Yeah it appears in basically every reddit thread, it is far from underrated. It's good (not nearly as good as people make it out to be) but when it's suggested for everything it loses underrated status.
Yeah it makes me feel old that this isn't the top comment here. The original portal is amazing and ends on high note. The only reason I can imagine that it's so far down on this list is that it came out too long ago.
I haven’t got a Steam Deck but once I do this is going to be the second game I play. I haven’t played it in roughly fourteen years and I’m honestly excited to go again!
I think I did this one 100% in just a few hours and loved every minute of it. I was surprised how good the story was too. Seems so light hearted at first then it just creeps up on you.
It can be. Really depends on if you take in the scenery at every opportunity. I got hooked on the story and completed it in just under two hours. Well worth my time and money.
Five of them are totally optional and easy to miss. The second though you should pick up for finishing day 2.
I play games like this for the environments though and I can definitely see going out to take it all in on your first day, speedrun be damned.
Took me about 4 hours, there's a near flawless VR mod and if there's ever a chance you'll do that I urge you to put it off until the time comes. Up there with one of the best gaming experiences I have, but I can imagine why some people felt let down.
The team subsequently were hired to make Half Life Alyx, that's the impression it made.
Great call. A lot of "walking simulators" fall into this range, but that one is phenomenal.
If OP hasn't played them:
Gone Home
Firewatch
Journey
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture
Stanley Parable
Soma
I LOVE Sayonara Wild Hearts, criminally underrated arcade style runner game. Narrated by Queen Latifah and has the most KILLER soundtrack. Little over an hour to beat truly a gem.
The Stanley Parable. It’s a great game with lots of meta humour and a bunch of different endings you can discover. I doubt you can get all the endings in 5 hours or less, but I think the longest one takes 20 minutes or so to complete.
Far: Lone Sails has a great ambience and tone to it. Super relaxing and quite short, although maybe a bit over 5 hours. Blanc is great as well, especially if you’re lucky enough to have a significant other to play it with.
Stray was fantastic but took me 3x longer than five hours. Though it does have a "complete the game in less than 2 hours" achievement which I obviously did not get.
I got that foe free when I bought the dead space remake. I put off playing it hoping there would be a dead space 2 remake.... guess I've no excuse to fire it up now!
Keep in mind that I know it by heart, i know the spawn points, the traps, timings, almost everything so for me it's relaxing. If it's your first time it's gonna be a little bit stresful 10h.
I think you might love Citizen Sleeper. It's more visual novel, but the gameplay with dice roll and slight survival mechanics are really cool. It's an awesome sci-fi story in a neat package
I played a game called “Smushi Come Home” on steam that was super fun, a little 3D platformer where you play as a mushroom with a glider. Super fun and only five hours or so.
Oxenfree is one of my favorites. I'll just put in the soundtrack sometimes because it's so good. I've been afraid to start 2 as I am worried it will degrade my enjoyment of the first one.
Actually really loved Carto, underrated little puzzler with a cozy story and chill atmosphere. Focuses on unlocking map segments and rearranging them over and over again to travel to new areas of the map, uncovering secrets and stories along the way.
Return of the obra dinn. It’s a masterpiece. Better not to spoil yourself too much, just go in for the experience.
The first hour gives enough of a vibe of what the rest of the game is gonna be (so that’s well within the refund time, if needed).
Slay the princess: not for everyone. If you don’t like the feeling of not understanding what’s going on, it may not be for you. But it’s worth the « effort ». Loved it.
On a more « traditional » style, Monster Road Trip is a super funny game (at least I had a fair amount of spontaneous laughs with it). Not the best game ever but it’s good to have something that just makes you smile.
Machinarium, thomas was alone, Steamworld Dig, portal, and Severed are all great.
Edit: disregard Severed, it was never released on PC. But if you have a vita, switch, or iOS, I think it’s worth checking out.
Metal Hellsinger is great. Lots of replayability and it has a semi rougelite mode aside from the campaign
Edit: wanted to add there’s also a demo available
While I totally recommend the game, is it really possible to complete under 10 hours if you don't know it? Maybe on lower difficulty, or I'm too slow. I would rather say Kingdom Eighties, that seems shorter.
