Every year more video games come out and fill a backlog which never ceases to thicken. But if some action-RPG have the ability to keep you busy hundreds of hours, small nuggets can also be savored by players who do not have a lot of time.
In this new selection, we invite you to discover or rediscover 10 recent video games (released after 2020) that you can complete in less than 10 hours.
To do this, we simply rely on the score assigned to the games on Metacritic, and the average completion time provided by the How Long to Beat community. We only retain for the sake of the exercise the time to complete the main plot. It is obviously always possible to drag on in a game to complete it at 100%.
Chicory : A Colorful Tale
8
See the testChicory: A Colorful Tale
- As cute as smart
- Coloring, childish and regressive
- Great gameplay finds
- Strong themes addressed simply
- Generous lifespan
- From start to finish local co-op
- A very accessible game for all types of players
Estimated playing time: 9 hours
The latest game from Greg Lobanov (Wandersong) and his companions is one of those titles with multiple reading levels and many inspirations.
In the skin of a small dog, which you name after your favorite food, you travel the world of Picnic with only a magic paintbrush as your weapon. A bit like Epic Mickey encountering an old opus of Zelda, you use your palette to restore colors to the world, and chase away from these lands the mysterious evil that eats away at it.
A very accessible cuddly toy game that will appeal to both adventure lovers (the game is full of secrets) and budding artists.
Metroid dread
8
See the priceSee the testMetroid Dread
- Aesthetically stunning (especially on Switch OLED)
- A worked and stressful atmosphere in front of the EMMI
- Tough bosses that increase the difficulty
- Some great staging ideas
- The 2D Metroid formula still as effective...
Estimated playing time: 8h30
Ah that, we waited for the famous Metroid 5. Before disappearing for a big decade, the game was first teased at the very beginning of the 2000s. It finally took the form of Metroid Dread, and is one of the most recommendable metroidvania of recent years.
Even if it is less brilliant than a Hollow Knight, it has the merit of being more condensed and of benefiting from a heavy atmosphere of its own.
Still clad in her instantly recognizable armor, bounty hunter Samus Aran faces enemies more pugnacious than ever: the EMMIs. Robot-killers who – novelty – chase you in the different tables of the game and which you will often have to escape on pain of risking Game Over.
Death's Door
7
Voir le testDeath's Door
- A well-crafted Zelda-like
- More accessible than it seems...
- Artistically successful (these musics…)
- The character palette
- A very rich universe for a “small” game
- A "true end" for the most relentless that is worth the detour...
Estimated playing time: 9 hours
The indie sensation of the summer of 2021, Death's Door is the second creation from the originators of Titan Souls, a pleasant albeit imperfect boss rush released in 2015.
Still made by an extremely small team, Death's Door is greatly inspired by old-school Zelda while managing to assert its own visual and artistic identity.
Carried by masterful compositions, and crossed by tense boss fights, Death's Door also offers a story full of nuances, in which we embody a... how to say? "tax inspector" of Death? Yes, let's say that.
Resident Evil 8: Village
7
See the priceSee the testResident Evil Village
- The Village, successful and coherent
- Some notable sequences
- Chiseled general atmosphere
- Excavated decors, varied environments
- The light, beautiful
- The colorful antagonists
- Mercenary mode, challenges, secrets
- Plenty of graphics options on PC
Estimated playing time: 9h30
While many have found Resident Evil 8 Village less memorable than Resident Evil 7, it's still an excellent horror FPS for those with little time to spare.
Poor Ethan Winters once again embarks on an adventure from which he will not emerge unscathed – that's an understatement, you'll understand.
Taking up the new formula inaugurated with the previous installment, RE8 offers you a sort of horror theme park, where different areas escape from a central hub where you will have the opportunity to shop and stock up on ammunition .
Sometimes a little winded, Resident Evil Village remains one of the best recent episodes of the saga with 110 million copies sold.
Solar ash
8
JVFR
See the Solar Ash test
- A quality artistic direction
- Super smooth gameplay
- A level design that borders on perfection
- The compositions of Disasterpeace
Estimated playing time: 5 hours
Heart Machine changes style! Or rather, size. After the very noticed Hyper Light Drifter, the Californian studio adopts a register more typical platform than pure and hard action.
At the controls of the voidrunner Rei, we skate and we dash through winds and tides to climb gigantic creatures that Shadow of the Colossus would not have denied.
Climbing game, but not only, Solar Ash offers a coherent open-world and some secondary quests likely to prolong the pleasure of discovery.
