Why a four-hour adventure can beat a forty-hour one

Whispering Hollow is barely four hours long, and I'd take it over most bloated open worlds. There's a confidence in a game that trims the fat and lets every scene matter.

Short adventures can afford to hand-craft everything. No filler quests, no padding to justify a price tag. Every room in Hollow has a reason to exist, and the pacing never sags because there's nowhere to sag.

The downside, of course, is you finish and want more. But I'd rather be left wanting than be worn down by a game that overstayed its welcome by twenty hours.

If you've got a weekend and headphones, a tight little adventure is one of the best uses of mobile gaming. It fits the way we actually play.