Are you strapped for free time to enjoy your favorite hobby? Worry not! I’ve found a bunch of games, split into eight genres, that are perfect for quick gaming sessions. All of these games are, first and foremost, single-player experiences, with some also offering multiplayer modes.

1Racing Games

Most racing games, aside from hardcore racing simulators, are inherently designed to be enjoyed in bite-sized sessions. You can do a couple of races, perhaps upgrade your car, check out what you’ve unlocked, and get out in less than an hour or so. And while some racers have expansive career modes, even those games allow you to enjoy that sweet feeling of progress by chipping at a few races per session.

As someone who has less and less free time to enjoy my favorite hobby, I’ve started playing more racing games in the last year precisely because I can finish a race or two, unlock a couple of new events, buy a few cars, and then call it a day while being able to experience that sweet feeling of making some progress and unlocking new in-game content.

Wreckfestis a great example of a racing game suited for short playing sessions. While it’s got a massive career mode, you aren’t forced to finish every championship to unlock the next tier of career events. Championships themselves are made of relatively short events, each event taking only about 10 minutes to complete.

Despite its massive open-world map,Forza Horizon 5is another racing game where you can do a lot in an hour or less. You can knock a couple of icons off your career checklist just by cruising through the map and playing open-world activities such as speed zones. Better yet, the game features short races, with an average race taking about 10–15 minutes to complete. The game’slive serviceaspect also respects your time; you can finish all weekly events in around three hours.

If you’ve got them in your library, the first threeDirtgames from Codemasters are perfect for time-strapped gamers. I have just finished the firstColin MacRae: Dirtgame, and I loved just how short each championship was and how compact yet enjoyable the rally stages felt.Dirt 5is decent, but not as good as the original trilogy.

While we’re talking about rally games, do checkArt of Rally. This bite-sized rally racer is yet another game that’s brief gaming session-friendly. And before I move on, I’d also like to recommendDescenders, a mountain bike game based on roguelite-like runs, where each run takes less than half an hour to complete. Perfection.

2Roguelites and Roguelikes

Most well-designed roguelites and roguelikes respect your time and allow you to complete a run in less than an hour, which is perfect for a daily gaming session when you don’t have much time for gaming. After all, if the game’s good, you’ll crave more, and one run a day will turn into a bunch of runs over time.

Personally, I loveSlay the Spireand cannot recommend it enough. Each run takes about an hour, but the great thing aboutSlay the Spireis that you can play only a few floors at a time because the game saves your progress after each encounter, which makes it a perfect game for playing during breaks. Then you’ve gotBalatro, a super addictive deck-building roguelike that is optimized for short, itty-bitty gaming sessions.

Nuclear Throneis another brilliant roguelite with very short runs, which sometimes take 15 minutes or less to complete.Hadesis, unsurprisingly, another great choice with the longest runs taking about an hour to complete. If you end up liking those, you shouldn’t sleep on arguably the king of the genre,The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth.

If you’re okay with very challenging difficulty, check outSpelunky 2. I’ve played the game for almost 30 hours in total, but I don’t remember having a run that lasted longer than half an hour. If you’d like to shoot your way through a roguelite,Roboquestis a fast-paced FPS roguelite withBorderlands-like visuals that offers runs that take between 15 minutes and half an hour.

3Boomer Shooters

I loveboomer shootersnot only for their retro visuals but also for theirold-school, compact level design. This allows you to finish most levels in 15 minutes and have a blast doing it. The average boomer shooter takes less than 10 hours to complete, which is so much better than more bloated open-world, live-service shooters that try to take up all of your free time.

My favorite isDusk, which has all the hallmarks of a quality boomer shooter: brief levels filled with adrenaline-pumping set pieces, brilliant retro visuals, an arsenal of weapons that are a joy to use, and a story that’s so out there.Hrotis another good boomer shooter set in Czechoslovakia that oozes a dark and gritty Soviet atmosphere.

If you like Warhammer 40K, you’ve got to tryWarhammer 40000: Boltgun; just increase the difficulty from normal because I found the game too easy on the default difficulty setting (on the PC, at least). Sci-fi fans will enjoyProdeus, and if you’d like to experience an H.P. Lovecraft boomer shooter, tryForgive Me Father.

4Short Cozy Games

Cozy, orchill gamesare becoming increasingly popular, and my favorite cozy games are the ones that play likeA Short Hike: chill adventures without combat that are perfect forunwinding after a long day.

A Short Hikeis an obvious recommendation, withLil Gator Gamebeing another. I just finished it, and while it starts kind of slowly, you get super invested once you move to the big island and start meeting new friends every five minutes. If you end up liking these two, do check outHaven Parkas well.

