40 – How Long Should a Game Last?

From my perspective: as short as possible — while still giving every aspect of the game enough time to feel satisfying.

The longer a game lasts, the more problems arise. If a player falls too far behind, it can quickly become frustrating to have no real chance of winning for an extended period. The longer a game lasts, the more you need to think about adding a catch‑up mechanism to prevent this. But the more such a mechanism interferes with the game, the less rewarding it feels for players to build a lead.

Longer games are also harder to fit into everyday life. A 30‑minute game can be played almost anytime, but for a 4‑hour game you need to set aside an entire afternoon. Even if such a long session can feel epic, you could just as well play two 2‑hour games — the game night wouldn’t feel any less epic. And even if you do have the time, you’re not always in the mood for a long game, and if you get tired during it, the whole thing can drag on even more.

There have stil been 8 rounds of Magical Friends

So keeping the playtime as short as possible is usually the goal — as long as all game mechanics still make sense.

In some worker‑placement games, for example, I feel that the playtime is shortened at the expense of the number of rounds, especially when each round gives you enough actions to make the game interesting. But this sometimes leads to actions that are weaker in the short term but provide long‑term bonuses feeling unsatisfying, because you don’t get those bonuses often enough. Often these bonuses are very weak unless you manage to get them in the first round.

Playtime is usually hard to estimate. Different groups play very differently. A game that takes 1.5 hours with one group might take 2.5 hours with another. It also makes a difference whether it’s a group’s first play or their tenth, and how many players are involved. That’s why I prefer giving a playtime per player rather than a general time estimate.

While working on your game, you should always keep an eye on the duration, because many things can change over time. With Magical Friends, I originally set the game at 8 rounds. Since the first round has a bit less going on, and the last round also offers fewer options, the rounds in between were where most of the action happened. Six rounds were ideal for that. The tests with 8 rounds also went great. Over time, however, a few changes were made — extra rules to create a final sprint at the end of the game. This changed the game enough that the last round actually became the most exciting one. By now, we’ve tested several games with 7 rounds, and it doesn’t feel like anything is missing — but the game becomes shorter.

Of course, the game also needs to be tested frequently with fewer rounds, because the balance of certain creatures can change as a result. Sometimes this even has a positive effect on the number of components, because fewer rounds mean fewer resources entering the game.

How do you feel about game length? Do you prefer short or long games? Or would you rather play two shorter games instead of one long one? Which games have the perfect duration? Leave me a comment. :)