Best Short Games, Sorted by the Evenings They Take
Best short games in two-hour evenings: Edith Finch and Journey take one each, Titanfall 2’s campaign three, and seven have sold at 75% off or more.
Table of Contents
Prices and platforms checked on October 26, 2026.
Play A Short Hike now, because it is worth its full price and asks less of your week than any other game here. HowLongToBeat players put its Main Story at 1.5 hours, which comes to one two-hour evening once you divide by two and round to the nearest half evening, with halfway cases going up.
Eleven more short games follow, grouped by the evenings they need, from one to three. Every length below is a time HowLongToBeat players submitted, and every evenings figure comes from that same division, so you can redo any of them at your own pace.
A Short Hike is the one-evening pick
At $7.99 on Steam, A Short Hike has the lowest list price on this list. You can play it on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, or on PC through Steam, GOG, the Epic Games Store and itch.io (official site).
You climb toward the summit of Hawk Peak Provincial Park by whatever route you like, marked trail or backcountry, and the store page tells you outright there’s no need to rush. Nothing on it mentions combat or difficulty settings.
Critics line up behind it. All 32 reviews in OpenCritic’s tally recommend it, for a Top Critic Average of 87.
The price history settles the buy-now call. Its lowest Steam price was $3.99 on May 2, 2026, per SteamDB, so waiting for a sale saves four dollars on a game that costs one evening. If you want to see how its length grows by measure, the A Short Hike length breakdown covers each one.
Evenings per game across all three measures
Main Story is the time to the credits doing only what the game requires. Main + Extras adds side content, and Completionist counts everything the game tracks.
| Game | Main Story | Main + Extras | Completionist | Weeks at 5 hours a week (Main Story) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Short Hike | 1.5 h, 1 evening | 2 h, 1 evening | 4.5 h, 2.5 evenings | 0.3 |
| What Remains of Edith Finch | 2 h, 1 evening | 2.5 h, 1.5 evenings | 3 h, 1.5 evenings | 0.4 |
| Journey | 2 h, 1 evening | 2.5 h, 1.5 evenings | 6 h, 3 evenings | 0.4 |
| Mouthwashing | 3 h, 1.5 evenings | 3 h, 1.5 evenings | 4 h, 2 evenings | 0.6 |
| Portal | 3 h, 1.5 evenings | 5.5 h, 3 evenings | 10.5 h, 5.5 evenings | 0.6 |
| Limbo | 3.5 h, 2 evenings | 4 h, 2 evenings | 7 h, 3.5 evenings | 0.7 |
| Inside | 4 h, 2 evenings | 4 h, 2 evenings | 5 h, 2.5 evenings | 0.8 |
| Firewatch | 4 h, 2 evenings | 4.5 h, 2.5 evenings | 5 h, 2.5 evenings | 0.8 |
| Keeper | 4.5 h, 2.5 evenings | 5 h, 2.5 evenings | 5.5 h, 3 evenings | 0.9 |
| Stray | 5 h, 2.5 evenings | 6.5 h, 3.5 evenings | 10.5 h, 5.5 evenings | 1.0 |
| Crow Country | 5.5 h, 3 evenings | 6 h, 3 evenings | 8.5 h, 4.5 evenings | 1.1 |
| Titanfall 2 (campaign) | 6 h, 3 evenings | 8.5 h, 4.5 evenings | 16 h, 8 evenings | 1.2 |
Hours are HowLongToBeat player-submitted times as displayed on each game’s Deku Deals page (IsThereAnyDeal for Mouthwashing and Inside). Evenings are hours ÷ 2, rounded to the nearest half evening, halfway cases up. Weeks are Main Story hours ÷ 5.
IsThereAnyDeal shows Crow Country’s Main Story at 5 hours where Deku Deals shows 5.5. Both pull from HowLongToBeat, but one displays whole hours and the other half hours, so the same game reads as 2.5 or 3 evenings depending on where you look. The table uses the half-hour figure wherever both were available.
The column to watch is the jump from Main Story to Completionist. Portal goes from 1.5 evenings to 5.5, Titanfall 2 from three to eight, and Edith Finch barely moves. If you usually finish side content, plan around the middle column.
Player-submitted times also shift with who submits them, which is why HowLongToBeat figures can differ between sites.