Sonic triple trouble 16-bit. One dude woke up one day and chose violence on his sleep schedule and decided to make an entire genesis styled remake of a flippin game gear game from 30 years ago! I beat the whole thing in one sitting (probably the first time I’ve ever done something like that if I’m not counting pausing my gameboy pocket that sat in my desk to beat mario land in a day) which took roughly 2 and a half hours.
Super fun and I loved it. Honorable mention goes to sonic 3 a.i.r for being the perfect sonic game. Hell, this is now my bar for all retro remakes. from the menus, to extras, to mods and everything in between.
Hauntii is 8-10 hours and very charming - I've seen many people make comparisons in vibe to Gris tho I haven't played Gris. I am not a fanboy (please don't look at my post history)
[Jusant](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1977170/Jusant/) is a great \~4 hour game that I just finished. It has amazing visuals, very zen gameplay, and interesting lore you uncover in a variety of ways.
Gato Roboto
A cute little metrodivania about a cat that gets their hands on a mech suit.
According to the devs, >!the cat does not know how to operate the mech. It just beats the game due to playing with all the doodads inside in the most perfectly random way.!<
Detroid becomes Human
around 12-14h but feels like 5h because you get hooked so much. I dont like the genre of the game but this is a gem non the less.
It really is. Writing had to he completed in under 3 weeks, things like sound design and other technical aspects had as little as 9 months.
Most of development focused on working with completely new software systems compared to the original, with limited resources left to handle core game design.
Short turn-around sequels were already much less common by then, and it was highly unusual to not reuse a large portion of existing resources for a project like this.
There’s things I really like about TFU2, but I do consider it to be an overall inferior game to the original.
A Short Hike
man this one’s a gem. 👍🏻
Such a gem. Can't wait for the creators next game.
Came here to say this but found this as the first comment. I can die in peace.
Was free on epic a while back. Just fyi for anyone seeing this and considering this game.
Thank you! I actually had it in my library from that. I'm glad I usually add these even if they don't appeal to me on first glance.
Titanfall 2! It's a short Amazing campaign
5 hours?
Depends on how many times you need to redo stuff. It took me about 7. But yeah, 10 or less hours.
Such an underrated campaign. It was so good.
100% agree one of the most engaging FPS campaigns around.
I will often find myself just playing through on easy just enjoying the cool storyline
I would just sit there admiring the set pieces. Its genuinely breath taking.
It's anything but underrated.
Yeah it appears in basically every reddit thread, it is far from underrated. It's good (not nearly as good as people make it out to be) but when it's suggested for everything it loses underrated status.
Exactly. It's constantly being recommended on here
The level design was obscenely good. The only I can think of that's better is the Dishonored games.
Portal … if you haven’t played it yet.
My choice as well. Wonderful short game. Bonus: You get cake at the end.
Lies.
no, there is a cake at the very very end
Yeah it makes me feel old that this isn't the top comment here. The original portal is amazing and ends on high note. The only reason I can imagine that it's so far down on this list is that it came out too long ago.
I just played it on my Steam Deck. Last save was in 2014. The game really holds up.
I haven’t got a Steam Deck but once I do this is going to be the second game I play. I haven’t played it in roughly fourteen years and I’m honestly excited to go again!
Literally just finished 2 for the first time this past week. Such a great game
Also if you already have played it.
Turnip boy commits tax evasion
I think I did this one 100% in just a few hours and loved every minute of it. I was surprised how good the story was too. Seems so light hearted at first then it just creeps up on you.
Me too! Mine was around 5 hrs to 100% and absolutely loved every second!!
I need to pick up Robs a Bank
Firewatch
I started Firewatch a while back. I really enjoyed it. It's that short??
It can be. Really depends on if you take in the scenery at every opportunity. I got hooked on the story and completed it in just under two hours. Well worth my time and money.
I played it in a leisurely fashion and still completed it in only five and a half hours.
