Whether it’s an RPG that tells a story over dozens of hours, or a strategy game that takes months to master, games are often a considerable time investment. For many people this is central to gaming’s appeal: nowhere else in art can you find such complete worlds to lose yourself in or such stern challenges to overcome.
Sometimes, though, after a long day at work or when you’re otherwise pressed for time, the idea of chipping off a few more experience points in a game like Destiny or sweeping up a couple of quests in the latest Dragon Age can feel like a Sisyphean effort. Sometimes its nice when a game gets to the point, and provides an experience that can be digested in a few hours rather than over several weeks.
So I’ve put together ten of the best games which can be completed in a single evening’s play. It’s important to note that these are whole games that can reasonably be run through in one sitting. Any game that would require you to rush, or a longer game split into short episodes — like Telltale’s The Walking Dead — wasn’t considered.
10.) The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
The Astronauts’ Lynchian detective game is arguably the most accomplished of the so-called “Walking Simulators”. It casts the player as psychic detective Paul Prospero, who arrives in the beautiful Red Creek Valley to search for a missing boy.
Much has been made of the game’s incredible visual design. But its approach to storytelling is what makes Ethan Carter interesting: Red Creek Valley is a place where the real and the surreal coexist quite happily, where the stories and fables inspired by the valley come eerily to life through Prospero’s heightened sense of things. Its influences extend from the pulp sci-fi of the Fifties to Lovecraftian horror.
9.) Limbo
It is a somewhat divisive game, but I’ve always been a fan of Limbo‘s shadowy aesthetic, minimalist puzzling and abstract storytelling. Long before the great survival parade marched its way through video game town, Limbo emphasised vulnerability over power, putting you in the shoes of a small boy in a nightmarish world of deadly traps and terrifying giant spiders.
Limbo does a lot with astonishingly little. Its interactions are simple yet highly tactile, all about grabbing and pushing and dragging objects around. This lends a strong sense of connection to Limbo‘s monochromatic world, which is partly why its grislier moments are so unsettling.
When it sticks to basics, Limbo shines. The final section, though, which involves messing around with gravity, gets a little silly. But for most of its brief running time, Limbo is an engrossingly twisted little tale.
8.) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
While a Call of Duty‘s multiplayer offering can keep you occupied for months, the majority of their singleplayer campaigns can easily be run through in a few hours. Despite seven years of sequels, in my opinion the series never bettered its first foray into a contemporary setting.
Modern Warfare mixes spectacular set-pieces with multi-pathed levels that allow just a little tactical manoeuvrability, and its campaign includes some of the most memorable moments in FPS history, such as the AC-130 mission, the A-bomb, and the exquisitely crafted ‘All Ghillied Up’.
Ever since Modern Warfare, all three CoD development studios have tried to bottle that lightning a second time. That they have never quite achieved this isn’t so much a comment upon their failure as it is a testament to Call of Duty 4‘s bombastic brilliance. If you fancy an action-packed afternoon, Modern Warfare‘s singleplayer is undoubtedly your best-bet.
7.) The Stanley Parable
Ostensibly, The Stanley Parable is about the illusion of player-choice in a game scenario. But really what it is about is jokes; hundreds of them. Hidden behind doors, scrawled on the walls, displayed on gargantuan computer terminals, The Stanley Parable delights in letting the player set up a gag and letting its velvet-voiced narrator deliver the punchline.
Set up around the eponymous Stanley’s search for his missing co-workers, The Stanley Parable kicks off by giving you a choice of two doors, at which point the game’s narrator states “Stanley walked through the door on the left.” The game’s many paths branch out from there. It constantly dares you to try to break it, and revels in showing you how it’s always one step ahead. Yet for all that it is never smug.
Originally released as a mod, the commercial version of the game expands its story-threads and mazy corridors considerably, but it can still be explored thoroughly in a few amusing hours.
6.) Gone Home
Gone Home begins with a traditional horror set-up. When Kaitlyn Greenbriar returns home from her globetrotting gap-year, she discovers that her family have mysteriously disappeared from the large, old house they recently inherited from a deceased uncle.
Yet as its narrative unravels through the memories and mementos of Kaitlyn’s family, it reveals itself to be something far more intriguing and rewarding. It’s a story of about love and sisterhood, about failed ambitions and strained relationships. At the same time, it never fully relinquishes that spooky atmosphere, always keeping you on-edge as you piece together its story. In a medium that deals with conspiracy theories and the supernatural on an almost daily basis, Gone Home‘s comparatively humble, human tale is a refreshing and edifying couple of hours.
5.) Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
A rare example of a game about brotherhood that doesn’t involve Assassins or chest-beating machismo, Brothers sees you guiding two boys across a picturesque fantasy landscape as they seek a cure for their dying father’s illness.
