How Long Is A Good Game?

I simply want anybody who is reading this' opinion on how long a good game should be. I am making the first game of a series (but that shouldn't matter in your answer please).  There is also a poll for you to answer!

Thanks!

Well, I've played a game that only took 2 hours to complete. Yet I've played a game that literally took a whole day to complete. I guess it all depends on how long you feel like making it. 

As long as it needs to be.

A good game is just long enough.

You can't apply a specific time frame to any game. An online game for instance, will have hundreds of hours of gameplay. A single player FPS may have a 5-6 hour story, or maybe a 10 hour story, whilst an RPG may have a 40 hour story. Yet all three of those games could be good.

It all depends on how much content you've got. As long as your game never gets too boring, or takes too long and costs too much to develop, you're sweet.

A real game should be as long as it needs to. An RM game should be less than five minutes.

As long as it needs to be.

This. It all depends on how interesting you can make it 

Well, since I'm making a series of games, time is EXTREMELY flexible. If I wanted to, I could end the game in the next 20 minutes of it, (which I don't really want to do =)) or I could end the game in the next 2 hours of it. I'm just asking how long an enjoyable RPG Maker game is.

P.S. Nice signature Roph =)

Why even worry about how long your game is time-wise? It should be as long as it needs to be, as Madriel said. With a typical RPG, you are telling a story, so have your game be as long as you need it to be to tell that story and have it feel right to you. If it feels like the story is moving along too fast to you, then you can slow it down with some diversions and additions to drag out the time frame a little longer. If it feels too long and slow to you between two sections of the story, cut down a bit on the distance and such. Make it as long as it needs to be to feel like a good game.

I'll have to except that answer as a good one. Thanks for it! =)

3-4 hours...less i think it would be too fast... Longer...Would start to annoy...

I'd say a good game is long enough to leave the player satisfied.  If the game feels like it could have had more to add, or they're desperately (yet reasonably) wishing that it would be longer, then it probably should be longer.  Or just add some decent replay value to it, or make it fun enough or with a powerful enough story that people will want to play it again.

Long enough to be complete, short enough to not overstay their welcome.

Short enough to keep me entertained, but long enough to keep me satisfied. I guess it all depends on the game itself, after all.

As stated before as long as needed to keep it interesting/satisfying.

Well, what I am aiming this thread for is to have other people's opinions on how long a game should be without boring the players. Everyone can continue to answer, and please do!

well, basically it has been said already.

Short enough to keep me entertained, but long enough to keep me satisfied. I guess it all depends on the game itself, after all.

As stated before as long as needed to keep it interesting/satisfying.

Well, this is a very difficult poll.

It all depends on the game itself, after all.

For example, I wouldn't play Final Fantasy for more than 70+ hours. I know it is an awesome game but it doesn't have much except the gameplay and story itself to keep us playing.
On the other hand, Star Ocean Till The End of Time managed to get me playing it for more than 100+ hours, since this game has everything to keep me entertained and satisfied. It has rich gameplay, wonderful storyline, awesome music, and tons of quests to keep us playing and playing and playing again. Not to mention that it has the Universe Level, which is very challenging.

It's just an example. My point is, a game can never be too long if it is entertaining & satisfying enough.

Things change when you get older. I don't have time to play 100+ hour games anymore, so I appreciate shorter games a lot more.

Umm, please don't tell me you want me to make a 100+ hour game using rpg maker!!!! lol

If you're making games as a series that are continuous, then you can make each game have about a 1-2 hour length (excepting any extra/side stuff). Even if you spread out the series over several parts, the parts themselves are short enough for casual players to pick up and go with. The only real important thing is making each game in the series interesting enough to keep players following.

As most replies have said: a good games needs to be as long as it needs to be. If you can have the main story introduced, played out and wrapped up in 3 hours, then the games needs to be 3 hours. Anything outside of the main can be added as extra for the more serious gamer to pursue. To these gamers, time is often irrelevant anyway; they just want to get/see everything there is to see (and sometimes more).

Maybe some better advice is: don't worry about the time. Focus on the game and making it engaging and interesting, and to sum up, a good game. I've played games that have had be engrossed enough to forget about how long I've actually been playing it because I wanted to know how it unfolds. The issue with time becomes a problem when you realise that for the last 2 hours you've done nothing but run around in circles not getting anywhere.

It really depends on the kind of game. An RPG with an engaging storyline and the right features could be of indeterminate length... too many features and your game's novelty will face the danger wearing out before you get a chance to properly use them all.

A good RPG game with gradually introduced, thoughtful features will probably be 15 hours+ (like Legionwood, one of the only RM games I actually like playing.)

Not a guideline, just an observation.

A good game is beatable.

Null-voted.
As long as it takes to unfold and explain every plot point.

Just tell the story, dude.

Why is everyone dragging this thread on after it was needlessly bumped by an obvious spammer?

Edit: Spam removed.

Ok, here's one more question for you guys to answer!

I could make this game a very long game, with lets say 2 "parts" of the story in one game. Or, I could make 2 separate games with a continuous story.

So what I'm asking is, would people enjoy a 6 hour game or two 3 hour games?

People would enjoy the game regardless. The clever ones at least, there will always be someone who'd dislike it solely because it's short.
Since you could divide it in two parts, I suppose the plot unfolds in two separate acts. In this case, I'd suggest to release the first part, see what people liked/disliked about it, and finetuning the second part based on gamers reactions.

Yes, but keep in mind that each installment needs to be its own buttoned-up story. In other words, if I play 2 without playing 1, I want to know that there is a background, but still know enough of the characters and setting to enjoy the sequel. If you do it right, you'll have me wanting the original.

