Little known fact about the Indieventure crew: we're all pretty tiny. Like, 5'9" at the outside, the types who really need a tall friend to accompany us to the supermarket so we can reach the interesting condiment jars that always seem to be hanging out on the top shelf. So, short queens/king that we are, of course we stan a short indie game. How could we not? Just like us, they're perfect the way they are, taking up exactly as much space as they need to make their point without feeling the need to be all imposing (on your precious free time).
Moving on from that metaphor before the thread gets lost entirely! We've separated this episode into time-based categories, starting with indies that take two or three hours to complete, including Anemoiapolis, Birth, Industria, Lily's Well, Nuts, Penko Park, Pupperazzi, A Short Hike, Umurangi Generation, and A Year of Springs; as well as various games in the Devcats and Rusty Lake franchises.
Next up are some of our favourite one-hour indies, like Chop Goblins, The Exit 8, and Morph Girl, as well as the individual games that make up the Frog Detective trilogy; Rusty Lake's sister series Cube Escape; and the early works of solo Birth dev Madison Karrh.
Squeezing our way down to indies in 30 minutes or less or your pizza's free (disclaimer: I do not actually have the authority to grant you a free pizza, sorry), it turns out we've got a surprising number of recommendations to offer in this particular bracket. We urge anyone who fancies playing a game from start to finish over their lunch break to check out David Lynch Teaches Typing; Dr Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald; Localhost; Pebble Witch; Pet the Pup at the Party; Pineapple on Pizza; Puzmo; Teenage Blob; or any of Deconstructeam's short offerings on Itch, with a special mention going to Eternal Home Floristry if you're too overwhelmed by choice to know where to start.
Finally, if you're looking for a miniscule indie game that can be played in just 5 minutes or so, look no further than psychological horror walking sim September 1999. And if your tastes run to indies so small they can only be viewed under a microscope, we end by recommending Morning Makeup Madness and Queers in Love at the End of the World, both of which last just 10 seconds.
