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Why don’t you play more adventure games?
This is popular for FPS, MMORPG and similar games - you can play it in anytime you want, you should have only 20 minutes for playing it and when you finish, no problems. On the other hand, adventure games are usually “slower”, you need more time to get in, you need more time to play it in longer time windows and if you make a break for few days, you dont remember what happened before.
I get your point, but there are literally hundreds of short AGS games which even have the description that can be completed within 30 minutes. Most of the games are available for free too, so it can’t be the only reason.
Yes, that is true. But usually in 30 minutes it is not easy to show proper story and proper puzzles. I must say that I dont know so many good adventure games with so short gameplay. Can you recommend me some to play?
I don’t play more ag’s because I don’t find as many of them worth playing. Still, I am playing “more” ag’s now than I was, say four years ago. More are being made, and that is a good thing. Onto Mage’s Initiation!
”Ha, ha. Little graveyard humor there.”
But usually in 30 minutes it is not easy to show proper story and proper puzzles. I must say that I dont know so many good adventure games with so short gameplay. Can you recommend me some to play?
One that I recently finished is “Echoes of Terra”.
It is surprisingly solid for a five room game. It has a science fiction background story, it has a set of puzzles, it has some action sequences, and it even has a rarely seen psychic power function in the action verbs. And a totally unexpected plot twist too.
The very last puzzle is surprisingly challenging, if you don’t study all things carefully, and may make the game session last longer than 30 minutes.
I got stuck in that for a moment, I even tried to see if there’s a walkthrough solution, well, there isn’t, so I just had to crack my brain to solve the game. I did it, and I plan to write a walkthrough too, when I get to it.
Negative things about it are that the animation is a bit clumsy, and for such a short game there’s maybe too much action (you can get killed), and there are not enough clues to the solution of the last puzzle.
Overall, I think it’s a great example of an extremely short game that delivers a lot.
Because I play other games. I play Visual Novels, JRPGs, Survival Horror, Interactive Movies too.
Adventure games are about 25% of my collection.
I enjoy playing adventure games on my Alienware M17 r4 and my Nintendo Switch OLED.
Because most modern adventure games are too serious and thus boring. I like to play comedy games with humour like Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Simon the sorcerer or even old Broken Swords. Today moat of adventure games are horrors, thrillers or drama/criminals, they don’t have the escapism factor to me.
Adventures are about the only games I play, so in my case the question amounts to why I don’t play more video games, the answer being that there are other things I like to do in my free time - reading, working out, watching movies, playing with my cat, having drinks with friends… especially since I already work with a computer most of the time, so I like to get away from the screen when I can. For me, it’s not about the quality of the newer games, since I don’t mind replaying the oldies, and even if more attractive games (according to my criteria) were released every year, I wouldn’t have time to play them, my current backlog is long enough as it is! Depending on the period, I consider that I spend quite enough time playing AGs anyway 
...especially since I already work with a computer most of the time, so I like to get away from the screen when I can.
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With most modern products being a concoction of disparate genres, my craving for similar exciting experiences as those in my cadet years keeps getting moderately quenched; they also tend to catch me off-guard more than most pure AGs.
My answer is also TIME. I play about six games a year on my own. I supplement that by playing around two CPTs a year.
I don’t really know what the “average” is anymore, but let’s assume that the average playing time for an adventure is around 20 hours. If you play two games-per-month, that’s 480 hours-per-year that you spend playing games.
Assuming you sleep eight hours-per-day, you are awake for 480 hours-per-month.
So, essentially, you are giving up one month-per-year to play adventure games.
Sorry! I like to practice on my guitars. At least an hour/day. Am I willing to give that up for more game-playing time? No. I love to take my dog for thirty-minute walks at least five times a day. (It’s not only fun, but it is good for my health as well as his.) I also love to cook. So I will likely spend one hour+ every day preparing dinner. And, at the end of the day, I also like to relax, sit back, and watch a movie.
There are threads titled something like “Games I Played in 2018” and some people will list thirty or more titles. My question is not “Why don’t you play more adventure games?” but “Where did you find the time to play that many adventure games?”
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
I don’t really know what the “average” is anymore, but let’s assume that the average playing time for an adventure is around 20 hours. If you play two games-per-month, that’s 480 hours-per-year that you spend playing games.