Which games finish in a single evening?
Two more games sit at one evening of Main Story time alongside A Short Hike.
What Remains of Edith Finch
The game is built as separate stories, one for each member of the Finch family (Annapurna). Both longer measures come to an evening and a half, so the credits leave little behind.
You can play it on Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and iOS, and it carries an ESRB T for Teen rating for blood, drug reference, language and violence. A measure-by-measure look at Edith Finch’s length goes further.
Journey
It’s sold on Steam, the Epic Games Store and iOS, with a PlayStation 4 version that the ESRB rates E for mild fantasy violence.
Completionist is where it parts company with the other one-evening picks: three evenings, triple its Main Story. One sitting gets you to the credits, and everything after that is optional. For a few more at this length, see the games you can finish in one evening with time to spare.
Two weeknights: five games of three to four hours
A five-hour week covers any one of these with time left over. The two longest need 0.8 of a week at that pace.
Portal
Valve’s puzzle game takes 1.5 evenings on Main Story, but Main + Extras doubles that to three, so decide early whether the extras interest you. It has been on Nintendo Switch since June 28, 2022, and that listing includes cloud save data. If you’re choosing an order for the series, whether to start with Portal or Portal 2 settles it.
Mouthwashing
This first-person horror game follows the crew of a wrecked freighter stranded in deep space, and it runs on Steam for Windows only. Every measure falls between 1.5 and 2 evenings, so there is almost nothing past the credits.
Extreme violence, gore and mutilation are named in the mature content description on that same store page. Whether one dark evening with it is worth the price is the subject of is Mouthwashing worth it.
Limbo
Playdead’s earlier puzzle-platformer needs two evenings for Main Story and 3.5 for Completionist. It reaches phones as well as consoles: Playdead lists Steam, Epic, PlayStation, Xbox One, Switch, iOS and Google Play. Its ESRB rating is T, for animated blood and mild violence.
Inside
Two evenings again, from the same studio, and Completionist adds only half an evening on top. It runs on Steam, Epic, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch and iOS, and the ESRB gives it an M rating for violence and blood and gore. How the two Playdead games compare on time and price is in whether Inside or Limbo suits a short week.
Firewatch
You spend the summer of 1989 as a fire lookout in the Wyoming wilderness, and your only contact is your supervisor, Delilah, on a handheld radio (Steam). Steam sells it for Windows, macOS and SteamOS.
Main Story is two evenings, and either longer measure adds half an evening. Rated M by the ESRB for suggestive themes, nudity, drug and alcohol reference, and strong language.
Three evenings or one long Saturday
Weekend players get the most from this group, because each game fits one long day. On a five-hour week, each takes between 0.9 and 1.2 weeks.
Keeper
Double Fine’s game follows a long-forgotten lighthouse that wakes on a remote island and sets out with a seabird, with no dialogue (Double Fine). It takes 2.5 evenings, and Completionist stops at three.
On September 3, 2026, the day it reached PlayStation 5, Double Fine permanently lowered its price. You can also play it on Windows and Xbox Series X|S, but not on any Nintendo system. ESRB rating: E10+. Whether the lower price changes the call is covered in is Keeper worth it now.
Stray
As a lost cat separated from its family, you work through a forgotten city to find a way out (Annapurna). Versions exist for Steam, Mac, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch 2 and Switch, and it is rated E10+.
Main Story takes 2.5 evenings. The middle measure stretches to 3.5 and Completionist to 5.5, more than double the Main Story time.
Crow Country
Survival horror set in 1990, in a theme park that closed after its owner vanished two years earlier (Steam). Exploration Mode lets you roam the park without its monsters attacking, which suits anyone who wants the puzzles without the threat.
Crow Country is available on Steam, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and Switch (SFB Games’ launch announcement), plus PlayStation 4 on PlayStation’s own page. Its ESRB rating is T, for violence, language, and blood and gore. For the buy-or-wait reasoning, see is Crow Country worth it.
Titanfall 2
Only the campaign counts here, and it takes three evenings to finish. Completionist jumps to eight, the widest gap anywhere here. Platforms are PlayStation, Xbox and PC, and it carries an ESRB M rating, with online interactions not rated.
