Suggest a short game

[Ando85]

Right now I have a pretty clean slate of gaming. I wanted to not be too involved in other games because tomorrow I'm going to be getting Xenoblade Chronicles which I'm dying to play. I think it would be pointless to start up a game only to drop it in a day.

So, I am looking for a short game that could be finished in the course of a day. XBLA games are probably the best bet if you can suggest one. Thanks.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Check out the MolyJam games. A bunch of free games made on a limited time frame with ridiculous premises like:

You control a mystical rabbit at a bus stop during Winter. You must find as many creative ways as possible to make people miss their buses.

You are a bear but for some reason your oxygen comes from hugging people. Problem is that hugging people breaks their bones.

Game where you play a life support machine in a hospital but during the night you turn into a diseased rat.

Lots of them are pretty fun. If you have a significant other who also likes to play games, there's a platformer called Parkamour where your characters have to hold hands to jump. Or there's a game called Old Man Babby where you age and de-age in order to solve puzzles and platform.

 

[Fat Hippo]

I thought Bastion and From Dust were quite good. Bastion might take you a bit longer than one day, but From Dust should be no problem at all and I really enjoyed it. It isn't for everyone though, so you may want to read a review first.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

You should give Minesweeper a whirl.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

Portal?

 

[Launcelot111]

This is one of the greatest games of all time. I will say no more

Spoiler

http://www.kongregate.com/games/Mazapan/you-have-to-burn-the-rope

 

[Poerts]

Lone Survivor. it's essentially a 2D Silent Hill, and is entirely excellent. You can find a demo for it here http://www.kongregate.com/games/superflat/lone-survivor-demo and pay the creator some cash money for the full thing over here http://www.lonesurvivor.co.uk/

It's not that short, I guess, but I got through my first playthrough in 3-4 hours.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Oh, and speaking of 2-D horror games, Porta Lucis is pretty good so far. A major inspiration is Jacob's Ladder (a source for some of the Silent Hill series' more unsettling imagery) and it shows. It's a roguelike, but it's highly accessible. Story is told in an interesting way, and the game rewards experimentation.

 

[Rawne1980]

Dungeon Siege 3.

Only takes a few hours to get through and you can play co-op if single player bores you.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

I heard you can complete Skyrim in under an hour.

Or you could just play Solitare/Pinball/Minesweeper.

 

[k3v1n]

I don't know any XBLA games so I can't recommend you any. But, I can recommend you "The Darkness II" it's only like, 6-7 hours short and I had a good time playing it.

 

[Sonicron]

I don't know any XBLA games so I can't recommend you any. But, I can recommend you "The Darkness II" it's only like, 6-7 hours short and I had a good time playing it.

I'll second that suggestion.

Also, "Dear Esther" is definitely worth your money; estimated duration is 80-120 minutes.

 

[Forgetitnow344]

Shadow Complex and Limbo are two awesome and short XBLA games I've personally enjoyed to death. Banjo-Kazooie and Beyond Good and Evil HD are two others I can beat in a day, but I dunno if someone playing them for the first time could.

 

[Kahunaburger]

http://jayisgames.com/cgdc6/?gameID=9

The guy who made this, won 3 grand in the competition it was entered in.
The theme was exploration.

+1.

I remember this game being awesome.

 

[Quaidis]

If you have a PS2 laying around, you could always invest a few hours into Way of the Samurai (1 or 2, 1 being better). Or give Shadow of the Colossus a whirl; that game never gets old.

Most short games I play are on a Ds, so I don't know much help that would be do you. If you have a DS, Elite Beat Agents or Ninjatown. Or a Phoenix Wright game.

 

[Mouse_Crouse]

Looking over my list of XBLA games:

~Bastion
~Bomberman Live
~Burnout Crash!
~Castle Crashers
~Comic Jumper
~Crazy Taxi
~Doom
~Doom 2
~Duke Nukem 3D
~Earthworm Jim HD
~Gatling Gears
~Hexic HD
~Ikaruga
~Laura Croft: Guardian of Light
~Marvel vs. Capcom 2
~Ms. Splosion Man
~Ms. Pac Man
~NBA Jam
~Pinball FX 2
~Plants vs. Zombies
~Risk Factions
~Serious Sam HD The First Encounter
~Smash TV
~Sonic 2
~Sonic 3
~Splosion Man
~Swarm
~Tetris Splash
~TMNT 1989 Arcade
~Turtles in Time Re-Shelled
~Uno
~Vigilante 8
~Wolfenstein 3D
~Worms 2: Armageddon
~Worms: Ultimate Mayhem
~X-Men

Bold: Can Complete in a day, but might not really be able to "finish" 100% in a day. This will also depend on how fast you play this particular genre.

Italic: Puzzle or Arcade like game that cannot really be "finished" at all.

Underline: Would take more then a day to finish, IMO. Usually the better deal in the long run, but not what you asked for.

So to directly answer your question. I would say go by the ones that are Bolded or Italicized (quick to complete, or something you can pick up and put down easily). But the underline ones will give more time invented overall.