What length of game do you aim for?

[Sleepy]

I've been poking away and expanding on a demo I did a while back and the thought of length came to mind. With the demo, part of the aim was to create something that was about 10-20 minutes to complete since I wanted something that could showcase writing and level design in a short amount of time. However, since the expanded version would be a stand-alone game, it is starting to feel like it would be an hour to two hours unless it was treated as: a) a prologue/episode one to a larger story b) something to be massively padded/filled in at other areas.

In short, what length do you typically aim for? Do you have an ideal playtime?

[kitsubasa]

I don't think there's an ideal playtime to aim for when it comes to VNs. Because it's a medium which can take cues from a whole plethora of others (TV, film, comics, novels, plays, poetry -- whatever you like) there's no real way to pin down an 'appropriate' length. It depends on the format of your story, the content, what you're taking inspiration from... I've played games from a 40 minute playtime to a 40 hour playtime which have felt like they fit the space they used.

If you're really desperate to figure out an appropriate length for some reason, though, probably the best way to do it would be to analyse whatever other medium is closest to your particular project and look at the time/wordcount/page count it uses, then work off that. For my current project, I've been aiming for each route to run around 90 minutes. I was inspired by a 90min film with pacing I enjoyed, and timing my structure with it made sense as a result.

If there's nothing with similar pacing/goals/mechanics to your work, though -- nothing you've built off from the ground up -- it's probably better to just write it all out however long or short you want. Your story -- you decide the time for it~

[Kailoto]

If you're really desperate to figure out an appropriate length for some reason, though, probably the best way to do it would be to analyse whatever other medium is closest to your particular project and look at the time/wordcount/page count it uses, then work off that. For my current project, I've been aiming for each route to run around 90 minutes. I was inspired by a 90min film with pacing I enjoyed, and timing my structure with it made sense as a result.

I agree. It's more comprehensive to think of it in terms of pacing, rather than length; that way the amount of content dictates the duration of play. It should be directly proportional, with more content resulting in a longer playtime.

I've seen a lot of good VNs of all sorts of length, and the same goes for video games in general - length has no correlation with quality. Rather, like kitsubasa said, make it as long as you feel it should be.

[RotGtIE]

I worry more about the length of individual scenes than about the duration of the story in its entirety. In general, I try to aim for about 1,000 words on average for each scene, though that fluctuates based on the needs of the scene in general. Some scenes are transitional or only there to build up to a bigger scene, so they can be quite a bit briefer than the norm (on a couple of occasions I've gone below 400 words for a scene out of necessity). Others will stretch out to 2,000 words or longer, because they involve some heavy exposition or lengthy sections of dialogue/monologue. If it's necessary, the narrative will be satisfied and the word count will be damned.

As has been pointed out already, pacing is more important than overall duration. And I'm not just talking about the overall pacing of the entire plot as a whole, but also of every individual scene, and the flow from one scene to the next. Pacing is what keeps the audience interested long enough to want to keep reading more, rather than feeling like they are dragging their feet through an unwelcome chore to get to the bits they want. Pacing is something which must be constantly maintained in the moment and at all times. It must be kept up in the immediate sense as well as in the grand scheme of things.

It sounds harder than it is, I think. Once you actually start writing, you can kind of get a feel for whether something is droning on, too abrupt, or just about the right length to sustain your interest as a reader or even keep you eagerly reading for more. Where people fall short in this, I suspect, is in getting exhausted from writing and then re-reading what they've written, and eventually just throwing in the towel or deciding they've done enough and prematurely stamping their seal of approval on their scene before it's really complete.

[Facelord]

I think the ideal length for a paid VN is 8-15 hours. Up to 15 can be fine if your VN has a lot of ground to cover, any less than 8 hours might feel a little brief(if and only if you're charging for the VN). A VN can get away with 24-30 hours if it has a story as good as, say, Stein's Gate(El Psy Congroo!), same goes to shorter stories(like Saya no Uta).

If it's a free VN or a demo, though, an hour or less is fine. Like the other commenters here said, any length is fine, as long as the pacing is good. You don't wanna waste the reader's time or ramble too much, you know.

[Jate]

To me the ideal length is how long it takes to tell the story well. Rather than aiming for length, I think it's better to think about how short you can make it. A good story takes both good writing and good editing. When you try to make it longer than it should be, it just makes the pacing worse. If you're adding more to the story, that's different, of course. But just stretching it out lowers the quality, and reading less of something good is far preferable to reading more of something bad.

It's a bit different for commerical games, though. How much a game is worth to me ultimately comes down to how much time I'll spend playing it, so I'd want at least an hour for every dollar in the price.

[Sleepy]

The question of commercial versus free is an interesting point. For this project, I was leaning towards it being free to begin, if only because of the shorter length and because it's a starting project, but if it were intended to be commercial I'd most likely rethink it.

As a player, I've enjoyed both short and long VNs but I'd be lying if I didn't feel put out paying a fair bit for something that I know will be completed in an hour, even if I KNOW the quality of the game is good. I've enjoyed free ones I've completed within an hour or less regardless of their length, though, so I guess I'll wait and see how the pacing and resources are before worrying about length.

[Kailoto]

As a player, I've enjoyed both short and long VNs but I'd be lying if I didn't feel put out paying a fair bit for something that I know will be completed in an hour, even if I KNOW the quality of the game is good. I've enjoyed free ones I've completed within an hour or less regardless of their length, though, so I guess I'll wait and see how the pacing and resources are before worrying about length.

Well, it depends on the price as well; if there was a VN with solid art and story that cost two dollars but was only an hour long, I'd probably consider buying it. If the price is too high for something too small, fix the price, not the content.

And how do you even measure playtime, anyways? A single playthrough? Completing every arc? 100% completion? Does replay value count? Ace Attorney games have a relatively high price for their duration, but the quality and depth more than make up for it. I think aiming for a certain amount of content or length leads to subpar design more often than not; I'd rather see a high-quality, short title than a large but lackluster product.

[trooper6]

I think aiming for a certain amount of content or length leads to subpar design more often than not; I'd rather see a high-quality, short title than a large but lackluster product.

I'd also rather see a high-quality short title than a large lackluster product, but I'm also not paying $20+ for that short title.

[Milkymalk]

As has been said, pacing is more important than length.

When I play a VN that I enjoy, I of course want it to be as long as possible so I can enjoy it longer. But for me to enjoy it, it needs good pacing; it has to keep me invested in the story and characters. Most importantly, it should not feel repetitive and the dialogue should go somewhere. Just hours of throwing one-liners back and forth might sound cool in the writer's head, but it's boring to read. The ideal case is that I'm sitting there and each line of text makes me wonder what will happen next. The worst case is me clicking without really bothering to read it in detail because "meh, this has been going on for so long without any relevance".

That being said, you have to find the point where you can't expand the story without just inflating it with hot air instead of adding substance. Stop at that point and you will be fine.

[Katy133]

I believe very strongly in using brevity. But keep in mind that brevity does not just mean "make it short." It's more, "put as much meaning into as little time as possible."

I also remember a quote from a Writer's Craft mentor: She said, "A [project] should be like a skirt: Short enough to be interesting, but long enough to cover the subject."

It turns out that she was quoting Winston Churchill.