Good Games Playable in 30 Minute Increments

[VPDad]

I used to love me some RPGs and dedicated many a hour to practicing fighting games so I could compete competitively. But these days I don`t have the time and wondered if other people base their purchases around how little time they have.

I tend to get lost in a story when I can`t play it regularly and I`m currently enjoying Far Cry 3 but its taken me 4 months to make it to the end. What do other time strapped gamers play?

 

[Pistachio]

Worth looking at the walking dead. Its a fantastic game and its episodic nature means there are natural pause points.

Quantum Conundrum is well worth a look too

 

[VPDad]

Walking Dead is defo on the radar. Quantum Conundrum looks pretty good too, the game looks fun and the story looks silly enough I won`t need to worry about getting lost!

 

[Rorifett]

Sleeping dogs is good for pick up and play, like gta, nice and simple

 

[Mr Nook]

Tomb Raider has a good story and immersive world but it's easily picked up and played in little 30 minute chunks if you want.

 

[amardilo]

I had a similar issue, I used to spend many hours a night playing a video game but lately I don't get more than a few hours a month and most of that is generally broken up to 1 hour gaming sessions (although I am trying to find a way to plan my time to get a few hours at weekends to play more longer games).

I found The Walking Dead to be really great for short episodic games with a great story and it had great stopping points and cliff hangers between episodes.

Other than that I would look at XCOM: Enemy Unknown. I still haven't got round to finishing it but the game is turn based and you can save in between turns.

I'd also say to look at some XBLA games. There are many great small games that can be played through quickly (like Limbo).

 

[ODB_69]

Serious Sam 3

 

[PAUL7331]

I never play more than an hour at a time. It took me about 2-months to finish Tomb raider! Great game.

 

[ODB_69]

Dogfight 1942 is pretty good for quick bursts as you can do a mission easily in that time. Anything with lots of checkpoints you want really. FC3 is a good game for that, so long as your not in the middle of a mission you can save at any point and key milestones save automatically

 

[iainoco]

Sleeping Dogs is excellent for this due to the mission structure. Really enjoyable game too.

 

[iainoco]

I found The Walking Dead to be really great for short episodic games with a great story and it had great stopping points and cliff hangers between episodes.

A gut wrenching and emotional gaming experience unlike anything else I have experienced. Definitely best played in short bursts!!!

 

[VPDad]

Surprised to see Sleeping Dogs get a few mentions. Each mission is relatively small I take it. And XCom? This game looks and sounds amazing but I never imagined to see it referenced here. How long is one mission and if I play for an hour and then come back to it a few days later am i going to be lost?

 

[Rorifett]

Yeah sleeping dogs missions are short, nothing stupidly drawn out like some games. Story is ok in it too, nothing groundbreaking but fun for a quick blast

 

[Mr Noble]

I'm going to throw trials hd and super meat boy into the mix

 

[amardilo]

Surprised to see Sleeping Dogs get a few mentions. Each mission is relatively small I take it. And XCom? This game looks and sounds amazing but I never imagined to see it referenced here. How long is one mission and if I play for an hour and then come back to it a few days later am i going to be lost?

I really like XCOM: Enemy Unknown. I found mission length to vary greatly some you can brezze through within 30 minutes other took me days. A lot of it is down to sitting there and thinking about my moves. If your not too fused you could charge your way through each mission however you may end up losing a lot of missions, soldiers and possibly losing countries.

There are a few varied mission types (i.e. rescue hostages, explore alien spacecraft or clear an area). Most however are easy enough to figure out what you need to do if you plan on saving mid-mission and coming back to it at a later date. The only thing to keep in mind is if you set yourself some target or goal (i.e. you need to capture a certain enemy type to research it).

 

[Pistachio]

I'm going to throw trials hd and super meat boy into the mix

Super meat boy if far to addictive for only a 30 min session

 

[Jones the Steam]

As mentioned above anything with regular checkpoints is ok.

I took about 4 months to complete Bioshock 1 and 2 playing just a few hours a week in total.
Red Dead Redemption and it's DLC Undead Nightmare are great for short sessions too as the missions aren't very long.