Platforms: Available on Mac, PC, Xbox One.

Time to beat: 2h 14m, on average, for the Main Story.

If you want to be a completionist with it, though, it takes (on average) upwards of 13 hours to accomplish everything in it. It boasts a lovely art style and a big open world to roam around in, with a main story that’ll take you about two hours to complete.

Platforms: Available on Nintendo Switch, PCįrom playing a bird to playing a lynx, Shelter 2 has you playing as a mother lynx trying to protect her babies in the snowy wilderness.

Time to beat: 1h 58m, on average, for the Main Story.

Its main story only takes around an hour and a half to complete, or two hours if you feel like completing it in full, so you can easily cross it off your list in an evening. You can also listen in on the conversations unfolding in the city below, but it’s mainly for flying around and exploring.

In a similar vein of simple (and very, very short) open world games, Copoka is a little indie that takes you on a journey where you play as a bird flying around a city. Time to beat: 1h 29m, on average, for the Main Story.

It’ll only take you a little over an hour to complete as well. Our review called it a, “a joyous experiment in exploration from start to finish – even if it is a very, very short-lived one.” They also explain that there’s “a beauty in Proteus' unmatched simplicity,” which makes it a great fit for those who just want to sit back, relax, and take in its pixelated scenery. This game just requires you to roam around, listen to the sounds of the world around you, and watch the season’s change. If you’ve got an hour to kill and are looking for something simple to pass the time, look no further than Proteus. Platforms: Available on PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita (Note: sadly not on PS Store).Time to beat: 1h 20m, on average, for the Main Story.Starting from the shortest open world game on How Long to Beat’s site, here’s our list of the 12 shortest open world games to play in 2023. They offer a wide variety of experiences as well, from short and sweet indies to stellar action-packed expansions for games you already know and love. To complete their main stories, these games range from a little over an hour long to around seven hours. In this list, we’ve collected the top 12 shortest open world games, according to How Long to Beat, to help you find something quick to get through. But jumping into a new open world game often requires you to set aside an abundance of time to work through it, and if you don’t have 50 hours to devote to a new save, it helps to know about shorter open world games to play that won’t take up too much of your time. This year will see the arrival of even more exciting new ones to play in as well, from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom to Starfield. Whether it’s the vast wild west or sprawling magical worlds, there’s so much to take in and explore and interact with. It’s an incredible feeling when you’re fully immersed in an open world game.

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