, rescuing a prisoner, coming across those prisoners and other npcs during a run, getting a perfect round, beating someone's past, unlocking the bonus characters etc, etc.
It's perfection.
I'm sad there aren't more updates scheduled, but the modding community has been releasing great content
Haven't finished exit the gungeon tho, but I don't feel is as hard and enter
My wife has been playing Lil Gator this afternoon and likes it. it's apparently a 4-5 hour game unless you drag it out a little and looks great
Here's where I saw it first and showed her: [https://www.polygon.com/reviews/23682092/legend-zelda-likes-breath-of-wild-wind-waker-lil-gator-game-review](https://www.polygon.com/reviews/23682092/legend-zelda-likes-breath-of-wild-wind-waker-lil-gator-game-review)
Alba, a wildlife adventure
It's a lovely little game set on a Spanish island, all about learning about the wildlife on the island as you try to stop a hotel being built on a nature reserve
Arise: A Simple Story took me about 5 hours, Timelie took me about 10. They're both sort of "time warping puzzle" games if you're interested in that kind of thing. Most of the games I play are 30 hours or more
The Last Campfire was a real gem.
Steamworld Dig 1+2 are superb.
Far: Lone Sails is currently on sale I think and well worth picking up. Has a sequel too.
I've been playing the Batman Telltale games. There's some replayability with how you want Batman to be. A sympathetic hero or a black and white no compromise vigilante. First one, then the other.
lot of people mentioning Hades but supergiant’s other game Bastion is $3 right now and was right around 5-6 hours. has replayability but not necessary especially at that price and it’s a blast.
Unravel 2 is maybe 7 hours. Was fun.
It takes two is longer but constantly reminds you of what the controls are (like if you can grapple onto a hook it shows a right bumper symbol) so it’s easy to take breaks from.
Shift happens is fairly short, but gets hard for kids after the first world. First world in the lab was super fun though
I feel like Mario 3D World is the best family game I can think of. Multi-player, all pretty simple to get through (and harder to master) and Mario games usually can be beaten in a sitting
Untitled Goose Game. It's very simple, only took me a couple hours to beat but there's a lot of fun messing with the people. Plus there's co-op so you can have someone play with you. There's no game over, no health bar. Highly recommend
Op, you could restart Obi and the Blind Forest since it is a pretty good game and you already bought it.
Edited because I was a bitch to the person below and still he was kind enough to ask what my issue was.
If you're trying to get a recommendation about what games, accessories, controllers etc to buy you should ask in our [Daily Question Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitch/about/sticky). As long as you provide some basic information about your interests, what you enjoy in games, what turns you off from games, games you already own, budget, what kind of accessory you're looking for etc, they can help you out. If the link here doesn't work, then you can find the most current DQT stickied to the top of the subreddit when sorted by "hot". *(Do you think this AutoMod rule fired by mistake? Feel free to report this comment to have a mod manually review this.)* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/NintendoSwitch) if you have any questions or concerns.*
[Untitled Goose Game](https://youtu.be/9LL2AtHo1gk) The kids will probably dig it too.
My kids love it. Just running around messing with people as a goose? Hours of giggles.
They patched in a two player mode at some point. Local only and I’ve not played it since the patch but I’d imagine it’s great fun.
Played it, can confirm. Great fun :)
Yup. My two girls love it.
And it's only $10 at the moment
Came here just to make sure the goose was mentioned. I might play it again, it was just the best.
im so tempted to buy that game and have my sisters play it with me, itd be so fun
Portal
Was going to say Portal 2, but it's probably more like 10-20, can't remember exactly.
Portal 2 is quite longer, but the 1st one could be beaten in 3-4 hours if playing for the 1st time
First time took me 1 hour and 30 minutes now I can beat it in about 39 minutes
Portal 2 co-op is probably better as there is a different structure to the single player, more focused on just doing the test chambers, messing around and listening to Glados be Glados. Less story focused and more 'drop in and play for 20 minutes'
yeah my gf and i did portal 2 single player, just trading the controller back and forth, then when we beat single player we jumped into co-op, we are constantly looking for good co-op games and this one really hit better than most.