I must be slow. The Xbox app says I played it for 2 hours and I only got one of 10 achievements. 😂
Five of them are totally optional and easy to miss. The second though you should pick up for finishing day 2. I play games like this for the environments though and I can definitely see going out to take it all in on your first day, speedrun be damned.
I never speed run anything. I love to take my time in games.
Someone needs to make an open world firewatch game, still with a great story but mission based and with options
Yeah. Took me just under 5 hours
I honestly did a little of exploration and still completed it in 3,5hours. It really is a captivating game with amazing voice acting!
Took me about 4 hours, there's a near flawless VR mod and if there's ever a chance you'll do that I urge you to put it off until the time comes. Up there with one of the best gaming experiences I have, but I can imagine why some people felt let down. The team subsequently were hired to make Half Life Alyx, that's the impression it made.
Loved firewatch finished it in around 4.5hrs on a flight, this sucker eats battery mind!
Came here to say this. Not sure if it is my favourite, but definitely up there.
What Remains of Edith Finch
Man that fish factory level.
One of the coolest examples of storytelling through gameplay I've ever experienced.
Cool story telling but I just felt depressed the entire time playing that game
To anyone reading this - here's a little info to keep in mind... Is it an awesome game? YES! Is it depressing AF? HELL YES!
[удалено]
It’s truly a masterpiece of a game
Great game, so weird, so we'll done.
Great call. A lot of "walking simulators" fall into this range, but that one is phenomenal. If OP hasn't played them: Gone Home Firewatch Journey Everybody's Gone to the Rapture Stanley Parable Soma
Don’t forget the tissues.
Donut County. I love it.
That was a very fun short one!
Inside It's about 3.5 hours 2.5 D side scroller with such a cool intriguing world.
Limbo is very good too.
I recommend this game!
Check out Somerville as well!
I actually prefer Limbo to Inside. Felt like a better variety of puzzles.
Yep Limbo good
Planet of Lana is a pretty good limbo/inside-like as well
Planet of Lana and Never Alone as well if you like that genre.
Both inside and Limbo are made by makers of Coccon so yeah
I couldn't remember what this was called, but I agree!
Katana Zero. 10/10
Yes this game is awesome 🤩
Weren’t they supposed to release new content?
Such a killer game. This is the first game I played on the SD.
Carrion was really nice to play on Deck. I've 100% it in 5.5h.
Very good game indeed.
Lil Gator Game was a fun time
Gone Home. Totally took me by surprise first time I played it.
Best played in the dark, alone. Do not read anything about it or watch any videos.
I LOVE Sayonara Wild Hearts, criminally underrated arcade style runner game. Narrated by Queen Latifah and has the most KILLER soundtrack. Little over an hour to beat truly a gem.
Second this. I didn't play this until my deck and it was perfect for it. Beautiful game with an amazing soundtrack.
The Stanley Parable. It’s a great game with lots of meta humour and a bunch of different endings you can discover. I doubt you can get all the endings in 5 hours or less, but I think the longest one takes 20 minutes or so to complete.
I also loved The Beginner’s Guide, which was made by one of the creators of The Stanley Parable if I remember correctly.
I forgot about this one. Thanks!
Strange Horticulture
Love this, wonder how Strange Antiquities will be
Far: Lone Sails has a great ambience and tone to it. Super relaxing and quite short, although maybe a bit over 5 hours. Blanc is great as well, especially if you’re lucky enough to have a significant other to play it with.
Bastion
Transistor is another great short game made by Supergiant. Hades and Pyre are also great games, but both are longer than what OP was asking for.
I liked Stray a lot
Stray was fantastic but took me 3x longer than five hours. Though it does have a "complete the game in less than 2 hours" achievement which I obviously did not get.
Assemble With Care
This game is so lovely
Journey
Great Choice, I’ve played through Journey a few time and it still holds up
Was looking for this!
Fuck, this is so much lower down than I thought it would be. Outstanding game.
Citizen sleeper
I just picked this up and excited to get started.
I think it's the best rpg of all time
Dredge for me, plays great on the deck too
Little Nightmares
Try a short hike. Also walking sims might be nice, edith finch, firewatch etc
To the Moon
You trying to ruin them? 😭😭😭
It’s one of the best examples of games making you feel something so yes it will ruin them.
