The premise is simple: You’re Chell, a prisoner of Aperture Science Center, and you are given a portal gun by GLaDOS, a misanthropic artificial intelligence with a weird sense of humor. GLaDOS promises you cake if you take the gun and become a portal-jumping guinea pig, death if you do not.

3 hours, 30 minutes.Īvailable on: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PCĪ modern classic, Portal is the gold standard for tightly focused, well-designed, idiosyncratic video games. Inside is an astonishing achievement of aesthetics and art direction, with fantastic and unsettling sound design, a moody, creepy vibe, and a final-act twist so surprising you’ll want to tell everyone you know about it. Outrunning the boy’s pursuers is only the start to the disturbing and macabre adventure - eventually, that boy’s going to find something. These are complete experiences, and some of the best games in recent memory.īest played in one sitting, Inside casts you as a nameless boy on the run from men who seem to have taken him prisoner. The 21 titles on this list span all manner of tones and genres: There are games where you shoot and games where you fight, games that are spooky and games that are funny, mysteries and parodies and really good stories - and every one of them can be completed in the time it takes to watch a couple of movies or the entirety of a British television show.

Thankfully, short games are just as plentiful as massive ones, and no less compelling. Think of all the shows and movies and books and general human interaction you could enjoy in 100 hours! This week we’re providing a series of Vulture Hacks: expert advice, gear guides, and recommendations to help you maximize your entertainment experience.Ĭonsidering how often video-game marketing proudly touts more than 100 hours of gameplay content, it’s understandable if certain would-be gamers assume they don’t have time to pick up a controller.

Fun free single player games 2016 on pc