In praise of the six-hour adventure

We've been trained to measure value in hours, but some of my favorite mobile experiences this year were short. The Hollow Atlas runs about six hours and I wouldn't change a thing about it.

A short game can be fully authored. Every puzzle lands where it's meant to, nothing is padded, and the ending arrives while you still care. Endless games chase retention; finite games chase a feeling.

There's also something freeing about a game that ends. You finish, you reflect, you move on. No daily login guilt, no fear of missing an event.

Next time you're deciding what to install, try picking the game you can actually finish this weekend. You might be surprised how satisfying a clean ending feels.