SUPERPOW'S PROFILE

My town IS my dungeon.

In my book, one hour of solid design and storytelling is worth much more than 100 sloppy, artificially-inflated hours of gameplay. A game's length, regardless of genre, ought to be dictated by its story arc and by the nature of its gameplay.

Regardless of game, the player will start seeing diminishing levels of enjoyment for every hour of gameplay past the first. This rate will either be very elastic if your story is uninspired and your gameplay repetitive and monotonous, or barely noticeable if you have constructed a cohesive plot with interesting gameplay hooks.

There is an archaic idea in game design that more is better, that quantity is indicative of overall quality. That cannot be further from the truth. Desired length ought not dictate the form of your gameplay and story.

I am not advocating short games over long games; such an argument is pointless. Rather, length ought to be largely dependent on the story you wish to tell and the gameplay you wish to create.

"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."
-Antoine de Saint-Exupery