Shorter Games

ExhibitGames

Female Exhibitionist
Game Developer
Nov 10, 2020
45
100
I follow several game threads and one of the most common complaints is the "fans" accusing the developers of milking or dragging the game on without sex scenes or any substantial plot advancements.

Is it crazy to think that it would be possible to create a game that lasts 5 or 6 hours in total gameplay and tell the story?
Especially when it involves just a single developer. Games that have teams of people to code, do art work, and write the stories are not what I'm focused on.
It would seem to me if a developer was able to make a game that conveyed his story in 5 or 6 hours of gameplay (up to 10 hours) the game would have a better chance of being finished. In turn he could began a second game and a 3rd game and so on.
Then the developer would have a history of completed games and In my thinking would attract more people to support him or her.

I know a 5 to 10 hour game would still take a long time for a single developer to complete, but I feel the story would have to move quick enough to keep it fresh and keep people from accusing the developer of milking or dragging the story on for no other reason then to make the game longer then it needs to be to tell their story.

There are several people who like hours and hours of slow burn corruption etc...and that is fine, in fact depending on the game I like it too, so I'm obviously not saying every game needs to follow this formula.

Just thinking out loud here, curious if anyone agrees or disagrees. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
 

anne O'nymous

I'm not grumpy, I'm just coded that way.
Modder
Donor
Respected User
Jun 10, 2017
12,045
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Is it crazy to think that it would be possible to create a game that lasts 5 or 6 hours in total gameplay and tell the story?
Short answer: Yes, it is crazy.

Long answer:

It depend on what you call a story and what you expect from the players.
Chaixas-Games, among others, made a lot of 5-6 hours long games, but their stories are mostly limited to "you're a guy and you'll fuck girls". There's also CrazySky3D, who mostly made even shorter games, with a story a bit more deep; but the said stories are just a slice of life over at max a handful of days.
So, if you just want to make a game to which people will fap, with our without a semblance of story, yes, it's possible. But if what you want is a game that players will enjoy beyond their sole carnal desire, with characters that will make their way in players' mind, or a story that will make them want to know what will happen next, then the answer is no.

Whatever if it's a game like Summertime Saga, that stay light story side, or a game like The DeLuca Family, that is heavy when it come to its story, they all need tenth hours of story to reach their goal.
It need times to feel something for a character, the time to discover it, to learn about strength and flaws. For it to be more than just a shadow, players need to know this character, something that can't be rushed, and that also can't be done in a single take. The same can be said for the story, that need to be paced to be interesting, and that can't go straight to the point to be actually interesting.

Now, yes, some could argue that authors like Hemingway wrote stories that can be read in less than 5 hours and are still interesting, with characters for which the reader feel something. But they are slice of life. The Old Man and the Sea, by example, is a short story, yet it do not leave the reader indifferent. But it's a story that focus on a single event of a single character.
It's something that can be done even with adult games (see CrazySky3D) but, as I said above, it target people who just want to fap. There's no shame in playing those games, nor is there to make them, but it's mostly a porn video that isn't a video; a semblance of story, a more or less long sex scene, and the game end, what is good since you just finished your masturbation session. And this is not necessarily what people want.
The instant you want to have more than one sex scene, the instant you want for those sex scenes to make sense, the instant you want the player to have feelings for the characters and to anticipate the future sex scene, and/or the instant you want the player to be interested by your story as much as (s)he can be by his/her desire, you can not make something that will be just 5-6 hours long.


I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
My thought is simple: Stop listening to idiots who seek attention by trying to bash devs, period.

There will always be people to accuse a dev to be milking.
He release a new update every two week? There's not enough content, he do this to milk his patrons.
He release a series of 5-6 hours games? They have no interest, he do this to milk his patrons.
He make an amazing story that everyone like? He take too much time to release an update, that will have 1-2 hours of content, he's milking his patrons.

There's no win with those people. A dev will be milking the instant he do not make his game the way they want, at the pace they want, and with the content they want.
 

AY-AY-RON

Newbie
Jun 28, 2025
43
44
Since I joined this site, not much time has passed, and I think this is the third time I’m writing a message like this. No matter what you do, there will always be people who like it and people who don’t. Did you make a short game? Then those looking for a quick fap will like it, but people who want a good story will get mad at you. Is your game long? Then you must be someone trying to milk your supporters. Is the playtime "ideal"? (I don’t even know what that means) well, this time you'll get attacked for some other reason. The only logical course of action we have is to do things the way we want to because no matter what we do, there will always be someone who criticizes us.
 

CardinalRed

Amazing Dev
Donor
Game Developer
Sep 8, 2021
304
921
What you are saying applies mostly to visual novels. There's people with more than 50 hours of playtime in my game and still didn't see everything the story has to offer.