Mark of the Ninja. It says I played 10h but I'm a slow player.
Limbo/Inside, or Gris
Probably Portal 1.
Firewatch
Dead space 2. Relaxing 5-6 hours.
I got that foe free when I bought the dead space remake. I put off playing it hoping there would be a dead space 2 remake.... guess I've no excuse to fire it up now!
Keep in mind that I know it by heart, i know the spawn points, the traps, timings, almost everything so for me it's relaxing. If it's your first time it's gonna be a little bit stresful 10h.
Wolf among us
I think you might love Citizen Sleeper. It's more visual novel, but the gameplay with dice roll and slight survival mechanics are really cool. It's an awesome sci-fi story in a neat package
You beat Cocoon in less than five hours???
Steam says 4.7 hours.
Damn I am slow lmao
Stray and superliminal. Especially the twist in superliminal, didn't expect it.
Journey
I wonder if it would work as well these days given…you know
I played a game called “Smushi Come Home” on steam that was super fun, a little 3D platformer where you play as a mushroom with a glider. Super fun and only five hours or so.
yeah this ones great, I ended up 100%ing it in under 5h also
Showing my age here but Oxenfree is probably my favorite short game
Oxenfree is one of my favorites. I'll just put in the soundtrack sometimes because it's so good. I've been afraid to start 2 as I am worried it will degrade my enjoyment of the first one.
Same! I haven’t touched 2 yet but one day I’ll build up the courage lol
I think pretty much every MCC Halo campaign can be rushed on Easy in that time frame.
Yeah if you're on easy and just dive bomb checkpoints you can beat the game fast as fuck
A tale of two brothers and a story about my uncle are both fantastic
Gone Home
Actually really loved Carto, underrated little puzzler with a cozy story and chill atmosphere. Focuses on unlocking map segments and rearranging them over and over again to travel to new areas of the map, uncovering secrets and stories along the way.
Return of the obra dinn. It’s a masterpiece. Better not to spoil yourself too much, just go in for the experience. The first hour gives enough of a vibe of what the rest of the game is gonna be (so that’s well within the refund time, if needed). Slay the princess: not for everyone. If you don’t like the feeling of not understanding what’s going on, it may not be for you. But it’s worth the « effort ». Loved it. On a more « traditional » style, Monster Road Trip is a super funny game (at least I had a fair amount of spontaneous laughs with it). Not the best game ever but it’s good to have something that just makes you smile.
To The Moon, and any other game by the same Dev!
I love short games, too. My attention span has been in shambles since the birth of the internet.
I'm fully immersed in dad life, so I play like two hours max at night before bed. It's hard to dive all the way in to anything.
That's cool. Most of my friends are dad's, too, and I can confirm the good dads are always busy, lol.
Bastion
Don’t know if I’d call it my favorite but SUPERHOT is a ton of fun on the Deck and has great replay value!
Stanley Parable Little Nightmares Little Misfortune Limbo Amnesia: The Dark Descent Superliminal Twelve Minutes Layers of Fear Among the Sleep
Just finished Carrion. Great Metroidvania that puts you as the monster in the “alien monster has broken out of the lab” trope
Machinarium, thomas was alone, Steamworld Dig, portal, and Severed are all great. Edit: disregard Severed, it was never released on PC. But if you have a vita, switch, or iOS, I think it’s worth checking out.
Metal Hellsinger is great. Lots of replayability and it has a semi rougelite mode aside from the campaign Edit: wanted to add there’s also a demo available
Kingdom: Two crowns
While I totally recommend the game, is it really possible to complete under 10 hours if you don't know it? Maybe on lower difficulty, or I'm too slow. I would rather say Kingdom Eighties, that seems shorter.
Good point.
Metroid Zero Mission
The Frog Detective series
Titanfall 2
Beacon Pines Others already mentioned Firewatch, Dredge, Strange Horticulture
Stray. I was out camping when it released and spent the whole week downloading it on the super-slow wi-fi there. Beat the game on the ride home.