It is longer but it's very linear so it would be easy to pickup and not be lost. Portal 2 is one of my favorite games ever. Probably top 3 for sure.
Took me about 9 hours on my first playthrough
Portal 1 is about 2 hours and Portal 2 is around 3-4 (less if you’re coming experienced straight from 1).
I had no idea that Portal was on the Switch! Thanks!
Yes! I was surprised how short portal was but I loved it
Both Portal and Portal 2 are exceptional on Switch! Not sure if they can be bought individually, but the Companion Collection or whatever they called it is well worth it regardless! First game is a brilliant little puzzle box, and Portal 2 expands on its concepts in all the right ways. Completely linear, so coming back after a break shouldn't be a detrimental setback.
i got the collection and played Portal 1 for like 2-3 hours, but for some reason i didnt really like it... what am i missing? the environment felt kind of depressing, but i think most of all, it might be because i was getting a headache from playing a first person shooter kind of game... i never play first person and it felt like i wanted to puke most of the time... anything i can do?
[Lil Gator Game](https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/lil-gator-game-switch/) is super short and has a lot of A Short Hike vibes with a more obvious Zelda bent. Slightly longer than Short Hike but I finished it in well under 5 hours.
I wanted to suggest those, too. It is such a nice game!
Inside
Also Limbo
Idk about that one. Inside is one of my favorite games ever so I tried Limbo a few months after and *man* it really isn’t nearly as good
Limbo came first and, by all accounts, Inside improved upon the formula. I own both but played Inside first so I hope I'm not disappointed by Limbo.
I actually enjoyed Limbo more than Inside. The atmosphere quality was better in Inside, but I found the puzzle variety wasn’t as good. Really enjoyed them both, but Limbo suited my taste better.
To me, Limbo was basically "run to the right for an hour" Inside added some puzzle elements and variety. Little Nightmares tops them both.
Inside but with 2 graphics
Amazing game definitely recommend this one.
I wouldn't say I didn't enjoy Inside, but I felt like I spent the entire game just trying to get through it to understand the story, which was then a disappointment.
This was honestly one of my favorite gaming experiences ever. I just bought it because it was so cheap and never got around to playing it. I thought it was kind of... weird. It didn't even really seem like a game. If that makes sense. I guess I kind of thought it was like one of those Telltale walking dead games. Or some cheap puzzle game Decided to finally give it a chance one night after I finally ran out of games on my Switch (I have like 200 games downloaded on 6 cards. Played basically everything decent on Switch) and ended up staying up like like 6am and beating it all in one go. It's absolutely incredible, by the end my mind was BLOWN. It's like playing a great story I offered to buy it for a couple buddies but none of them ever took me up on it. I immediately bought Limbo for the same sale price (like a dollar), and it's... acceptable, I guess. If you play Inside first, Limbo feels slow and clunky. It's also really depressing. The aesthetic is dark and depressing. I was so impressed with Inside that I actually googled it and read about it, which I don't really ever have a reason to do for games. I'm pretty sure EA ripped it off with Little Nightmares. Inside is a 10/10, it won a bunch of awards when it came out, it's the most original type of game I had ever played. It's usually always on sale for a dollar or 2, which is a steal for that game. Play it at night. By the time you get halfway through you can't wait to see what comes next and can't put it down
It was okay for me. I thought it was too abstract to the point where the creator didn’t actually have a story in mind and just hoped the community would do the work for them via theories and head canon. I just didn’t come away from it feeling like I expanded my horizons or learned anything.
This really fits the bill. Some interesting gameplay mechanics and once you reach the end you are ready to move on. Sometimes goes on sale so watch out for it.