Brothers experiments with traditional puzzle-platforming by having you control both boys at the same time. Almost every action you perform involves using both brothers in some way, whether it’s crossing a torrential river or navigating a strange land of fallen giants.
Through their trials and their teamwork it encourages the player to establish a bond with the characters, which it uses to stunning effect. Brothers is a charming, engaging, and at times brutally sad little game.
4.) Grow Home
Grow Home was only released this year, but it immediately shot up my list of favourite games — it’s a concentrated dose of pure joy. It revolves around a relentlessly cheerful robot named B.U.D and his mission to retrieve the seeds of the Star Plant, a huge flower that grows into the stratosphere. Starting at the flower’s base, you must climb the stem and grow the plant in order to make the flower at the top bloom.
There’s so much to recommend about Grow Home. First off, it focuses so well on climbing, combining clever procedural animations with a dizzying sense of verticality. Ascending the Star Plant engenders a real sense of achievement. Every floating island you reach has a little something to make it worth exploring, be it a little upgrade crystal or some strange wildlife concealed in a cave.
In addition, its dual themes of growing taller and reaching higher make it a wonderfully positive experience, underpinned by lashings of cheeky humour and a stunning, vibrant aesthetic. For all that Grow Home is easily worth its measly £5 price-tag.
3.) To The Moon
To The Moon remains the only game to make me cry, and this coming from a man who played the mobile reboot of Dungeon Keeper. The cute and cuddly JRPG stylings bely a game of astonishing emotional resonance. Its story is framed around a company that implants memories into the minds of people who are dying, essentially granting them a last wish.
The subject of To The Moon is an old man who wanted to be an astronaut. As Doctors Rosalene and Watts flick back through his memories to locate a suitable implantation point, they become increasingly entangled in the man’s life, specifically his relationship with his curiously cold and distant wife.
To The Moon‘s puzzles are simplistic to the point of being asinine, and there are a few points where the game-side gets in the way of the narrative (the horse-riding section is particularly irksome) but in terms of storytelling and characterisation, you’d be hard pushed to find many better examples.
2.) Metal Gear Solid
Most of the games on this list are from the last few years, mainly because shorter, sharper games have proliferated lately. But I figured we should include at least one classic from times of yore, also known as the Nineties. And classics don’t get any more stone-cold than Solid Snake’s encounter with the FOXHOUND terrorist organisation.
There’s not much to say that hasn’t already been said, but it’s interesting to note that Metal Gear Solid was actually criticised for its brevity around the time of release. It pushes right up against the limit for being completable in an evening; somewhere between five and six hours when played at a comfortable pace. But if any game was worth staying up a little later to finish, it’s MGS.
1.) Portal
If I had only one night left on Earth, and I had to spend it playing one game, it would be Valve’s miniature masterpiece. The quintessential short game, Portal has everything: a unique concept beautifully explored; a subversive, witty script with a great twist; sharp, clinical visual design; a perfectly judged difficulty curve. It even has a musical number.
More important than all that, though, is how it’s all moulded so seamlessly together. Every aspect of Portal‘s design flows and merges like a river. Portal without the humour is as inconceivable as Portal without the test-chambers or Portal without the rips in space. The game doesn’t feel designed so much as if it popped biblically into existence, perfect and whole. And it achieves all of this in the same running time as a film.
Comments
45 responses to “10 Of The Best One-Night Games”
Pretty good list. Kinda surprised not to see Journey TBH.
Because Journey isn’t a good game.
Maybe to you, but a lot of people found it to be unique, uplifting and (depending on who you play with/ how you play) borderline spiritual (I say it jokingly, but as a gaming experience, few come close).
This is not going to be a popular opinion.
The truth is never popular.
‘Truth’ is a little subjective. ‘Personal opinion (Which aligns with the minority)’ is more fitting.
Edit: Not saying you aren’t aloud to not like it, but an opinion is an opinion.
I like you Shithead, you’re an alright guy
Yeah, I’d have Journey absolute top of the list. A masterpiece.
Still waiting on that PS4 port that was announced ages ago, too…
Yup, little games that offer big experiences are the best IMO. But each to their own.
Yeah. I loved Flower on the PS4 as a tech demo – it was pretty on the PS3 and stunning on PS4.
Where’s Journey? 🙁
MGS is the game that pushed me towards playing RPGs. I enjoyed it on release, but felt super ripped off because of the length. Finished it in a weekend and was like “is that it???”
I’d love to play it again sometime, though.
Maybe it was because of my age or school related activities but i swear that game took me at least 2 weeks to finish. Really want to play it again but the emulators for the ps1 just don’t feel the same imo.
Get a vita, play it on that. It’s wonderful.
