Re:Game design is simple
by freiheit on Saturday November 08, 2025 @03:12PM
(#45859567)
> But that doesn’t explain games where as soon as you start it up for the first time, there’s a minimum of 20 minutes of (often unskippable) cutscenes before you can even control a character
I honestly wonder if this is done to reduce returns. Steam, for example has a <2hrs policy.
Put 30+ minutes of cut scene in, 60 minutes of intro/tutorial, and you’re past 2 hours of game launched time before discovering the game itself just isn’t fun for you (too predictable? Grindy? Too easy? Too hard?)
I honestly wonder if this is done to reduce returns. Steam, for example has a <2hrs policy.
Put 30+ minutes of cut scene in, 60 minutes of intro/tutorial, and you’re past 2 hours of game launched time before discovering the game itself just isn’t fun for you (too predictable? Grindy? Too easy? Too hard?)