Fallout 4. Metal Gear Solid V. The Witcher 3. Just Cause 3. 2015 has had no shortage of AAA games that have demanded many hours of a gamer’s time. While there is something to be said about these time-consuming experiences, it’s always refreshing to find something you can sit down with for a few hours and go through from start to finish. Here is a list of games that can be bought for less than $20 and beaten in less than 10 hours for those moments when you need to take a step back from post-apocalyptic Boston.
Her Story
Platform:Â PC, Mac, and iOS
Price: $5.99
Time to Beat:Â 2-3 hours
Writer for Silent Hill: Origins and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Sam Barlow, wrote and directed Her Story. In the game, players search through a police database watching clips from a series of interviews in an attempt to solve the case of a missing man. Searching for keywords that pop up in these clips will yield more interview excerpts ultimately unfolding into an incredibly rewarding narrative.
Two things make Her Story special. First, while there is a canon story and a way to get to an ending, there are a plethora of conclusions to be drawn at any given time during a playthrough. Ultimately, the story is over when the player decides that they have found enough information to be comfortable with the narrative they have experienced. This has resulted in countless theories about what actually happens in the game. But be warned, these theories do contain spoilers so you’d be best to avoid them if you’re intending on playing the game and want to keep it all a surprise.
Secondly, even though it is not required, the pursuit of the truth is more impactful when you play with a pen and paper; marking out keywords, drawing a timeline, jotting down theories, and keeping up with the characters in the narrative. Her Story generates an obsessive desire for piecing the story together while leaving you with moments of revelation that stick with you well after you put the game down.
Check out our full review of Her Story here.
Ori and the Blind Forest
Platform:Â Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC
Price:Â $19.99
Time to Beat:Â 7-10 hours
On the surface, Ori and the Blind Forest seems like a cute, quirky 2D-platformer designed for people of all ages to enjoy. However, spend a bit of time with the Moon Studios game, and you will learn that under the beautiful color pallet, endearing protagonist, and simple controls, there exists a game that is dripping with narrative depth, brutal difficulty, and creative gameplay mechanics.
Ori and the Blind Forest stands as a love letter to the Metroidvania games that precede it. A labyrinth of a map requires players to possess an equal amount of skill and patience. While the game at times has patches of extreme difficulty, death never seems unfair and the game gets you back to the most recent checkpoint quickly enough to foster the, “I’ll definitely get it this time,” feeling.
The most memorable part of Ori and the Blind Forest is the powerful narrative of restoring life to that which is dead. In the first 15 minutes of starting the game, the story grips the player without releasing them until it has been played to completion. Though the protagonist is silent, the environment, enemies, and epic boss battles speak for themselves to form an unforgettable tale. If you’re interested in finding out our full verdict on Ori and the Blind Forest, you can check out our review here.
Shovel Knight
Platform: PC, Mac, 3DS, WiiU, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, Linux, and Amazon Fire TV
Price:Â $14.99
Time to Beat:Â 6-8 hours
In a sea of pixel-art 2D platformers released on current-gen consoles, Shovel Knight quickly rose to the top in 2014 becoming a serious contender for Game of the Year. The reason? The game had a soul that few in the genre at the time displayed. No stone was left unturned by Yacht Club Games. The soundtrack, level design, boss battles, and story all had the quaint charm of a game molded by people with a deep respect for the genre.
Creativity bursts at the seams in Shovel Knight. From level designs that include being guided through the pitch black by quick bursts of lightning, to bosses that each have a unique set of skills and attacks. Each stage offers players a different set of challenges and it is this diversity in design that gives players the sense of mystery when entering into a new level.
There is also an expansion, Plague of Shadows, that allows you to play a whole new story as a boss from the original game, Plague Knight. The expansion alone, which is available for free, doubles the amount of content available for Shovel Knight.
For a full review, check out our thoughts here.
Undertale
Platform: PC and Mac
Price:Â $9.99
Time to Beat: 6-9 hours
Undertale, a highly acclaimed crowdfunded RPG, was developed and published by indie studio, Toby Fox. In the game, the protagonist is a human child who is attempting to return to the surface of the Earth after finding themselves in the monster-filled Underground. Along the way, the player will meet a cast of characters and experience a range of emotions.
One of the most unique elements of Undertale’s combat system are the options players have during battles with monsters. Players can choose to defend themselves, attack, or interact with the enemy in numerous ways — flirting, befriending, terrorizing, consoling, etc. — with a mercy option that is available to spare their lives. Each decision ultimately affects the plot and gameplay.
What makes Undertale such an endearing experience is its creative mixture of both comedy and emotion. For every character who operates in a serious manner, there is a comedic foil who provides relief in the midst of an emotional narrative. The presence of meta-comedy is also further evidence that the game operates from a position in which it doesn’t take itself entirely serious. Combine that with one of the more memorable soundtracks in gaming history, and you get one of the most satisfying play environments in recent memory.
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Platform: PC and PlayStation 4
Price:Â $19.99
Time to Beat:Â 4-5 hours
Step into an eerily mysterious search for a missing boy in the first-person horror-adventure, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. Playing as paranormal investigator Paul Prospero, the player will search an abandoned city for clues behind the disappearance of 12-year old boy, Ethan Carter.
This is a walking simulator that is what the player makes of it. While an ending can be triggered in under an hour, doing so would mean missing out on the number of paranormal and other-worldly layers that developers, The Astronauts, laid out for the players to stumble upon. Players who complete 100% of the puzzles are treated to the proper ending of the game that makes the whole experience worth it!
Gameplay is centered around puzzle-solving in an atmospheric world that tells as much of the story as the voice-acting and clues found scattered throughout the map. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is the perfect game for completionists who desire to search for artifacts and pieces of the story hidden in the deepest crevices of the beautifully designed open world.
Check out our review here.
Tembo the Badass Elephant
Platform:Â PC, PS4, and Xbox One
Price:Â $14.99
Time to Beat:Â 5-7 hours
Developer Game Freak, known for their Pokemon games, made a surprise announcement that they would return to the 2D side-scroller space with a new mascot platformer, Tembo the Badass Elephant. Crashing through walls, destroying tanks, and utilizing devastating butt stomps to kill enemies is just scratching the surface of the unique ways Tembo, a militarized pachyderm, can wreak havoc on the evil organization, Phantom.
Unlike the other games on this list, Tembo the Badass Elephant doesn’t contain much in the way of a story, choosing instead to communicate the narrative through virtually wordless comic book-style panels. However, for everything that the game lacks in story components, it more than makes up for in pure, unadulterated destructive fun.
Like any good platformer, the game increases in difficulty as it goes. Later levels in the game rely more on timing and skill than indiscriminately destroying everything in your path. With just 18 levels, the game can be completed in just a few short hours, but players will find the game is more about finding creative ways to cause mayhem and find collectibles than completing the story.
What are your favorite games that can be completed in less than 10 hours? Let us know in the comments below.
Published: Dec 4, 2015 03:18 pm