Twenty hours *on average* is really way too much. There simply aren’t many adventures that take MORE than 20 hours. Mostly older adventures (TLJ and Dreamfall, Mystian puzzle games, Black Dahlia for instance) and some modern ones: The Witness (73 hours in my case 
) and INFRA. Games like Xing, Obduction, and even a 3rd-person adventure like the St. Christopher’s School Lockdown come close to twenty hours. But the overwhelming majority of modern games takes less than ten hours on average: the Room series, Gorogoa, Orwell, Tacoma, Night in the Woods, Pony Island, Firewatch, OneShot, Machinarium, Chuchel + other Amanita games, the Sexy Brutale, even an oldie like Kyrandia 2 which I played recently took me only about 8 hours. And I assure you that I take my time.
Butter my buns and call me a biscuit! - Agent A
The operative word was “assume.” I assume that the average adventure takes 20 hours to complete. For every “short” game there is a Thimbleweed Park, or Stasis that seem to take forever to finish.
And I think you also missed the point that there are nights when I would rather unpack the Strat and make sure I have nailed “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” than play a game.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
The operative word was “assume.” I assume that the average adventure takes 20 hours to complete. For every “short” game there is a Thimbleweed Park, or Stasis that seem to take forever to finish.
My point was that your ASSUMPTION is wrong. No, there’s not a Thimbleweed Park for every short game you can finish in a few hours..
And I think you also missed the point that there are nights when I would rather unpack the Strat and make sure I have nailed “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” than play a game.
I didn’t address that because it was irrelevant to what I wanted to say.
Butter my buns and call me a biscuit! - Agent A
The operative word was “assume.” I assume that the average adventure takes 20 hours to complete. For every “short” game there is a Thimbleweed Park, or Stasis that seem to take forever to finish.
I don’t think Stasis took me any longer than 6-7 hours.
Twenty hours *on average* is really way too much. There simply aren’t many adventures that take MORE than 20 hours.
The Moment of Silence manual, page 2, first paragraph, first sentence:
“Congratulations on buying this adventure game, which will give you thrilling entertainment for weeks to come.”
Of course, in that case the possible game length is because you get stuck in a few illogical puzzles or miss some hotspots or whatever, but at least the copywriter of that manual has an estimate that goes quite beyond that assumed average.
I won’t talk about myself (I’m too busy MAKING adventure games to play them - though I still do play 2 or 3 per year)
But I believe what adventure gaming lacks nowadays is BIG, popular names. People usually look for more titles in a genre when they’ve played a super popular game for the first time so they’re craving for more.
No kids nowadays will play adventure games because they don’t have any exposure, especially when compared to the genres well suited for streaming (online and/or shooting games are unfortunately what gets the most exposure…) There isn’t that “first time”. Most simply will never play a single adventure game in their childhood and that’s a HUGE issue for the genre future. Only 30+ aged people play adventures now.
It’s a vicious circle of course - less players means less budget allocated to these games means less exposure means less players. Not so sure how the genre could ever get out of this circle but I guess “choice driven 3D” games like Life is strange or Detroit/Heavy Rain etc will still be around for a while to get some exposure to the genre (even if I’m personally not a big fan of these, they seriously lack gameplay)
Of course it’s also due to lack of action. Too many people are not attracted to games which require to use your brain without killing stuff. I’m trying to aleviate this with my new game in development in specific gameplay ways that should hopefully resonate well for both adventure gamers and non-adventure gamers.
French creator & solo developer of “BROK the InvestiGator” (coming soon) and “Demetrios” (Available on PC, iOS, Android, PS4, Xbox One, PS Vita and Nintendo Switch)
A handy way to know if something is super long or very short is How long to beat.com. I find it to be fairly accurate most of the time. If I’m in the mood for something short I can take a quick look and make sure I didn’t just load up a 20 hour game.
It might surprise you how short some of the older games are. The Sierra games can be very short if you don’t make too many mistakes. And I don’t think any of the LucasArts games are above 12 hours for most people.
Average times
The Witness - 18 hours
The Moment of Silence - 13 hours (only 5 playtimes counted)
Obduction - 12 hours
Thimbleweed Park - 11 hours
Riven - 10.5
Broken Age - 10 hours
Broken Sword - 10 hours
Monkey Island 3 - 7.5 hours
TSIOQUE - 3.5 hours
Of course you can’t rely on it to be 100% accurate, but it can give you a good idea what to expect.
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