Awesome games with runs approx. 10 mins or so?

[Razzie.P]

What are some awesome games with runs approx. 10 mins or so?

 

Several years ago, I played a game on Xbox called “I MADE A GAME WITH ZOMBIES IN IT” or something like that, and it was a shooter that lasted 10 mins or so, and you basically just did a run to score as many points as possible within that time, before the background song ran out.  And it was awesome.

 

I’m working on a game idea, and want to create a simple game that uses that concept – short fuse, score as much as possible, plop your name on a leaderboard, try again –and looking to see what others are out there to gain a bit of inspiration and ideas.

 

Any favorites?
 

[Lord Mushroom]

I love the beginning of that soundtrack:

 

[Reaperman]

Caravan Shmups generally fall into that, the test of extracting the most points from the first 2 or 5 minutes of a game. Sometimes it's a mode with a selection from a longer game, or sometimes that's all there is. The part I don't like is you are generally expected to 'make it' to the end of 5min, often having infinite lives. I like it when the time limit is more natural.

 

Shmups aside, my favorite in the genre is probably Blast Arena Advance. Not as easy as it looks. Its like snake, but without the snake (except for playing the credits screen where it is literally snake):

 

 

 

Edited May 24, 2022 by Reaperman

[Steven Pendleton]

Slap Fight

Slap Fight MD

Hishouzame

[Razzie.P]

2 hours ago, Lord Mushroom said:

I love the beginning of that soundtrack:

 

Yes!  That part at the 1 min to 1:12 mark makes me lol everytime.  "It costs a dollar..."

[Tanooki]

Well technically this fits because it's a Wing Commander + ROGUE mechanic crossover.

Each play can last just a few minutes, maybe you'll go over 10 if you're lucky it just kind of ends up what is randomly generated each time you jump, but since some stuff rolls over, eventually you will get a little further, faster, chipping a little more of the story away.  EVERSPACE:

 

[Austin]

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved (360, PC, extra in the Wii Geometry Wars Galaxies), Bullet Candy (PC), lots of early arcade games (Time Pilot is a good example). I guess you can technically play some of them longer than 10 minutes, but most won't due to their level of difficulty.

 

Some late '80s/early '90s arcade games can be finished in 10 - 15 minutes when you know what to do, like Strider, Contra, Super Contra, and Trojan. Same goes for the NES version of Trojan.

[phoenixdownita]

If you have never played it before even just pac-man would be a challenge to survive 10mins ... granted it has 255 screens so it CAN last much longer.

So as @Austin says many Arcade 80s/90s are a hell of challenge to get by on just 10mins .... they technically do last longer but you wouldn't (until you master them that is) .... Pole Position, Dig Dug, Pooyan, Amidar, Phoenix, Moon Cresta, Gyruss ..... the list is very very long 

 

 

I am sure you meant "can be successfully completed in <10mins" .... technically the GX-4000 version of Wild Streets fits the bill but it's not "awesome" not even close .... (just keep walking more or less and you finish the game)

 

[Cynicaster]

There is a bottomless pit of classic arcade games that arguably fall into the category of games where high scores are the goal and a single attempt lasts 10 minutes or less.  But if I'm reading the OP correctly, I think what's being asked is more of a timed blast that lasts for that short duration no matter how good you are, and you simply focus on optimizing your score within that time.  

 

This "fixed time high score sprint" type of concept has a lot of potential, in my opinion.  For a gamer like me, who is open to new games on new platforms but is just not willing to sign up for a game that requires a commitment of dozens to hundreds of hours to "finish" it, the fixed-time model offers a lot of potential for quick and addictive games. 

 

My favorites of this type are Pac-Man Championship Edition DX and Everyday Shooter.  

 

Everyday Shooter has levels that last for the duration of a guitar-based instrumental "song," which I think is a very cool idea.  The track starts and you play a twin-stick shooter game while the progress meter for the song is shown at the bottom (kind of like a media player on a PC).  If you survive till the end of the song without losing all your lives, you progress to the next level/song.  My only complaint with this game is actually a rather big one - the scoring system blows.  If this game idea were re-worked to have more of an interesting/exciting scoring system I think it would be killer.  

 

 

[Daj]

22 hours ago, Austin said:

Some late '80s/early '90s arcade games can be finished in 10 - 15 minutes when you know what to do, like Strider, Contra, Super Contra, and Trojan. Same goes for the NES version of Trojan.

Arcade Contra and Outrun are maybe the shortest games I can think of that have a progression of different environments and a definite ending (no looping etc). Contra is maybe ~10 or so, Outrun is about 7 minutes or fewer. Ofc lots of arcade driving games won't let you play long, but Outrun can be "beaten".

[Austin]

3 hours ago, Cynicaster said:

Everyday Shooter has levels that last for the duration of a guitar-based instrumental "song," which I think is a very cool idea.  The track starts and you play a twin-stick shooter game while the progress meter for the song is shown at the bottom (kind of like a media player on a PC).  If you survive till the end of the song without losing all your lives, you progress to the next level/song.  My only complaint with this game is actually a rather big one - the scoring system blows.  If this game idea were re-worked to have more of an interesting/exciting scoring system I think it would be killer.  

The scoring system is fine and I personally would not want to see it changed. It's one of the things that makes the game the unique experience that it is.

 

For anyone that has not played it, Everyday Shooter is a twin stick shooter, but you don't get points for killing enemies as typical of the genre. Your score comes from the point items enemies drop. The ways you make point items appear is different on each level. Every level has a unique theme and progression. You can of course play by just reacting and shooting, but your scores will be low as a result. You need to not just be good at surviving, but also know how each level progresses and how to trigger the bigger point item spills.

 

Going through the entire game doesn't fit the "10 minute" criteria (a full run is probably 45 minutes at least), but you can unlock modes where you can play single stages and that definitely fits the bill.

 

It's probably one of my favorites, if not my favorite, twin stick shooters. It's super unique and fun to learn.

[Razzie.P]

2 hours ago, Cynicaster said:

There is a bottomless pit of classic arcade games that arguably fall into the category of games where high scores are the goal and a single attempt lasts 10 minutes or less.  But if I'm reading the OP correctly, I think what's being asked is more of a timed blast that lasts for that short duration no matter how good you are, and you simply focus on optimizing your score within that time.  

 

This "fixed time high score sprint" type of concept has a lot of potential, in my opinion.  For a gamer like me, who is open to new games on new platforms but is just not willing to sign up for a game that requires a commitment of dozens to hundreds of hours to "finish" it, the fixed-time model offers a lot of potential for quick and addictive games. 

 

 

 

 

Yep, nailed it!   I'm interested in all other "quick games," too, so definitely appreciate the suggestions so far.  But yeah, I'm specifically interested in the games that fit that "fixed time high score sprint" description that you mentioned/described.  Seems like such a great mechanic, to me, but not finding a lot of games built around it.

[youxia]

I see your 10 minutes, and will raise you a Half-Minute Hero.

[+Black_Tiger]

The Sega Master System has several.