In Praise Of The Short Mobile Game

We've somehow decided that value means length, that a good game must swallow your month. Playing Hollow Lantern reminded me how wrong that is. It took about four hours, and those four hours were among my favorites this year.

Short games can be complete. They start, say what they want to say, and end before they overstay their welcome. There's no padding, no daily-login treadmill, no fear of missing out if you skip a day. You just play and finish and feel good.

On a phone this matters even more. Our sessions are naturally short — a bus ride, a coffee break, ten minutes before sleep. A tight game that respects those windows fits the device better than a sprawling one that demands your evening.

I still love a big meaty RPG when I have the time. But I've stopped seeing a two-hour game as lesser. Sometimes the best thing a game can do is know exactly how long it should be, and then be that long.