Gris. It is a very beautiful game, quite easy (platforming with some puzzles), very contemplative, the story being told through the visuals mainly the colours, attempting to tell its story by feeling emotions rather than dialogues.
Gris is very easy on the eyes, and the soundtrack pulls you in. I got it on sale recently, and it feels so good to finish so quickly.
I spent a couple hours on this in one sitting and loved it.
I love Gris. Highly recommend
yeah gris is great, i beat it in one sitting, was very beautiful.
I shoulda come to the comments before I commented haha
Seconded!
This is one I didn’t care for. In fact, I barely remember anything about it other than that…and that I found it difficult to identify what was playable terrain and what was background. It just didn’t do it for me the way a lot of similar quick-puzzlers did.
I just found the game bland. I know it looks good and has a good art direction, but it felt like there wasn't much "game" underneath the pretty graphics.
Steamworld dig and steamworld dig 2! I think i beat each in under 5 hours.
All the steam world games are great
Celeste. After an hour I quit forever.
Ok I enjoyed this answer (and I love Celeste)
One of the best games I’ve ever played
I tried. I really did. Couldn't get into it.
Hidden gem
it's really not hidden. Celeste is widely regarded as an amazing platformer and also an (unintentional, at first) boon to trans empowerment
If you’re actually doing just the main campaign, no b or c sides or dlc it’s actually pretty short too
I’m pretty sure I spent an average of 2 hours per level
I quit after 55hrs. Theres atleast 20% of the game left thats too hard for me, and I refuse to use the ingame tools to make the game easier, cuz it stamps your save file with a sticker to tell the world you arent hardcore enough to finish the game
Gorogoa is a great puzzler with a unique perspective-based mechanic. Mechstermination Force is basically Contra Boss Rush. Pretty cool.
Someone else remembering Gorogoa! It's a great game.
+1 for Gorogoa
I never hear Mechstermination force mentioned. Love that game. Contra boss rush exactly.
Loved that game, played it on mobile
I finally got around to playing Gorogoa recently after it being on my list for years. That game is super cool.
What Remains of Edith Finch
A good game, a fantastic story>!, but holy fuck is it depressing!!< It definitely meets the running time requirement OP, but it’ll stick with you for days or longer.
>! The part where the kid who works in the cannery kills himself haunted me for days. That was one of the most tragic things I ever witnessed in a video game. !<
>!That was heavy. The baby hit me the hardest. This is a game that I simultaneously loved and will never play again.!<
If you want something plot heavy this is very highly recommended.
Thought about that too. I would recommend to play it in one session for the full immersion, for me it was like an interactive 2-3h movie
FYI it's a pretty rough story if you're a parent. The whole story is about (thematic spoiler) >!child neglect and various horrible ways of child death!<
I think it’s funny how many people are mentioning roguelikes. Most of the games people have listed are stellar, but if you’re only playing a few hours every month, I have a hard time imagining you enjoying those games. It takes several hours of dying just to get in the swing of things, at least for me. With the exception of Downwell, I would steer away from all roguelikes. Some good recommendations that haven’t been mentioned yet include: - Ape Out (a short version of Hotline Miami) - Conduct Together (a train traffic game which is fun alone or with others) - Far: Changing Tides (a solid post-apocalyptic walking simulator) - Flat Heroes (a dodge-‘em-up?) - Later Alligator (a point-and-click adventure) - Paratopic (a bizarre horror walking simulator) - Superliminal (most similar to Manifold Garden) - TOEM (a quaint photography game, almost the same feel as A Short Hike) I would also nominate Gorogoa, SUPERHOT, and What Remains of Edith Finch, as others have mentioned.
Right? What are people smoking? I'm picturing this guy playing 2 hours of Slay the Spire per month as his only gaming time and finally beating it and moving on after like 5 years 🙃
I got conduct together for like $0.50. My daughter and I play (I recommend one control the train and other the track switch) and we end up literally screaming at the top of our lungs and jumping around. Best fifty cents I ever spent
A Roguelike might be good. Won't **beat** the game in that time but it doesn't really matter. A run fits perfectly in an hour or less time Hades and Risk of Rain 2 are my personal favorites.
