In praise of the three-hour mobile game

We're trained to want more hours, more content, more of everything. But some of the games that stuck with me longest were short. Hollow Lantern took me about three hours and I still think about it.

A short game can be a complete thought. It sets a mood, tells its story, and ends before it wears thin. There's a confidence in a developer saying 'this is the right length' instead of padding for a bigger number on the store page.

Hollow Lantern uses that focus well. No filler, no grind, just a quiet forest and a lantern. When it ended, I sat with it for a minute, which almost never happens with a game designed to be played forever.

So don't skip a game because it's short. Sometimes that's exactly what makes it good, and it fits a busy life far better than a hundred-hour commitment.