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I hate 'small games'

No RPG elements? It probably goes here!
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Post by Eyestabber »

rusty_shackleford wrote: July 21st, 2025, 19:30
Val the Moofia Boss wrote: July 21st, 2025, 19:29
Small as in 1 or 2 hours long?
Games that are obviously small scope in design and development, with no real depth.



loop hero, etc.,

Was literally about to make a thread on this game. It's pretty fun.

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Post by Tweed »

I like Walter Machado's games and those can be played in about 20 minutes or less, but he charges pennies for them and they go on sale all the time too.
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Post by Bertram_Tung »

don't want no short **** game
don't want no short **** game
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Post by Kriptini »

There's nothing wrong with games that are small in scope as long as they're tight experiences. I'd say My Friendly Neighborhood is like that. It's only 4-5 hours long, but it's a really unique take on the survival horror shooter genre that I think is absolutely worth the price.
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Post by KnightoftheWind »

I dunno, I have more fun playing the recently-released "Earthion" than a majority of other titles I've tried so far. A game doesn't have to be 100 hours long to be worthwhile.
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Post by Element »

Don't mind if it's just free stuff on itch.io
And I don't greatly mind games with ~4 hours of gameplay if the game is good enough to play through several times. I'd rather that than plod for 20 hours.
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Post by swbgtoc »

At least these little games try new things and focus on pushing their one idea correctly instead of being bloated messes like all AAA following their checklist of engagement driving systems.
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Post by rusty_shackleford »

swbgtoc wrote: August 5th, 2025, 20:45
At least these little games try new things
where
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Post by swbgtoc »

rusty_shackleford wrote: August 5th, 2025, 20:49
swbgtoc wrote: August 5th, 2025, 20:45
At least these little games try new things
where
I played Tiny Glade last year. It's a castle building game, very minimalistic, no combat, a very small interface. You "paint" your castle more than you build it and the goal is just to have a pretty castle, that's it. It's very relaxing and refreshing.
Two years ago I played Unferat, a very small indie game about being a necromancer and it's the best necromancer experience I've had in a video game.
There's PVKK: Planetenverteidigungskanonenkommandant, not released yet but it looks fun, just sitting in your bunker blasting planes with your big anti-air canon.
Sailwind, it's just about sailing, that's it, the fun is sailing, because sailing is fun. No need for monsters or pirates or a deep story.
Ronin Trail, combat looks cool.
Also I bought Fallen Aces but idk if you would consider it a small game, still I highly recommend it (once it's out of early access)

Nothing is groundbreaking but they all focus on one idea, one feeling, one mechanic and put everything behind.
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Post by rusty_shackleford »

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Post by sheet »

"What if we remade Pac-Man, but had none of the tuned behavior algorithms" is essentially how 99% of indie games come out as.
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Post by asf »

length tells nothing about game quality
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Post by rusty_shackleford »

asf wrote: November 12th, 2025, 18:38
length tells nothing about game quality
short games are inherently bad because every dev knows there's more they wanted to put in but didn't have the time to
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Post by DemoGraph »

rusty_shackleford wrote: November 12th, 2025, 18:51
short games are inherently bad
That's what she said.
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Post by Lord of Riva »

Oftentimes innovative mechanics never fully thought out, so I agree with the Premise of rusty. They could become real games, but it seems to much of a bother for the devs.
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Post by Cassidy »

There was a time such games were no more than Newgrounds slop and no online game rental store worthy its salt would ever agree to host them in their platform. Wouldn't be surprised if the 5% best Newgrounds small games made in Flash were objectively better than what is being churned out nowadays.
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Post by rusty_shackleford »

End result of "just make small games":


It was always about trying to make money, there's no heart in any of these


And yes, we receive tons of offers for keys for these ****** games, I filter thru them daily

Last edited by rusty_shackleford on January 25th, 2026, 20:02, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Tweed »

rusty_shackleford wrote: January 25th, 2026, 20:00
End result of "just make small games":


It was always about trying to make money, there's no heart in any of these

I don't think is about small games as much as it is about modern developers being uncreative, unoriginal ******* who only know how to chase trends and copy people.

9/10ths of games in my Steam queue arr rook same. If I had a dollar for every dickbuilder and game that made you pick from one of three perks on leveling, I'd be rich.

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Post by Maledict »

Wanting long-form only is a sign of deep poverty brain. You want the most for your money because you're anxious about your money. You're wrong to feel this way. I hope you heal. I can't wait to finish Elden Ring. I can't remember the last time I've played a game which hasn't overstayed its welcome. LET ME GO!

I also strongly prefer shows which are 20min or so per episode, rather than an hour. I'm fine with movies being 3h+ though. But I don't like the length for the sake of it - Avatar 3 for example would've been much better and shorter if they just cut out scenes with the kids, which add nothing but annoyance.
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Post by rusty_shackleford »

Tweed wrote: January 25th, 2026, 20:03
I don't think is about small games as much as it is about modern developers being uncreative, unoriginal ******* who only know how to chase trends and copy people.

9/10ths of games in my Steam queue arr rook same. If I had a dollar for every dickbuilder and game that made you pick from one of three perks on leveling, I'd be rich.
Near all the ideas anyone can come up with for a 'small game' would be remixing what's already done at this point. And most of those were just stealing from NewGrounds to begin with.
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Post by rusty_shackleford »

Maledict wrote: January 25th, 2026, 20:04
Wanting long-form only is a sign of deep poverty brain. You want the most for your money because you're anxious about your money. You're wrong to feel this way. I hope you heal. I can't wait to finish Elden Ring. I can't remember the last time I've played a game which hasn't overstayed its welcome. LET ME GO!

I also strongly prefer shows which are 20min or so per episode, rather than an hour. I'm fine with movies being 3h+ though. But I don't like the length for the sake of it - Avatar 3 for example would've been much better and shorter if they just cut out scenes with the kids, which add nothing but annoyance.
money?

[edit]
Also, I already covered in this thread that there can be small games that take a long time to beat by stretching it out. Read the thread.
Last edited by rusty_shackleford on January 25th, 2026, 20:06, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Maledict »

J1M wrote: July 21st, 2025, 21:12
I would rather have a small game than a game that hides it's real game behind 100 hours of grinding like many games do these days via roguelike elements.
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