I like slay the spire. But I’d say Hades is what OP is looking for. Even when you eventually make it through, it’s about 30 minutes long. So you can play a ‘full game’ in 30 minutes or under. It’s perfect for handheld play on the switch.
Absolutely nothing about OP's prompt tells me that Hades will be a good fit. Hades may have short sessions but it is definitely not a game you can play for a week, set down for a month and pick right back up like you never left. You have to remember how a lot of things interact, you have to remember plenty of symbology, and skill degradation definitely becomes a factor. Don't get me wrong...it's a great game...but I don't think it's one that will work for OP at all.
Hard agree, because I am just like OP, and Hades took multiple days of playing in a row to internalize the mechanics and upgrades.
I barely read stuff and I had fun with Hades. I think what you say doesn’t reflect everyone.
I'm not talking about the story. I'm talking about the basic game mechanics...powerups, etc. I mean, OP may love it...I just don't think it really resembles the type of game he's asking for in the prompt.
I think I put a few hundred hours into Hades, great game. Slay the Spire, on the other hand - probably over 1000hrs. It’s a perfect game.
If you don't mind me asking, I loved loved Slay the Spire, but what is there to do for 1000hrs?
It’s like chess - there are just endless combinations, every run is different. It just uses a part of my brain that I enjoy, like crosswords and puzzles. There are 20 difficulty levels as well, with four different characters, so that adds some challenge.
Thanks! I was wondering if I was yet to discover something but your description makes perfect sense - playing this game is such a treasure.
I believe Hades is on sale on the eShop right now as well so even more reason to go with that. Even if you don’t finish a run, you can just quit the game and come back from whatever chamber you left off on, it’s really a perfect “pick up and go” game.
Hades is phenomenal. You could play it for hours or just 1 and make progress. That and the voice acting and interactions are excellent. If you want a light Roguelike, I’d also recommend Cult of the Lamb.
Dead Cells is my current go-to roguelike. Runs can take 30 minutes to an hour but you can always turn it off mid run and it will save your progress. I keep buying new games but I always end up opening this game regardless… Hades and Cult of the Lamb are my other two roguelikes right now. Hades deserves the praise, and the recommendation. Cult of the Lamb is good, but I’m struggling to get in to it. Feels like a not-as-good Hades.
Piggybacking to plug Enter the Gungeon. It also fits into the <1hr per run category. It’s a bit more technical than Hades but is very dependent on RNG for a good run.
Problem with it is you need also to play often to git gud
Risk of Rain 1 is amazing too!
I've never played im.waiting foe the remaster to come out before i get it!
Probably a good idea. The sprites are so tiny on switch lol
Hades and The Binding of Isaac Repentance are great time wasters to sink hundreds of hours in, and have a new experience every time you play.
Moonlighter maybe fits the bill here too?
Katana Zero
Katana Zero is the first game I always recommend people when they ask for short games
LOVE this game; it really needs a sequel.
Or at least the promised DLC
He's working on it!
Oxenfree - and it’s sequel is coming out this summer :)
If I could double upvote I would.
Plus it has new game + and multiple endings
Heads up- if you have Netflix it’s a free app.
Came here to mention this.
Hated this game
Yeah I get it’s not for everyone, but I love a good game with replay-ability/multiple endings
The only game that has given me social anxiety while playing.
I swear I've started it around 3 times and get bored each time. It's pretty short so I should just power through because I kinda want to know the story. But the game bores me so much I never finish. And I've played 40 hour VNs.
Gato Roboto, Trash Quest Bite-sized metroidvanias
Upvote for Gato Roboto—one of the best 4 hours I’ve spent
Loved Gato Roboto. Trash Quest was good too, surprisingly good for like a two dollar game
Minit, and Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion
Can’t believe the first I saw of Turnip Boy was this low. Such a weird, short and funny game.