A title with a very marked artistic dimension, carried by a remarkable soundtrack from Disasterpiece and by an inspired level-design.
Unpacking
8
JVFR
See the testUnpacking
- The cozy and relaxing atmosphere
- Clean and very pretty pixel art
- The satisfaction of good storage
- Telling a life story by unpacking things
Estimated playing time: 3h30
Undoubtedly the most unique title in this selection, Unpacking was voted Game of the Year by the public at the BAFTA Game Awards a few days ago.
Unpacking is a game... of storage. So we see you coming, putting the brakes on and defending yourself that if you want to play, it's certainly not to do household chores.
Except that the Witch Beam game has this cleverness that it manages to tell us a story without ever uttering a single word. The concept is simple: heaps of boxes to unpack, and more or less large accommodation to arrange.
We quickly understand that we follow one and the same person over his moves, and we manage to retrace his journey; the ups and downs of his life, just by rummaging through these little boxes. Fascinating, and - somewhere - completely new.
The Forgotten City
8
JVFR
See the priceSee the testThe Forgotten City
- Solid writing and ending
- A well-thought-out and well-sized universe
- A working investigation and characters
Estimated playing time: 5h
The Forgotten City is first and foremost the beautiful story of its developer Nick Pearce. Before it became a full-fledged game, The Forgotten City was a mod designed for Skyrim, in which the Dragonborn traveled back in time and had to unlock the secret of the tragic fate of a Dwemer city.
The full game, released in the summer of 2021, keeps this concept but transposes it to Ancient Rome. Our protagonist, a contemporary of our time, finds himself, without really knowing how, 2000 years ago, in a reclusive Roman city lost in time. Here, only one law prevails: the Golden Rule, which transforms fishermen into golden statues.
But it is about to be violated, and the magistrate of the city then asks us to investigate to prevent misfortune from happening.
A game necessarily very verbose, but with remarkable writing that has the gift of hanging on to never let us go!
Little Nightmares 2
7
JVFR
See the priceSee the testLittle Nightmares 2
- A game overflowing with visual ideas
- Still deliciously cryptic
- A chilling artistic direction
- The horror that never falls into gore
- A less academic last quarter
Estimated playing time: 5h30
If it iterates on the almost unchanged bases of Little Nightmares, this sequel perfects the formula and pushes the macabre creativity of its designers ever further.
Little Nightmares 2 is a side-view adventure game that mixes not-so-mighty puzzles with horrific elements. More generating unease than startles, Tarsier Studios' game impresses with its chilling panoramas and the ingenuity of its staging.
We will occasionally rail against platforming phases that lack precision, or even on inspirations that are barely too strong on Inside, but we are certainly having a good time... If the ugly school teachers at (very) long neck are your cup of tea.
BPM : Bullets Per Minute
7
JVFR
BPM : Bullets Per Minute
- A mix of rhythm and FPS that clashes
- An explosive soundtrack
- Great replayability
Estimated playing time: 3h
It's sorely lacking in FPS here, you're right. And since you just liked DOOM and — in a completely different style — Crypt of the Necrodancer, you'll love BPM.
Conceived as the almost ungodly cross between the two aforementioned references, Awe Interactive's game puts your sense of rhythm to the test and will only let you fire and reload your weapons to the music's strong beats.
A soundtrack necessarily typed heavy metal, which fits perfectly with the infernal atmosphere that emerges from BPM. Note that the title also draws its originality from procedurally generated levels; which does not prevent it from having a frame that can be completed in just a few hours.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits
8
JVFR
View PriceView TestKena: Bridge of Spirits
- technically marvelous
- A real animated film in my video game
- Landscapes more varied than you think
- Daunting boss fights
- Simple but well-thought-out game mechanics
- Well-balanced difficulty...
- Generous lifespan
- only €39,99???
Estimated playing time: 10h
Ember Lab's first game, Kena: Bridge of Spirits was developed by people with an animation background — and it shows.
Rich in beautiful cinematics to die for, Kena comes in the form of an action-adventure game reminiscent of those of the early 2000s. Spyro, Starfox Adventures or Beyond Good & Evil are all honorable references cited by the studio , but which also give an idea of ​​a somewhat dated gameplay at the turns.
Never mind, Kena offers an exciting adventure and some well-addressed challenges. Don't be fooled by its friendly graphics and the cute creatures that inhabit its universe. The bosses don't miss an opportunity to show their fangs.