Might look at getting a vita more seriously really want it so i can play the ps4 while others are watching tv, If i can play MGS on it though and not really disturb the better half or have the kids seeing the scenes they shouldn’t then it already pays for itself.
Yeah, I’m with you… If you went into the game not know a single thing about the game…
You had to content with at the very least… CODEC on the CD Case & Psycho Mantis, something that can trip you up for abit. Not to mention all the CODEC conversations and abit of backtracking, if you are finishing it in a night, then either 3 things are happening…
1) You are not trying to be that stealthy and kinda seems to be against how the game should try to be played.
2) Your using some guide help…
3) Skipping cutscenes.
Out of curiosity, how does the CODEC on the case work with the digital version, i.e. where you don’t have a case? What about psycho mantis? Does changing the controller number in the XMB substitute for how it worked on PS1 with corded controllers?
Yes the change in controller numbers works.
The codec number is contained in the electronic guide within the game.
I still rate Psycho mantis as one of the scariest characters i have ever faced in a game, Probably due to after playing him i pretty much chose not to play horror games. I always wanted to play more Konami games just to see if he could read the memory card like it said he could.
MGS games are always very replayable, including the first. Lots of little unlockables awarded after achieving specific criteria in a run. Having said that, it was 1998 (I think), and most requirements for unlocking were published in gaming mags. So I understand being disappointed with the length initially if you weren’t aware of the incentives to play through again.
THPS1 if you’re awesome like me. Seriously though half the levels can be easily completed in 1 run if you know what you’re doing. When I was like 12 I struggled and probably took a few weeks to complete it.
Nice list. I got a gaming tablet for emulation this weekend and played some old classic, those games could be beaten really quick if you knew what you were doing. I finished tony hawks 1&2 and alex kidd yesterday.
I distinctly remember playing through Oddworld: Abe’s Odyssey with a friend in a single night. Granted, it was almost an all nighter, but boy was that memorable.
The PS4 remake is a MUST if you enjoyed the original.
Got it, played it and finished it ☺️
Terminator Salvation: Shite game, but easy platinum and good fun co-op for some laughs. So bad, it’s good 😉
Metal Gear isn’t really a one-night game – especially if you go down the ultra-stealth route. R-Type Dimensions should also be on there. Otherwise, good list.
Yea it’s more of a two nighter.
The Unfinished Swan! Loved that game.
Solid list.
To The Moon, absolutely stellar! My partner and I started it one night at around 12, with in intention of playing an hour before bed. We completed it that night at around 4:30am, and I was in tears. damn that game!
It’s in my Steam list… I’ll get to it, I swear.
You absolutely should. I know it can be hard to get motivated to start new games sometimes, people are busy or they might feel like playing/doing something else instead… but damn, you need to make time for that game asap. And as per the article, it’ll be done in a night 🙂
I’d put Spec Ops The Line in my list. I played through the whole game one afternoon and was very happy with it.
Good to see Brothers up there.
I always like coming back to Heart Of Darkness (4.5 hours start to finish if you don’t get too bogged down on the end boss) and the Twinsen games (mostly for replay when you don’t have to backtrack too much). Cave Story is another good one to knock over in a night.
I know I play games slowly, but MGS in one night? How long are you considering as one night?! I’d say 3 – 4 hours and you can’t beat MGS in that time!
Journey would be my number 1 for sure. I want my mind wiped just so i can replay that for the first time again.
Haven’t played it yet, but it sounds like The Order 1886 could be on this list.
I’d add Bulletstorm , The Walking Dead Season 1 and Tearaway to that list. Among those already included, I’ve played Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Gone Home, The Stanley Parable, To The Moon, and Portal, all in one sitting each.
How is anyone playing through Bulletstorm in one night, or for that matter COD4?
Bulletstorm is pretty short, and it feels like a flick. It can be argued that it is a cinematic gaming experience, and one best done in one sitting. I don’t know about Call of Duty 4, is that the one with the sinking ship? Because I quit at that part.
Yeah that’s the first level – see I always hit a point with games where there’s some really challenging bit and so it takes more than one sitting to get through it. Bulletstorm was short compared to a lot of games but it still took me about a year to finish it because I don’t play things through in one go, I’d get bored of it that way!
I guess I’m that way too with some games sometimes, but after finishing every Souls game in existence, I feel like I can do anything now. Just don’t give up too easily and you’ll beat anything. That, or use a walkthrough.
I’d have Valiant Hearts, Strider HD and Mark of the Ninja on my list.
I am playing through Grow Home right now, and it is something really, really special. It could easily have been filled to the brim with filler content, but it’s just a simple game full of charm. It feels like a modern day N64 game and I love that. Play it.
It’s even harder to believe it’s a Ubisoft game, of all companies.
Hang on… No Super Mario?
There are a heap of oldies that can be finished in a night that are A1 and really top this list