(eye candy + maps) * sqrt(Enemies+NPCs) * (options + party members)

Basically, more maps and pretty scenes, directly increases play time. Options, like customization and having a lot of different choices in actors also increases play time. Less important are the number of enemies and Non Player characters. Even the best movie gets broken up into 3 hour blocks because there's no interaction.

If you want to see the main idea of the story, press this link. -> http://randominkgames.webs.com/apps/wiki/epequest-journey-to-sisseneg

To paraphrase my English professor, a good game is like a skirt: needs to be long enough to cover everything and short enough to hold my attention.

*depends*

*depends*

OK, what are you saying by that?

well, basically it has been said already.

Short enough to keep me entertained, but long enough to keep me satisfied. I guess it all depends on the game itself, after all.

As stated before as long as needed to keep it interesting/satisfying.

Long enough to be complete, short enough to not overstay their welcome.



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I think that things to take in account are:

1. Have you told the story?
2. Is it well paced?
3. Is it fun?

Those should be the deciding factors in how long your game is.

If there is never a dull moment, the game can be 100 hours and people will still enjoy it. The only time gamers complain about the length of games is when it has dull and boring moments in it such as battles.
I, for one, am very tired of battles in RPGs and plan on making a game in which the player battles certain monsters/characters once. Except for Gilgamesh, of course. ^^

I like a long game, at least 15 hours I'd say, and if not that long, it's fine if it's nonlinear so I can make it's length fit my needs heheh

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." - Abraham Lincoln

I like a long game, at least 15 hours I'd say, and if not that long, it's fine if it's nonlinear so I can make it's length fit my needs heheh

15 hours is very short...  I have not played many single-player games that are that long.  Most RPGs are between 30 and 50 hours long, with some of the longer ones reaching about 70-80 hours, maybe even 100+ if you do all the sidequests.  Less than 40 hours feels really short to me.

15 hours is very short...  I have not played many single-player games that are that long.  Most RPGs are between 30 and 50 hours long, with some of the longer ones reaching about 70-80 hours, maybe even 100+ if you do all the sidequests.  Less than 40 hours feels really short to me.
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I know that's short, which is why I said at least. I just played through Dragon Warrior 7 on and off, the game took me 125 hours to complete, I don't plan on restarting... But I play many lengthy games, I just stuck with 15 because it's fairly average for games (including games other than RPG).

I think "short" and "long" are relative to RpgMaker games standards not to RPGs in general.
15 hours is longer than most RM games I've played so far.

Theres no real ideal length. Hell, my mutter has been playing monster hunter tri for 80+ hours now. Its about telling the story, keeping the player interested. It's hard, but if you can't tell the story, the length means nowt.

I think "short" and "long" are relative to RpgMaker games standards not to RPGs in general.
15 hours is longer than most RM games I've played so far.

Pretty sure that's just because people quit making RPG Maker games before they get anywhere, end them because they realize the game isn't fun enough to keep playing any longer, or are extremely incompetent and don't have more than a few hours worth of ideas, or get sick of game design because they aren't really serious about it.  Not because they think it actually improves the game.  I've never talked to anyone who thought that if a game is fun it should end after only a few hours, and I have a hard time imagining such a person.  Anything can potentially get old after enough time, but 20-30 hours is definitely not enough time for any decent video game to get old.  (Though it's definitely more than enough time for the player to realize the game is bad.)

In any case, I don't hold RPG Maker games to any different standards than other games.  Games are games, whether they're made by big companies or indie developers.  If one game is better than another, then I'm going to like it more, regardless of which one of the two was made by Squaresoft and which one was made by a couple guys in their basement.  I've played lots of indie games that are as good as the top 10% of commercial games and I've played lots of indie games that are as bad as the bottom 10% of commercial games.

Depends of the type of the game. In my opinion: A good and serious game should be around over 10 hours to 30 hours. That's a fitting length for a game. Maybe 12 hours. If the player likes the game it's playing, then they don't want the game to end for like 4 hours. Most people want a game to be longer then 3 or 6 hours, basicly because of it is a good or a bad game.
But short games can be good to, but I don't seriously understand how you can fit in a really nice game in 3 or 6 hours. It must be LONGER then that.

My game CO3 have been made like 30% of. And it's more then 3 hours long atleast. I plan the game to be around 20 hours maybe. That's a long game. And you may wonder why it is so long? Well, this game contains shitloads of Awesomness!

I think "short" and "long" are relative to RpgMaker games standards not to RPGs in general.
15 hours is longer than most RM games I've played so far.

Pretty sure that's just because people quit making RPG Maker games before they get anywhere, end them because they realize the game isn't fun enough to keep playing any longer, or are extremely incompetent and don't have more than a few hours worth of ideas, or get sick of game design because they aren't really serious about it.  Not because they think it actually improves the game.  I've never talked to anyone who thought that if a game is fun it should end after only a few hours, and I have a hard time imagining such a person.  Anything can potentially get old after enough time, but 20-30 hours is definitely not enough time for any decent video game to get old.  (Though it's definitely more than enough time for the player to realize the game is bad.)

In any case, I don't hold RPG Maker games to any different standards than other games.  Games are games, whether they're made by big companies or indie developers.  If one game is better than another, then I'm going to like it more, regardless of which one of the two was made by Squaresoft and which one was made by a couple guys in their basement.  I've played lots of indie games that are as good as the top 10% of commercial games and I've played lots of indie games that are as bad as the bottom 10% of commercial games.

Totally aggree with you. I make my game solo and my other friends on youtube that has made games. There's this guy who's made 4 AWESOME games. He's done it on his own to and he's about to release his 5th and final game by 2 or less weeks. I can't wait for the game!

God, why is this thread still going?