games

I like games that respect my time.

Good narrow games generally don’t require a lot of time commitment up-front, and provide an enjoyable experience without overstaying their welcome, or requiring excessive repetition to see all the content. They often offer forms of replayability that don’t feel obligatory, like challenge modes or a new game+, which are really welcome when you play through a game and want to scratch the itch just a little more before putting it down.

Good open games usually reward a greater up-front time commitment with richness and variety that keep the game interesting through many hours of gameplay, and/or multiple playthroughs. They also often allow the player to set their own goals so that there’s no explicit pressure to grind or slog through content to get to the end, nor a feeling that you’ve abandoned the game if you get to a certain point and decide to stop.

In either case, I think a really good game allows you to pick it up and play for short periods while still being enjoyable. Narrow games sometimes fail here when the levels are just a bit too long, or where the save point system creates awkward situations when you want to stop, but can’t do so without losing progress. Open games sometimes fail at this when there’s too much travel time, or where completing a “loop” takes too much time.

If a game is good, I don’t care whether it’s open or narrow, I just want to get a good experience for my time.