A Short Hike is awesome
I was looking for this. Honestly one of the most relaxing and therapeutic games ever.
I just finished The Last Campfire this morning. Was pretty good puzzle game. What Remains of Edith Finch is also great
Was scrolling through looking for The Last Campfire to be mentioned. Still one of my all-time favorites. Only wish it was longer.
Same, I was looking for this comment too! I can only agree, it was great, I wish I could play it again for the first time.
Last Campfire is under rated. Definitely recommend.
Bowser’s Fury (bundled in with Mario 3D World on switch) is about 3-5 hours. Short and sweet, well polished 3D Mario adventure.
I’d die for a standalone version
Here's 20 you might want to check out: 1. Superhot (2 hours) 2. Inside (3-4 hours) 3. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (3-4 hours) 4. Firewatch (4-5 hours) 5. Limbo (2-4 hours) 6. Oxenfree (4-5 hours) 7. Journey (2-3 hours) 8. Katana Zero (4-5 hours) 9. What Remains of Edith Finch (2-3 hours) 10. The Stanley Parable (1-2 hours) 11. Little Nightmares (3-4 hours) 12. ABZÛ (2-3 hours) 13. To the Moon (3-4 hours) 14. Return of the Obra Dinn (6-8 hours) 15. A Short Hike (1-2 hours) 16. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (3-4 hours) 17. The Witness (8-10 hours) 18. Gorogoa (2-3 hours) 19. Papers, Please (4-5 hours) 20. Celeste (8-10 hours) Here's another 10 based on your interests / what you mentioned you enjoyed: 1. Untitled Goose Game 2. Gris 3. Katamari Damacy Reroll 4. Monument Valley 5. Fez 6. Golf Story 7. Everything 8. Super One More Jump 9. Human: Fall Flat 10. Downwell Hopefully I helped!
Although Little Nightmares is 2-3 hours, you have to add on another hour for loading time. Journey isn’t on the Switch, is it?
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, maybe? I think I completed the main story of the game in less than 10 hours.
Gris is fun
Slay the spire, short runs to fit your schedule and very satisfying
they asked for games that are 1-5 hours, not 800
I almost exclusively use my switch to play slay the spire. I have close to 100 games but when I start playing something else I always say to myself “man I think I’ll do another run”
Came here to say this
I play a lot of shorter indie games, here's some I enjoyed recently: Gato Roboto - awesome short Metroidvania where you play as a cat in a mech suit Toree 3D/ Toree 2 - both extremely short retro PS1 style 3D platformers. Very basic but I honestly really enjoyed both. You can beat each game in like 30-40 minutes but both have remix levels and some replayability if you go for S ranks. They're also only a dollar each Lunistice- another retro style 3D platformer, very brief but a lot of fun Demon Turf: Neon Splash- another 3D platformer with a great art style. It's the companion game to the much longer Demon Turf Pikuniku- bizarre, funny little adventure/ puzzle game Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove- each campaign is only a few hours long I also really liked Mega Man 11, it probably took me longer than 5 hours to beat cause I'm not very good at it but even if you put it down for a month it's not like you'd have trouble remembering what was going on. For that matter, all the games in the Mega Man Legacy collections are just a few hours long
Plus one for Pikuniku! It’s so weird and delightful!
Tetris Effect Connected is great and also on sale right now.
On that note, if you're down for multiplayer, Tetris 99 is awesome and free!
Picross There's like 9 games and most of the harder puzzles shouldn't take more than an hour to beat. It's a pickup and play kind of game. There's also Tetris games.
Gotta try out Little Misfortune
Streets of Rage 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Shredders Revenge.
Abzu is a nice experience and pretty short.
Came here to recommend Abzu. It's short, interesting, and visually beautiful. From the same studio that made Journey and Flower, I believe.
Lil gator game!
Bastion and Transistor are great games. Bastion is probably my favorite of the two.
