Are you faster or slower than average at beating games?

[Horohorohoro]

On HLTB I usually finish a couple of hours faster than the average "Main + Extras" depending on how much I do in the game. As a recent example I finished FF9 in about 35 hours (though I did use speed up in the new port) and A Link to the Past I completed in somewhere around 10-12 on my first playthrough compared to the 17 it says for a completionist run.

 

[Redcrayon]

Generally I'm faster at RPGs where I don't hang around for post-game stuff, meaningless 'collect the hundred thingies for me' quests and anything else that feels like pointless bloat. I'm way slower at action games though, my aging reactions mean I succeed through perseverance rather than skill!

 

[BigTime_2018]

Compared to other "core" players, a lot slower. I don't play games a whole lot on weekdays, and I often opt to do as many side missions as I can and find as many collectibles as I can. Also, I generally just enjoy taking my time.

 

[nbnt]

Faster, like way faster when compared to the numbers I see on HLTB. Probably because I don't care about collectibles or optional shit, I just breeze it whenever I can.

 

[AzorAhai]

Way faster.

When I was young I used to experience every optional thing because I had less games, more time and more patience.

Now I go straight to the point in most games. I only do side stuff if it's really interesting or if I'm absolutely loving the game.

 

[ngower]

I rarely beat games and when I do it takes me like 7 years.

 

[J_Viper]

I have made peace with the fact that having a full time job means I'll never finish a game longer than ten hours ever again

 

[kurahador]

Slower most of the time unless it's an fps where I usually be the average speed.

 

[APOEERA]

Slower. I have a full time job so I'm hindered by trying to beat games and I end up passing out from exhaustion after work because I stayed up until midnight to try to beat a game during the work week. If I'm lucky, I have time on the weekend to actually make progress on the game (provided I don't sleep until noon or something).

I had more time when I was unemployed but had no desire to play anything because I spent all day looking for work or was too depressed to want to do anything.

Nevermind RPGs. I still haven't even beaten Final Fantasy XIII and I bought that the day it came out.

 

[TheOnlyJ]

If there's voiced dialogue, I tend to read it and skip over the voice acting which makes me a little faster, and I also don't do a lot of optional quests. Especially toward the end of games where I start thinking about what I want to play next or get in a rush to finish.

 

[Kaswa101]

Probably faster. I usually like finishing the story before doing all the side stuff

 

[Goldenroad]

If HLTB is any indication, than MUCH slower, but I also think most people are, because HLTB is probably mostly frequented by people who try to get through games quickly, or even speed run games. I think if you looked at true averages (ie. most people never even come close to beating video games), I'm probably average, or maybe even a little above average....but I don't know what those averages really are because of my first sentence.

 

[OddRonald]

I'm normally within 2/3 hours of the average, however I was surprised when I beat Bloodborne in 17 hours when the average on howlongtobeat is 35. I think this was because I play souls games with a guide/researching each boss before I face them rather than slamming into a wall blind and getting frustrated

 

[The Albatross]

Waaaaaaaay slower. Takes me months now to beat even short games. I usually have time to play on like... maybe a Friday and Saturday night or something from 10-12. I used to be able to play till like 2am on those ngihts, but my toddler is in a major sleep regression waking up constantly unless we're in our bed, so.... no more of that.

 

[Delicious Waffles]

I jump to too many games that, these days, I rarely beat one. Plus, there's long spans in between. I may play a game everyday or not touch any game for weeks.

 

[Theron]

Way slower. I double the average playtime when I estimate how long it will take me to finish it.

 

[plow]

Definately faster. I Finished CyberPunk with Sidequests in 25 Hours. There is people here that spend nearly double for nearly the same.

 

[deathsaber]

WAAAY slower. I always have massive backlog and constantly juggle, its not unusual for me to finish something like 2 years later, usually after an initial play, and then break for months/years, and then come back later in a time when releases slow down (and possibly starting over again). Plus, most games today are so damn long, they really gotta suck me in for me to see the end.

 

[Shiranui93]

My playtime usually lines up with what Howlongtobeat says. So average I guess.