Tiny Terry’s Turbo Tripis great if you’d like to explore an urban environment instead of wilderness, andThank Goodness You’re Here!is a definite recommendation for gamers who resonate with the quirky British humor. There’s alsoAlba: A Wildlife Adventureif you’d like to explore a cozy island in the middle of the Mediterranean and photograph its cute fauna.

5Level-Based 2D Platformers

While 2D platformers are all the rage, lots of modern 2D platformers follow themetroidvania formulaor are 2D action games with huge maps or massive levels. These aren’t well-suited to bite-sized playing sessions.

If you’d like to play 2D platformers that respect your time, your best bet is to eitheremulate classic Nintendo platformersor get a Nintendo Switch and aNintendo Switch Onlinesubscription that includes a bunch of classic 2D platformers from the 80s and 90s. These games are stage-based, with each level only taking a few minutes to complete.

My personal favorites includeSuper Mario All-Stars, Super Mario Worldand its sequel,Yoshi’s Island, as well as theSNESDonkey Kongtrilogy. On the Switch, you’re able to rewind time so that when you screw up you can have another go without having to start the level over (talk about respecting your time).

If you’d like to play something newer,Kaze and the Wild Masksis an incredible throwback to Nintendo’s classic 2D platformers.Rayman OriginsandRayman Legendsare my favorite modern 2D platformers of all time. There’s alsoPizza Towerfor Wario fans andCelesteandBzzztfor those who like both short and sweet games and punishing difficulty.

6Walking Simulators

We cannot talk about games for gamers with limited free time without mentioning walking simulators. These games are almost always super short, respecting your time and offering the best ratio of fun-to-time-investment, as long as you like this game genre, of course.

Gone Homeis one of the genre’s pioneers, and I love it. It only takes a few hours to complete and features a ton of 90s nostalgia.Firewatchis a bit longer, but it’s crowned as one of the best walking simulators ever for good reason; do check it out.

What Remains of Edith Finchis an emotionally charged, somber journey that takes only three or four hours to complete. It’s my favorite walking simulator.

POOLSis a perfect walking simulator for horror fans who don’t want monsters chasing them but still want an eerie, slightly unnerving experience that never turns into flat-out fear. There’s alsoThe Stanley Parable, a poster child of the genre, and yet another must-play walking simulator you can finish in just a few hours.

7Retro-Style Horror Games

The rise of retro-style horror games is great news for gamers with limited free time because you can finish most of them in a matter of hours. They usually sport retro visuals and simplistic gameplay, and many are dirt cheap orfree to play.

David Szymanski’sIron Lungis one of the genre’s best games; short, bizarre, eerie, and with one of the weirdest settings ever in a video game. If you like this one, be sure to checkThe Pony Factorymade by the same developer.

Descendingis another genre gem in which you’re drilling a deep hole in a USSR experimental facility and have to survive ten shifts while all kinds of weird stuff is happening around you.Bloodwashis ugly and funny, and you may finish it in just a couple of hours.

If you’re looking for a classic survival horror that looks and plays like it was released in 1994,Signalisis one of the best retro horror games on the market. I played it a couple of years ago, and it ended up being one of the best survival horror games I’ve ever played.

If you end up liking these retro horror game recommendations, check outGame Rant’s listof the best modern horror games with PS1 visuals.

8Puzzle Games

I’m not talking about hardcorepuzzle gamesthat will turn your brain into a mush; nope, the puzzle games found below are lightweight, brief adventures made to be fun, not super challenging.

Superliminalis a perfect example of what I’m talking about; a brief, colorful puzzle quest that’s fun and in which you won’t get stuck for days trying to solve knotty conundrums.Viewfinderis a game in a similar vein that’s gorgeous-looking and brain-teasing-lite, which you can finish in a couple of hours.

The legendaryPortalwith its compact levels, is a perfect puzzler for gamers who can only reserve an hour or two each day for gaming.Portal 2is also a masterpiece, but the sequel is way longer than the first game, so try it only if you’re okay with a game that takes more than 10 hours to finish.

Manifold Gardenis a sort of mix between a puzzler and a walking simulator that impresses with its fractal-like environments. If you’re a fan of environmental storytelling, love to sort things out, and would like to play a pixel art puzzler that you can beat in a couple of hours,Unpackingis just what you’re looking for.

Want more bite-sized games? Check our list ofthe best Android games for killing time. If you’re a Linux gamer, you’ll appreciate my list of10 awesome games that run natively on Linux.