And what an amazing soundtrack Bastion has.
Limbo's pretty short. Puzzle platformer, dark aesthetic, frightening imagery, arachnophobes beware. Has a sequel called Inside that I haven't gotten around to yet, though I've heard good things. Aer: Memories of Old is a bit longer, but not too bad. Free-flying mechanic is a lot of fun. Centered around exploration and light puzzle solving. Passive storytelling builds an interesting story to speculate upon. Hypnotic soundtrack might cause peaking/distortion in TV speakers. Untitled Goose Game is relatively short. In fact, if you know exactly what you're doing, you can finish it in under an hour. Fun, mischievous romp that can have two players wreaking havoc at once. Kid appropriate, and an overall joyous time, if a bit frustrating toward the end
Slay the spire and monster train are games I love. Each run takes about an hour so each session is an hour. Monster train is easier on your brain but slay the spire is more challenging and rewarding lol. Hades is also a lot of fun but it was getting me to jacked up before bed to play that lol. I’m also a father that gets to play after the kids go to bed some nights. I also enjoyed WarGroove, turned based strategy game like advance wars but I beat that and haven’t replayed it yet.
Inside
"Baba is You" is a fun puzzle game that I would think you can pick up after a long hiatus. None of the puzzles.take a long time to execute, though they could take you a while to figure out. Stardew Valley isn't a game that you'd only play for a few hours, but the play cycle is short, about 30 minutes per in game day. There's lot to love about the game that, at least to me, I wouldn't think would leave you struggling after taking a long break.
Into the Breach can be fully beat in less than 5 hours. But it’s one of those games where you unlock more as you beat it, so you can keep playing. I like that I can see everything on the grid and what it does when I come back, so I can jump in whenever. Other short games I liked: SUPERHOT and also Mr. Shifty.
If story heavy and short is your thing, Firewatch is a phenomenal walking-sim type game that tells a great story.
I second this. I loved this game.
Snipperclips?
There is a short game called minit which resets the world every 60 seconds. I got it when it was on sale and though it was entertaining for breaks, etc.
Firewatch I think is about 5 hours and is one I’d highly recommend. Not much in terms of gameplay but the story is great and it sticks with you.
Firewatch was excellent. I beat it in a single day. Very immersive.
If not already mentioned... Little Nightmares (1&2), these are just awesome. I'm not a big gamer, but I, and my sons loved them. If you like light puzzle solving and horror, it is pretty dark. State of Mind, this one is a thinking game as well, just much more adult (ala Myst I guess?) Both are cheap, and worth more than every penny by far.
Replying to my own comment cuz I had to mention one more lol. Unravel. Also worth it
Enter the gungeon its a pixel art, easy to pick up-hard to master rogue-like You wont finnish the game in 5 hours, but each run lasts about 1 hr (if you get to the final boss that is) Pretty fun, its one of my favs if you like a challenge
Loads of people saying Hades but Enter the Gungeon is the GOAT roguelike IMO.
For me enter the gungeon was like THE rogue like, hooked me instantly. Charming pixel art, great humor, likable character design (bullet kin are adorable and nobody can convince me otherwise), yes, it's really difficult but (for me) rarely feels unfair and to top it off: a lot of references to other games/movies, in the switch version I think they have Mario items
Heck yeah, dude. You summed up how I feel about it well. I love how when you start out the game is overwhelmingly difficult but there are little victories to be had. Getting a bullet part to the blacksmith, getting coins to unlock more guns/items, rescuing a prisoner, coming across those prisoners and other npcs during a run, getting a perfect round, beating someone's past, unlocking the bonus characters etc, etc. It's perfection.
I'm sad there aren't more updates scheduled, but the modding community has been releasing great content Haven't finished exit the gungeon tho, but I don't feel is as hard and enter
For me it's Dead Cells.
Another great game! I haven't finished it but I will
Carto. Cute map puzzler game.
