Weekend Question: Do you check how long games take to finish before you play them?

[ZeyerGMR]

Not always, but I definitely do check more often these days. Depends on the game and genre, of course. As a general rule if a story-based, "single play through" game is pushing 30-40 hours I really have to think about whether I want to even start it. These days I prefer short and sweet... or endlessly replayable strategy types of games like Civ.

 

[Krud]

Most of the time I don't, as the number given usually doesn't match my own play speed. (I tend to explore a game to the point where I'm practically a freelance beta tester after the fact.) If a review or article mentions it, I might bear it in mind, but otherwise it doesn't matter to me.

There are some exceptions, like if a $30+ game takes under six hours on the first* playthrough, then I have to see how worthwhile those few hours are. (I'm currently on the fence about "Stray.")

(* - I say "first" playthrough because some adventure games take a long time at first but can be breezed through on subsequent playthroughs. Yeah, I'm lookin' at you, Full Throttle. But with love!)

 

[invader]

Told 'em you had the Plague, did you?

It was something like:
Me:-"Hi, job-boss, I need 24 hs rest for some plague-issue-thing... yes!" (GENIUS!)
job-boss: "Is it covid?"
Me: "no"
job-boss: "sure? we need tests and let everyone know"
Me: "something related with rats"
job-boss:"oh, ok get better, bye"

 

[bensniper9999]

no i just play them and find out

 

[GamerBobyd]

No, I don't check but note it if it is mentioned in reviews.

 

[Thewellnessgamer]

I ask the PCG staff a regular Weekend Question and post the answers on the site. If you'd like to throw in an answer here, I'll squeeze the best into the finished article!

This week's question is: Do you check how long games take to finish before you play them?

Howlongtobeat.com will tell you how much time it'll take to finish any given game, though the number for "Main Story" seems to assume a cutscene-skipping speedrunner's pace. Howlongtobeat's figures are pulled into both Augmented Steam and the Xbox App on PC, but do you actually look at how long games are ahead of time, whether because you're trying to figure out if they're worth the cost, or to figure out if they're short enough that you'll have time to make it to the end?

Of course. Since I got older, I need to know how much time I should be able to dedicate towards this game. Usually, I cannot play longer games anymore. Puzzle games, storyline RPGs, or short action shooters is the only ones I can play now. No more Fallout or Call of Duty Online.

 

[cyberdigitalmns]

yes for managing my time.

 

[Frag Maniac]

I generally only check the basics like gameplay features, graphics quality and of course make sure it's a genre and style of game I like. The only time I might check how long it is would be if I've read people saying it's a short game. More often than not if I check a game's length, usually on HowLongToBeat.com, it's to compare how long others have taken to beat it after I've already played it. Rarely do I check a game's length before playing it though.

 

[Jay The Sovereign]

No not usually, unless I decided to finish it before playing the game

 

[Colif]

I don't know if I ever checked to see how long Journey takes to finish, and well, due to its ending... when you stop playing it is up to you. You can get to the "end" in 90 minutes. But you don't have to finish there.

 

[Gugester]

No i usual dont check i jst dive in nd get lost in the game

 

[wayxide]

yes i do

 

[Blark30]

Yeah, I do check out of curiosity to know if it will take longer than 1hr

 

[STEL DR]

If I check the time, it defeats the whole purpose of playing video games !! Isn't it?

 

[imad.slh]

I usually take about two hours of testing and then I decide if I continue or not. but it also depends on the games, the story games I first check the test videos on youtube

 

[namelessgamer00]

yes

 

[Yousuf401]

Not really.... I just check their ratings and reviews on app store ....

 

[frankjunior10]

It depends on how difficult the game is, if it's intermediate, about 30 hours there, but if I play it not continuously. It is not actually calculable.

 

[Brian Boru]

Thread locked, since for some reason it's been attracting a lot of nonsense replies—probably @PCG Jody's charisma