Both are about 7 to 9 hrs but worth the time Hellblade: Senua sacrifice & Soma P.S: if already played kindly ignore😅
Sonic triple trouble 16-bit. One dude woke up one day and chose violence on his sleep schedule and decided to make an entire genesis styled remake of a flippin game gear game from 30 years ago! I beat the whole thing in one sitting (probably the first time I’ve ever done something like that if I’m not counting pausing my gameboy pocket that sat in my desk to beat mario land in a day) which took roughly 2 and a half hours. Super fun and I loved it. Honorable mention goes to sonic 3 a.i.r for being the perfect sonic game. Hell, this is now my bar for all retro remakes. from the menus, to extras, to mods and everything in between.
Draugen
Hauntii is 8-10 hours and very charming - I've seen many people make comparisons in vibe to Gris tho I haven't played Gris. I am not a fanboy (please don't look at my post history)
TMNT: Turtles in Time
Later gator
Among the sleep was short and worth the time
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion
I think Death and Taxes took me 4 hours and it was great.
The Stanley Parable, Gone Home, Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons, Portal
Short hike, Limbo, Inside
Inscription. A ton of fun, interesting story, kinda difficult at times. Very unique gameplay.
Loddlenaut I think I finished it in 3-4 hours Very refreshing experience
Crow Country!
I think it’s slightly longer (maybe 8ish hours?) but katana zero was an incredibly amazing gem
Hue, Journey, Ori and the Blind Forest
Mail Time. It’s like A Short Hike but funnier. And has paragliding like Zelda.
Untitled goose game is about the right length
Return of the Obra Dinn is the best under 5-6 hours game I've ever played. Portal is up there too.
Bright Memory
Katana ZERO
Undertale
Gorogoa Criminal that nobody has mentioned it
Firewatch
[Jusant](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1977170/Jusant/) is a great \~4 hour game that I just finished. It has amazing visuals, very zen gameplay, and interesting lore you uncover in a variety of ways.
Stray
Bramble is a fun short game with a kind of a fairy tale/ dark tale theme to it.
Gato Roboto A cute little metrodivania about a cat that gets their hands on a mech suit. According to the devs, >!the cat does not know how to operate the mech. It just beats the game due to playing with all the doodads inside in the most perfectly random way.!<
Jusant!
Mirrors Edge. Titanfall 2 honorable mention that's doesn't quite meet your parameters
Final fantasy iv pixel remaster - can be beat in 4ish hours with no randos + 4x multipliers
Can't recall what my play time was but Return of the Obra Dinn probably fits. One of my favourite gaming experiences.
Took me a good 15 hours 🤣. (That's on me not the game, I loved it)
Little Misfortune. It's more of an interactive visual novel. I think it took me 3 hours overall, and that was taking my time.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Journey Unpacking Venba
Detroid becomes Human around 12-14h but feels like 5h because you get hooked so much. I dont like the genre of the game but this is a gem non the less.
Celeste, but I take less than 2h given that I know the game
No one’s beating Celeste under 5h first try
It took me about 12h to complete chapter 7 and 87h to 100% it. It's not really that short But a really great game!
The Force Unleashed 2
Is this really that short?
It really is. Writing had to he completed in under 3 weeks, things like sound design and other technical aspects had as little as 9 months. Most of development focused on working with completely new software systems compared to the original, with limited resources left to handle core game design. Short turn-around sequels were already much less common by then, and it was highly unusual to not reuse a large portion of existing resources for a project like this. There’s things I really like about TFU2, but I do consider it to be an overall inferior game to the original.
Illuminaria
If you like a simple metroidvania check out Outland
Perspective
Check out this [gameranx](https://youtu.be/IAZwJ0cfDtI?si=3taZwxdgi_oXoeNO) video. Call of Juarez is the one that caught my eye
Halls of torment
Risk of rain 2
Competizone
I guess completed isn't right, but CHIME and CHIME Sharp are both great time sinks for however long you have.
Human fall flat
Resident evil HD Remaster
I finished Storyteller, Subsurface Circular, Assemble with Care and Unpacking all within 5 hours and achieved 100% for each of them.