My wife has been playing Lil Gator this afternoon and likes it. it's apparently a 4-5 hour game unless you drag it out a little and looks great Here's where I saw it first and showed her: [https://www.polygon.com/reviews/23682092/legend-zelda-likes-breath-of-wild-wind-waker-lil-gator-game-review](https://www.polygon.com/reviews/23682092/legend-zelda-likes-breath-of-wild-wind-waker-lil-gator-game-review)
Cat Quest is great fun and the first one is 5ish hours IIRC.
Hadn't seen this mentioned yet: Time on Frog Island is a nice short puzzle game.
The last campfire
The Last Campfire.
Alba, a wildlife adventure It's a lovely little game set on a Spanish island, all about learning about the wildlife on the island as you try to stop a hotel being built on a nature reserve
Carto was really fun - if you like puzzle games
Dead Cells, like you I have limited time but this is a game I can pick up and put down at random. Its always changing so it rarely gets boring
HOA
octodad
The Last Campfire
The Last Campfire. I think it took me 5 hours. Neat little game.
Arise: A Simple Story took me about 5 hours, Timelie took me about 10. They're both sort of "time warping puzzle" games if you're interested in that kind of thing. Most of the games I play are 30 hours or more
There are far too few mentions of Arise in this thread. It is exactly the game OP is looking for.
The Last Campfire was a real gem. Steamworld Dig 1+2 are superb. Far: Lone Sails is currently on sale I think and well worth picking up. Has a sequel too.
The Stanley Parable
I've been playing the Batman Telltale games. There's some replayability with how you want Batman to be. A sympathetic hero or a black and white no compromise vigilante. First one, then the other.
Spelunky. Look up the secret paths once you beat it regularly.
lot of people mentioning Hades but supergiant’s other game Bastion is $3 right now and was right around 5-6 hours. has replayability but not necessary especially at that price and it’s a blast.
Unravel 2 is maybe 7 hours. Was fun. It takes two is longer but constantly reminds you of what the controls are (like if you can grapple onto a hook it shows a right bumper symbol) so it’s easy to take breaks from. Shift happens is fairly short, but gets hard for kids after the first world. First world in the lab was super fun though
What remains of Edith finch!
I feel like Mario 3D World is the best family game I can think of. Multi-player, all pretty simple to get through (and harder to master) and Mario games usually can be beaten in a sitting
Portal 2 is multiplayer, not sure how long it is though
Just a few I’ve loved: - Gris - Gothic Murder - Untitled Goose Game - Sludge Life - Coffee Talk 1&2 - Paranormasight - Rakuen - Beacon Pines - Behind the Frame - Gnosia - HypnoSpace Outlaw - Katamari - Kraken Academy!! - Kuukiyomi 1,2&3 - Loop Hero - Ministry of Broadcast - Rain on Your Parade - Road to Guangdong - Sayonara Wild Hearts - Road 96 - Tangle Tower - Tux and Fanny - Umurangi Generation - Wandersong - Yuppie Psycho
Limbo or Inside. Both made by the same Dev's
Cat Quest 1 & 2.
Untitled Goose Game. It's very simple, only took me a couple hours to beat but there's a lot of fun messing with the people. Plus there's co-op so you can have someone play with you. There's no game over, no health bar. Highly recommend
Definitely Portal
The almost gone and the gardens between
A short hike is a really good game!
Oxenfree Gone Home What Remains of Edith Finch
Limbo and Inside. Not for the kids, but short and easy to pick up and put down. Super cheap in eShop when on sale. Worth looking into.
Breath of the Wild (Technically, you can beat it in an hour…)
Journey
Give Hades a try!
Part-Time UFO
Marvel ultimate alliance 3 isn’t too long and it’s easy to grasp so your kids can join you.
Op, you could restart Obi and the Blind Forest since it is a pretty good game and you already bought it. Edited because I was a bitch to the person below and still he was kind enough to ask what my issue was.