Highlights
- Short story games offer depth and immersion despite their brief playtime, providing a focused and impactful narrative experience.
- Games like What Remains of Edith Finch and The Stanley Parable prioritize plot and graphics to compensate for limited gameplay, resulting in unique and memorable experiences.
Not every game needs a long story that drags on for hours. Sometimes a short story leaves a lasting impact, and the game is focused on the story. Many current games focus on creating a large world to explore but miss out on a focused story experience. Short story games have lots of depth and are incredibly fun to play and immerse the player.
With how short many of these games are, getting invested and completing the game is an easy task. These stories do an amazing job of writing believable characters, environments, motivation, and mystery.
7 What Remains of Edith Finch
Walking simulators such as What Remains of Edith Finch feature little gameplay aside from walking. The plot and graphics are given all the care to make up for the lack of gameplay. The game takes 2 hours to complete or 3 for completionist gamers.
Gamers will play as Edith and explore the massive Finch house. Edith searches for any clues to help her understand why she is the last living member of her family. What Remains of Edith Finch is regarded as one of the best walking simulators due to the depth of the game despite its short playtime.
6 The Stanley Parable
The Stanley Parable is an incredibly short game but features multiple endings depending on player decisions. While many games aim to be serious, The Stanley Parable chooses to be full of humor while still maintaining depth. The game offers a unique experience that is worth a try as it only takes one hour and a half to complete.
Gamers play as a silent protagonist who discovers he is alone in his work office building, while an omnipotent narrator attempts to guide Stanley. Players choose to obey the narrator's wishes or can venture off whatever path they choose. Players can find odd endings by outsmarting the narrator leading to one of the most memorable joke endings in games.
5 Telltale's The Walking Dead Season 1
Telltale's The Walking Dead is a long game but is broken up into episode formats. There are five episodes in the first season of the game and each episode takes around two hours to complete. Every start of a new episode recaps all the vital details of the older ones for those with a busy schedule.
The Walking Dead is set in a zombie apocalypse and has a gripping story about two survivors who never would have met if it were not for the apocalypse. Players need to ensure the survival of both survivors and their group by making the correct decisions. The last decision in the game is considered by many to be one of the toughest choices in video games.
4 Papers Please
Very few games ever stir up thoughts regarding morality. Papers Please sounds simple on paper, but the game took the internet by storm and was positively reviewed by many. Papers Please is a puzzle simulation video game that puts players in the shoes of an immigration inspector at a fictional border checkpoint.
The game has 20 different endings depending on player decisions over 31 days in the game. Papers Please will take around five hours to complete or more if players want to experience more endings.
3 Firewatch
Despite having beautiful art, Firewatch carries a dark message. Firewatch is set in the fall season and is a joy to play as the art style is excellent. The game follows the story of Henry, a fire lookout in the Shoshone national forest a year after the 1988 Yellowstone fires. During Henry's work, odd things start to occur to him.
He and his supervisor begin to unravel the mysterious events and discover that it has ties to a conspiracy that occurs years back. Henry communicates with his supervisor through a radio and the two start to develop their friendship. The game takes around four hours to complete and features excellent art through its fall colors.
2 Florence
Florence has a cute art style and a story that stays with players even when they complete the game. The game lasts around 30 minutes and can be completed in a single sitting. The game focused on Florence Yeoh, a girl who feels stuck in a routine of work, sleep, and binging social media.
All this changes when she meets a romantic interest which causes her to change her view of the world and herself. Players will experience the relationship from flirting, fighting to growing apart. The game is full of emotion and is a must-play.
1 To The Moon
Despite being made with an RPG maker, the game has no combat, inventory, or party system. To The Moon is a 2D pixel RPG adventure game that is heavily story driven. The story follows two doctors that help patients relive their lives from the start, but only in their heads. Patients can rest in peace as they can only remember the life they wished to have lived.
The two doctors must traverse patient memories and all their life mementos. The story builds up when one of the patients wants to go to the moon as his dying wish. To The Moon will last around 5 hours.