 

[Musubi]

This is me playing games.

*Plays something for like 30 minutes*
*Pause game*
*Get distracted*
*Fall down hole of scrolling Twitter/ERA/Youtube*
*2 hours later remember I was playing something and resume*
Repeat!

 

[Gunny T Highway]

I am generally faster than the average on Howlongtobeat.

 

[Perfectsil]

Linear games slower i take my time, open world games I usually only do side content that interest me so faster

 

[Chainshada]

Depends on the game, but usually a bit faster unless I get super invested and read every scrap of lore and take the time to scour every corner or look for miniscule details.

 

[HiLife]

I can beat games in less than a week depending and that's even with exploration and side missions. Not 100% completion though. Quickest I beat a game was in a overnight sitting.

 

[Jaymageck]

Almost certainly slower as im a sucker for interspersing optional content throughout my playthrough.

 

[AyaisMUsikWhore]

The in-game time will say I've played the game for a total of 5 - 6 hours, but in real time, I've been playing it for a year and some change lol

Doesn't matter if it linear, open world, strategic rpg, sports, etc.....it takes me damn near a year to finish one.

 

[Kyrios]

I think it depends on the game but I would probably say I tilt slightly more to faster now since WFH.

Otherwise I was always in the ballpark of the estimated times from sites like HLTB.

 

[Moara]

Almost every game takes me from 1.5x to 2x more hours to complete than the how long to beat averages. Especially RPGs.

 

[Deleted member 3208]

Way slower. Found out I like drawing so I'm spending more time drawing, writing and reading than playing games. And if I play games, I usually get distracted easily by using my browser.

 

[PopcornMegaphone]

When I read about game lengths I always add 50% for my play through estimate. I like to take my time and I'm not particularly good at video games. It's a hobby I enjoy, but suck at.

 

[karnage10]

usually faster if how long to beat is correct.
THen again i usually play on normal or easy and I imagine a significant ammount of people will pick normal/hard, specially veterans of the series. I think i'll be average if most people played on easy/normal.

 

[OnanieBomb]

Where's the "I don't even beat most games I play" option

 

[MegaSackman]

Average but because I consume most of the content of the game.

However, 30hs for a regular person could be two weeks and it's just a weekend to me. My gaming sessions are longer than the average I guess.

 

[Deleted member 10629]

Slow as a Slowpoke, because I play multiple games at a time.

 

[lightning16]

I think I'm faster when it comes to action/platformer type games and slower when it comes to RPGs and other more open-ended games.

 

[HardRojo]

Slower, I like to explore and make sure I'm not missing a crate, an item or something like that. TLoU Part II took me 43 hours to finish.

 

[AuthenticM]

I have ADD. So slower. Especially for RPGs or other involved games that require making decisions of all sorts.

 

[Atolm]

When How long to beat says it takes 8h for me it's like 12-13.

 

[CoolRanchLuke]

Depends on the game, I will absolutely smash more linear games or shooters in particular usually well before the suggested length. But then with open world games or RPG's it's a crap shoot, between doing tons of side shit or just putting a game down for a bit and coming back to it weeks-months later I'm pretty much always on the slower side. I've had some friends beat Cyberpunk twice now and I still haven't even crossed the point of no return on my first playthrough.

 

[AndrewGPK]

Slow because I tend to explore, take my time, search nooks and crannys.

 

[Philippo]

I definitely know I am slower than my peers, but the actual average gamer? No idea.

 

[MrFox]

Looking at howlongtobeat I'm about 1.5x slower for most games... but many platinums take me easily 3 times longer than the average "completionist" time, because I look at walkthroughs when I'm left with only the obscure trophies I couldn't figure out by myself. Collection trophies can take me a while.

 

[Xevross]

If HLTB is any indication, than MUCH slower, but I also think most people are, because HLTB is probably mostly frequented by people who try to get through games quickly, or even speed run games. I think if you looked at true averages (ie. most people never even come close to beating video games), I'm probably average, or maybe even a little above average....but I don't know what those averages really are because of my first sentence.

Click to shrink...

