How Long To Beat

Completion times for video games tend to vary depending on a variety of factors, such as the skill level of the player, difficulty settings, luck, and even the influence of other gamers who may or may not be playing in the same game session. For this reason, it can be difficult to answer the question of how long it takes to beat a game. However, the website How Long To Beat (HTLB) aims to provide gamers with a more helpful estimate of a game’s playthrough time.

HTLB is an online database of more than 18,000 games. For each game listed, users can browse through an average completion time estimate and even a breakdown of time per difficulty level. To calculate this, HTLB collects and averages the completion times submitted by its users, so the more people who submit information, the better the estimates become. On average, HTLB collects nearly 5 million data points each month.

For games which may reach a conclusion, but then can allow players to keep playing after the credits roll, HTLB includes different estimates for the "Main + Extras" and the "Completionists" playthroughs. The former would be the time required to beat the game in the traditional manner, while the latter would involve taking on all of the additional optional or hidden content. This can be quite helpful for players who want to know the amount of time it would take to complete every snippet of content.

In addition to providing estimates for completion times, HTLB also includes a gaming community for users to discuss the games listed on their site, create gaming lists, share reviews and ratings, and even help aspiring game developers find early access alphas and betas to playtest and review.

Ultimately, HTLB provides gamers with an invaluable resource to quickly and accurately estimate how long it would take them to complete a game. With the website’s growing community, ever-increasing data points, and additional features, gamers can efficiently plan how and when to tackle the next game in their backlog.