The holidays are the perfect time to delve into the gaming back catalogue that you’ve steadily been putting off over the year. But if your pile of shame is large and your time off is limited, where do you even begin?
You’ll need to know two things: how much spare time you really have to play games over your break and how long it will take to beat your game of choice. I can’t help you score more time off but I can tell you the average playtime of your games.
How Long To Beat is a gamers best friend when trying to plan your spare time. The website lists how long on average it takes to complete a game’s main story, main story with side quests or how long it will take to 100% complete the game.
It suits a wide variety of playstyles but still consider these to be more like guidelines. Individual playstyles vary between players so they won’t always be perfectly accurate. But checking out How Long To Beat is a great starting point when you’re considering which game to dive into next.
So whether you’re picking a game you to knock out before work resumes for the year or you’ve only got a weekend of valuable playing time, here are a few recent games that will suit your window of time, whatever it may be.
Under 20 hours
Games under 20 hours should be easy enough to smash out over a weekend.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales: The latest Spider-Man offering was always going to be shorter than the original, which is perfect if you want a quick game for the weekend.
- Main story: 7 hours
- Main and extras: 12 hours
- Completionist: 16.5 hours
Star Wars Squadrons: Knocking over the main story of Squadrons should be an easy 1-2 day breeze. But if you choose to dive into the multiplayer matches then how long you spend there is completely up to you.
- Main story: 8.5 hours
- Main and extras: 13.5 hours
- Completionist: 21 hours.
Doom Eternal: Doom Eternal is another shooter with a manageable main campaign size.
- Main story: 13.5 hours
- Main and extras: 18.5 hours
- Completionist: 24 hours
Ori and the Will of the Wisps: The Ori sequel may be on the shorter side but every single one of its hours is captivating and beautiful. It’s a great choice if you can’t go away but still want to take a trip to another land.
- Main story: 11.5 hours
- Main and extras: 14.5 hours
- Completionist: 17.5 hours
20-40 hours
At 20-40 hours you’re gonna want to allow for an intense weekend of playtime or take these ones at a leisurely pace over a week.
Hades: Even though Hades comes in at under 20 hours, it’s a rogue-like, so 20 hours could very easily turn into 40. If the completionist rate is anything to go by, you’re better off allowing more time for Hades rather than rushing it.
- Main story: 19 hours
- Main and extras: 37.5 hours
- Completionist: 92.5 hours
Ghost of Tsushima: This action-adventure game offers an open world with a compelling story. You can probably smash out Ghost of Tsushima in a few dedicated days or immerse yourself over a whole week.
- Main story: 24 hours
- Main and extras: 42 hours
- Completionist: 52 hours
The Last of Us 2: The sequel is a fair bit longer than the first The Last of Us but offers a fairly straightforward playthrough. You may need emotional rest breaks but it’s still pretty achievable to get through The Last of Us 2 in under a week.
- Main story: 24 hours
- Main and extras: 29 hours
- Completionist: 39 hours
40+ hours
When you hit 40+ hours, say goodbye to your life. Binge these games over an intensive couple of weeks or chip away at them after work for months.
Cyberpunk 2077: Cyberpunk 2077 has endless things to do and see, so keep that in mind if you’re trying to get through it quickly. While you may be able to finish the main story in 20 hours, you’d be doing the game a disservice not to keep exploring all it has to offer. Like a fine wine, Cyberpunk is better if you take your time while consuming it, so you’re better off allowing as much time as possible to get the most out of your experience.
- Main story: 20 hours
- Main and extras: 49.5 hours
- Completionist: 86 hours
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Like Odyssey before it, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is an open-world RPG with endless things to do. Sometimes overwhelmingly so. Prepare to play the long game if you dive into Valhalla over your break.
- Main story: 52 hours
- Main and extras: 83.5 hours
- Completionist: 123 hours
Yakuza: Like A Dragon: Prepare to be sucked in by Yakuza’s latest offering. Allow plenty of time for this one because it definitely deserves it.
- Main story: 46.5 hours
- Main and extras: 64 hours
- Completionist: 94.5 hours
These are just some of the latest offerings from this year that you might be considering after Christmas. If your time is limited to a long weekend, maybe check out some of the shorter offerings. Or you can start on a 40 hour+ monster, but be prepared to part with it when the working week kicks off again.
Happy gaming!
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