Highlights

• Role-playing games are typically long and time-consuming, but there are shorter RPG titles available that can be completed in a weekend or within 10-15 hours.
• The Outer Worlds, Pyre, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Fable, Undertale, Child of Light, and Alpha Protocol are examples of RPGs with shorter playtimes.
• These shorter RPGs still offer compelling stories, well-developed characters, and solid gameplay mechanics, making them enjoyable experiences for players with limited time.

Role-playing games are arguably one of the most popular genres in gaming nowadays. Their popularity should come as no surprise — most of the time, the long-anticipated triple-A releases are RPGs, after all. Many people love big, sprawling open-worlds where they can mold their characters into a build of their choosing.

However, not everybody has the time to complete some of these bloated, lengthy games. Most of the popular titles take somewhere between 50–100 hours, and players who aren't able to devote lengthy chunks of their days to gaming might feel like they're missing out on it. Thankfully, there are quite a few great short RPGs that do not require fans to take time off to complete.

Updated October 10, 2023 by Mark Sammut: Role-playing games are known to be long. Despite having a somewhat short main campaign, Starfield can easily last for more than a hundred hours. Baldur's Gate 3 is absolutely massive, and Sea of Stars is an indie game with a 30-hour story. Final Fantasy 16, Hogwarts Legacy, Diablo 4, and Lies of P are also significant time investments. Basically, if someone plans to pick up one of 2023's biggest RPGs, they must prepare themselves for a long adventure. Consequently, it can be nice to throw in a short RPG every once in a while.

8 The Outer Worlds

This is a masterfully crafted RPG game developed by Obsidian Entertainment, the same group responsible for Fallout: New Vegas, hailed by many gamers as the best Fallout game ever made. Much like the Fallout games, The Outer Worlds is characterized by well-written dialogue, an interesting game world, and solid RPG mechanics.

As opposed to Fallout: New Vegas, The Outer Worlds doesn't take nearly 60 hours to play through the whole game. Players will only need 12.5 hours to blast through the main story, and only around 25 hours to experience most of the additional content alongside the main quest.

7 Pyre

Any Supergiant game is worth playing, and Bastion and Transistor are also RPGs that can easily be completed within a weekend (if not a single session). Pyre is a meatier overall experience, at least in terms of length, but it is also just as innovative as any of the developer's other projects. Players take charge of a team consisting of convicts who compete in a contest to determine who will get a pardon. Large parts of the campaign are dedicated to getting to know both the characters and this world, with these sections being very dialogue and choice-heavy. Exploration is not really a thing in Pyre, so the story carries the burden of crafting a believable and engaging universe; unsurprisingly, it gets the job done.

The core gameplay/combat is one-of-a-kind, consisting of 3v3 sports matches that involve players trying to use a ball to extinguish the other team's flame. It is certainly a creative concept, and the mechanics themselves are sound and fun. Things can get slightly repetitive at times, but the narrative is more than strong enough to keep people engaged until the end.

6 South Park: The Stick Of Truth

There aren't many people in the world who haven't at least heard of Trey Parker's and Matt Stone's satire cartoon, South Park. With 24 seasons already released, the series has a spot alongside The Simpsons among America's longest-running animated sitcoms. The Stick of Truth is a turn-based role-playing game that preserves the humor and characters that fans of the TV show know and love.

It isn't a knock-off title or a poor game, by any means. Developed by Obsidian, the creators of The Outer Worlds and Fallout: New Vegas, The Stick of Truth knows how to draw players in without overstaying its welcome. In just 15 hours, players will easily get through the main story while exploring a lot of the side content along the way.

5 Fable

Back when it was released in 2004, Fable was considered to be somewhat of a revolutionary game. This is because it was the first RPG to implement a system where the player's choices had a visible impact on the main character's appearance and how he is perceived by the NPCs. Should gamers choose to make morally dubious choices, the character would take on a more devilish appearance, with horns growing out of his forehead, while the more benevolent players would see their character slowly turn into an angel-like creature.

It's also a very short game. The vast majority of players managed to get through the main story in just under 13 hours, but exploring some side content would extend that to 19 hours, which is still beatable in one weekend.

4 Undertale

Independent games are often much shorter than their triple-A counterparts. This is mostly because their developers need to stick to much tighter budgets when creating the titles, but also because usually, they have a much more narrow vision and a clear idea of how to go about it. The unexpected Steam hit of 2015 tells a story of a boy who accidentally fell into a mysterious underworld and has to find his way back home.

Undertale is even shorter than most titles on this list, with a playthrough taking anywhere from 5 to 7 hours. Players can extend that to around 15 hours fairly easily, though, should they stick around and explore every nook and cranny of the underworld.

3 Child Of Light

Many Metroidvania games have a reputation for being deceptively long, with hidden rooms and secret areas radically extending the playtime in the majority of cases. Ubisoft's Child of Light is not one of those Metroidvanias, though. It retains the gameplay mechanics of its genre, but it doesn't go on for dozens of hours, like many titles of its kind.

With a beautiful art style and a magnificent soundtrack, Child of Light is a wonderful experience that can be beaten in just over 11 hours. Getting to see all the content in the game won't take much longer, and experienced completionists will 100% the game in less than 15 hours.

2 Parasite Eve

At first glance, Parasite Eve doesn't look like an RPG at all, with its graphics, gameplay, and overall atmosphere more reminiscent of the early Resident Evil titles. It is very much a role-playing game, though, with complex character development, well-developed weapons, and an inventory system that provides that feeling of progression known and loved by all RPG fans.

Parasite Eve is a full-blown RPG experience, and its main story can be beaten in just under 10 hours! Not often do triple-A titles get away with such short playtimes, but this one is so well-rounded and complete, that players had no choice but to fall in love with it back in 1998, when it was officially released on the PS1.

1 Alpha Protocol

A lot of people may not have even heard of Alpha Protocol. It launched in 2010 and didn't quite generate the hype that its publishers were hoping for. This does not mean that it's a bad game, by any means. If anything, it was actually released ahead of its time! A spy-centered action RPG set in the near future, it is full of brilliant gameplay and meaningful dialogues that actually have an effect on the story.

It was developed by Obsidian Entertainment, a team that is particularly adept at creating complete RPGs that do not take too long to beat. Players will need around 14–18 hours to finish Alpha Protocol, depending on how much time they spend on uncovering all of its side features.

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