Before you buy: Steam sells Titanfall 2 only as the Ultimate Edition, which includes the base game.
To spread any of these four across Friday to Sunday, the weekend session plans split each one by day.
Will it survive a three-day gap?
On PlayStation, Crow Country can be paused at any point during play or cutscenes when you’re offline. Portal’s Switch listing includes cloud save data. Those are the only save details the official pages for these twelve games give, so how each one handles a break is something you learn by playing it.
Where you can play on the go is better documented. Seven of the twelve have a Switch version listed on an official page: A Short Hike, Edith Finch, Portal, Limbo, Inside, Stray and Crow Country, and Stray also has a Switch 2 version. Keeper is on no Nintendo system, and Mouthwashing runs only on Windows through Steam.
Structure helps, too. In Edith Finch, the end of one family member’s story is the natural place to stop. Puzzle-heavy picks ask you to remember what you had worked out, so if your gaps run to three days, start Portal, Inside or Crow Country on a night when you can also play the next one.
What each evening costs at list price and at its low
Seven of the twelve have sold on Steam for a quarter of their list price or less, according to SteamDB’s price history.
| Game | Steam US list price (USD), checked Oct 26, 2026 | SteamDB lowest (date) | List price per Main Story evening | Lowest price per Main Story evening |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Short Hike | $7.99 | $3.99 (May 2, 2026) | $7.99 | $3.99 |
| What Remains of Edith Finch | $19.99 | $4.99 (Dec 22, 2022) | $19.99 | $4.99 |
| Journey | $14.99 | $2.24 (Apr 10, 2024) | $14.99 | $2.24 |
| Mouthwashing | $12.99 | $7.79 (first Jun 8, 2026) | $8.66 | $5.19 |
| Portal | $9.99 | $0.99 (Jun 22, 2017) | $6.66 | $0.66 |
| Limbo | $12.49 | $0.99 (Dec 22, 2022) | $6.25 | $0.50 |
| Inside | $24.99 | $1.99 (Sep 11, 2022) | $12.50 | $1.00 |
| Firewatch | $19.99 | $1.99 (Jan 8, 2024) | $10.00 | $1.00 |
| Keeper | $19.99 | $13.99 (Oct 1, 2026) | $8.00 | $5.60 |
| Stray | $29.99 | $14.99 (May 20, 2026) | $12.00 | $6.00 |
| Crow Country | $19.99 | $5.99 (Jul 15, 2026) | $6.66 | $2.00 |
| Titanfall 2 Ultimate Edition | $29.99 | $2.99 (Jan 19, 2023) | $10.00 | $1.00 |
Per-evening figures divide each price by the Main Story evenings in the length table above.
For those seven (Edith Finch, Journey, Portal, Limbo, Inside, Firewatch and Titanfall 2), waiting for a sale makes sense unless you plan to start this week. Edith Finch is the costliest of all twelve per evening at list price, which makes it the strongest case for waiting.
The other five have shallower lows. A Short Hike’s lowest price is half its list, and the lows for Keeper and Mouthwashing sit within a few dollars of theirs, so the saving from waiting is small. Crow Country and Stray fall in between. A past low is history and promises nothing about the next sale.
Who should skip A Short Hike
Completionists need two and a half evenings for A Short Hike, since its Completionist time is 4.5 hours. Players after combat or a challenge should look elsewhere too: the store page is about exploring and taking your time, with no mention of either.
Cost per evening is the other reason. At list price, Crow Country, Limbo and Portal each cost less per Main Story evening, so if that is how you weigh a purchase, start with one of them. And if you want a story with more weight in a single sitting, Edith Finch asks for the same one evening.
For parents: Inside, Firewatch and Titanfall 2 are rated M by the ESRB, and Mouthwashing carries a Steam content warning for extreme violence, gore and mutilation. Edith Finch, Crow Country, Limbo and Portal are rated T, Keeper and Stray E10+, and Journey E.
Start A Short Hike tonight, then plan two weeks
- A Short Hike, one evening.
- Portal, 1.5 evenings.
- Inside, two evenings.
That order adds up to 8.5 hours of Main Story time, or 1.7 weeks at five hours a week. If Portal’s puzzles haven’t clicked by the end of its first night, swap in Firewatch, which needs two evenings and is built around a story told over the radio.
