Hello friends, Tim here again from Super Mayhem speaking these words too you.
Undoubtedly, video games are trending nowadays, more so than ever! May it be a kindergarten toddler on their mum’s phone, a teenage guy or girl on their console, or even a middle aged man living in his parent’s basement smashing his computer, everyone is crazy about video games. When one can buy such smart, thrilling, and entertaining games at a click of a button is it really a surprise that the fever of video games is going up and up?
There is a wide array of video games on the market. Ranging from in-depth RPG’s that are seriously long and tedious which lets the players play for hours and hours, and then there are some shorter ones which are quite time-friendly, compelling and exciting.
These are the bad boys we are going to focus on today. You know those classic shorter games that just hit the spot without draining half your life away? Yeah, those ones. So sit back, relax and smash that thumbs up button as we explore 5 excellent video games you can play in less than 6 hours.
1. Portal
Portal is definitely a modern classic! Even though it is 10 years old now, released on October 10, 2007,it could be described as one of the best games existing in today’s world when it comes to idiosyncratic and well-designed video games in the market. The premise of the game is exceedingly simple and ridiculously fun to master. Shoot some portals and teleport through some puzzles. The character which you have to delve yourself into whilst playing is named Chell, a prisoner who is confined in the Aperture Science Center. Lucky for us, GLaDOS (an abbreviation of Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System) gives you a portal gun for you to escape with and suggests you will enjoy some sweet sweet cake upon your success.
GLaDOS is the real star of this game in a sense, as it gives you quirky and increasingly scary messages in a some how amusing and endearing manner. The cake is a lie! You are just a guinea pig running through a maze!
You can finish a round of this game in just around 2 to 4 hours if you are a bit of a noob, whereas pros can beat it in like40 minutes. If you haven’t played this game already I’m sure it will have you hooked!
2. Journey
Our next game on this list was released in2012 on the Sony PlayStation and is known as Journey. If you decide to play this game you are in for a real treat. Journey is visually stunning and has a beautiful, cinematic soundtrack that will emotionally lull you into the digital world it creates.
Climb over incredible sand dunes, explore deserts and fantastic landscapes as a mysterious robed figure, who you control and make your path towards the mountain, which is the culmination of your journey.
To add to the artistic and mesmerizing feeling of the game at no point outside of the credits and title screen are any words shown or spoken. It’s just you, the music, the camera and your sense of adventure.
Journey was received with critical acclaim and commercial success to boot, in fact it was listed in the UK’s Official PlayStation Magazine as the 5th best PS3 game of all time, as well as winning multiple awards including best music by IGN and best downloadable game from 1UP.com,GameSpy, and GameTrailers.
Besides being such an interesting and attractive game, you could play the whole thing within just 2 hours!
3. Superhot
There is a huge number of first person shooting games floating around and titles like Counter Strike or Team fortress2 could easily make this list because of their hop in and hop out nature and rounds lasting 20 or so minutes. However here at number 3 we are going to focus on the game Superhot.
This unique shooting game stands out from the rest because of it’s minimal level of art and puzzling ambiance, which makes it super-exciting! Released on numerous platforms back on the 25thof February 2016, this kickstarter funded project blasted onto the scene and made an instant impact with reviewers considering the title to be an innovative take on the first-person shooter genre.
The game’s tagline “Time Moves Only When You Move” describes the gameplay, where action only continues when you move or fire your gun. This allows you to dodge bullets and plan your attack a little more strategically.
Interestingly a VR version was released a little later too. Pretty cool!
It takes just around 2 hours to play through this game, but these two hours will be filled with adventure and thrill.
4. Virginia
Need a little bit more mystery in your life? Why not check out the 2016 video game developed by Variable State, named Virginia.This interesting little piece of amusement follows Anne Tarver, an FBI Special Agent graduate, as she partakes in her first case; the disappearance of a missing boy in rural Virginia.
The developers made the decision not to include dialogue within the game, which is a bit unusual for a mystery themed video game. Instead, Virginia conveys its story through the physical actions of its rather large cast of characters, which turned out rather well and certainly adds to the intrigue.
Released on September 22, 2016 for PlayStation4, Xbox One, Windows and OS X, the game was well received. Game Informer even awarded it a score of 9.25 out of 10, and said “Virginia is a taut thriller that strikes a fine balance between storytelling and interactivity in a way that narrative-driven first-person adventure games have not accomplished since their inception.” High praise indeed.
Even if you aren’t running against the clock in a speed running tournament this game takes around 1 and a half hours to complete.
5. Super Mario Bros.
Ok, so maybe my channel is a bit biased when it comes to Mario, but the first iteration of the Super Mario Bros. on the NES is seriously a must play staple for any short fun wanting gamer. When it was originally released in 1985 Super Mario Bros. was considered a longer game due to its arguably stiff difficulty increase, but these days even non speedrunners can smash it down in around 10 to 30 minutes and still have a blast whilst impressing friends and foes alike.
Miyamoto hit a sweet spot that until then wasn’t filled. We all know and love the game and the subsequent series! Jump on some Goombas, watch out for those pesky Cheep-Cheeps and save Princess Toadstool from the evil Bowser. It’s a better love story than Twilight.
Whilst it is not as modern as all of the other games mentioned, when you are looking for an excellent short game to fill in some time, you can’t go past the original side scrolling masterpiece.
Summing Up So, this is a list of just five astounding video games in the market that you can play while spending less than 6 hours of your valuable time. Is there a game we missed? Of course there is, so let us know your favourites in the comments below. If you haven’t already given these listed bad boys a whirl however, then what have you got to lose? A few hours of your precious time? Come on, we both know you were going to waste it anyway. And that’s it for today friends, I hope you enjoyed this short list of sweet games, don’t forget to subscribe if you are new, smash that thumbs up button if you can, it really helps, and I’ll catch you soon.