I've seen a few posts like this in this thread and I think its just different perspectives, because for me I look at HLTB after I finish a game and wonder what people were doing to take so long. People are just different I guess. I don't recall ever finishing a game slower than the HLTB overall "all playstyles" average playtime, and I check it quite often.

Some examples recently:

TLOU2 - HLTB 28h, me 20h
Cyberpunk - HLTB 57h, me 35h
Immortals - HLTB 39h, me 26h
Demon's Souls - HLTB 33h , me 19h
Rise of the Tomb Raider - HLTB 25h, me 16h

So yeah, probably on average about 30% faster than most people.

I don't think I rush or try to speedrun, I could certainly have done all of those a lot faster if I wanted to. I just don't linger or dwell on things, I'm not one to stop and look at environments or models because they're pretty, I don't enjoy stopping to a crawl to look through every nook and cranny of a level, I just have one decent look around to see if anything stands out. I think it does help that I'm probably better than the average person at most games and I prefer to keep it on normal difficulty and kick ass than trying to artificially challenge myself with a high difficulty, so I tend to fly through most games without failing much.

Like with TLOU2, I don't think I missed anything important in that game and I never ran out of supplies or ammo, sure I didn't go for 100% but I got about half of the collectibles. I even felt like I was being slower than normal and really taking my time with that game. In Cyberpunk I did every important side quest the game presented to me before I finished it.

I guess it also depends if you go for trophies and collectibles the first time round and count that, because I never do. I just play through a game naturally, usually trying to complete most side content I've come across if I am enjoying playing the game. Then if I really love a game and still want to play more after seeing the credits, I go back and try to 100%.

 

[knightmawk]

Generally I'll match hltb within a few hours,

 

[Ensoul]

I am guessing slower since I have a bit of OCD and I feel like I have to do every side quest and find every hidden item.

 

[styl_oh]

I voted slower.

But if 67.6% people vote for that, it might be that the average itself is actually slower than what people think. Though obviously this isn't a scientific research or anything.

Click to shrink...

Yeah... I find myself agreeing with posts like this. I can't imagine that 66.7% of this site (or the people who voted, sample size of 1k) are miraculously slower than average for no discernible reason (are people who post on message boards slower? I'll leave a memo with Nancy to look into this)

Of course, a whole hell of a lot more people vote on HLTB, but I think maybe there's some merit to whoever said a lot of them tend to be borderline speedrunners... in which case, maybe we should view their own tags through a cipher? Leisurely Completionists = Average Main + Extras... ok I'm just confusing myself now

 

[Tankshell]

210h and counting in AC Valhalla currently (although I am nearing the end 100% completion). I think most people do it in <100.

 

[styl_oh]

There's also the ever-reliable Fallible Human Memory variable*, the Embellishment Compulsion**, the Spreading of False and Blasphemous Common Knowledge***, as well as the case of the Lying Time Counter****, but that's a whole 'nother can of hours played to get into...

* Phantasy Star 2 took me hundreds of hours as a child, something that I, a 60 year old man, remember with utmost clarity
** man i beat that game in a DAY. that shit is a one-sitting joint (the person in question stayed up for 5 consecutive days on trucker speed)
*** Dishonoured only takes 6 hours!!
**** I feel like it's not counting when I pause... but... wait, what about the map screen? But the map screen is pause... is it counting? IS IT COUNTING?

 

[styl_oh]

Difficulty surely also comes into play. There are those rascals, those scoundrels, those ne'er do-wells, those hoodlums, cold men and colder women, those absolute rapscallions, those who would thrust the great middle finger to God's programming, who play on Hard no matter what.

Us normal people, of course, play on Normal. Some may play on easy. There was some dude in here who claimed to have finished Dragon Quest 11 in 27 hours. Isn't that the length of the fucking demo? Idk I haven't played it yet.

If I were a data man, if I knew anything and I mean anything at all, I'd be breaking out the excel sheets I don't have.

 

[moriquendi]

For most games probably somewhat slower - if exploration is an option. I really like to look in nooks and crannies and uncover all of a map. For corridor types games I'm probably average.