Summary
Finishing a big, modern AAA title can be daunting and take a lot out of you, especially when it’s full of side content in an expansive world to explore. Take a break from epic adventures to sample some smaller, more concise games before you start another big journey.
Appreciate the Finer Details
After finishing a big, sometimes arduoustriple-A game, it can be a nice change of pace to play something with a stronger focus on considered, moment-to-moment gameplay. With less of a focus on an expansive, overarching storyline, and more emphasis on shorter-form mechanics, it can be easier to appreciate the smaller details.
While a big open world is likely to be packed with interesting places to explore, the expansiveness can also sometimes come at the cost of more minute details. In a smaller game, like a platformer, where mechanics and level design are scaled back, there is more room to look closely at the minutiae of a game’s world and its characters and fully appreciate them.
Whenever I start to get close to the end of an open-world game or RPG spanning dozens of hours, I often find myself rushing through the main content quickly. This makes it more likely that I’ll miss more niche details orskip out on gameplay mechanics that might make things more funin favor of finishing the story quickly so I can move on.
Avoid Burnout
Long-winded RPGs and open worlds can be pretty time-consuming, requiring a lot of commitment and direct attention to complete. Sometimes, this can be grating, andthe length leads to impatience when it comes to finishing it, and wariness toward starting a new one straight after.
This is when “palate cleanser” games like low-stakes platformers or somethingrun-based like a roguelikecome in handy. These can typically be beaten fairly quickly or are easy to play in short bursts, making for a perfect change of pace that will keep things fresh and prevent burnout.
Chip Away at Your Backlog
Havinga huge backlog of unfinished gamesis something you’re probably going to have to learn to live with, and massively long games can make the task of getting through it seem even more daunting.
When you finish one of the bigger games in your catalog, it’s a perfect moment to breathe a sigh of relief and take the time to play something new. Lower-budget titles, indie games, or games in more laid-back genres tend to be shorter, so you could potentially get through one or two in between your big, expensive triple-As.
Switching the pace from whatever you’ve been playing to a more laid-back title can help to clear off some of those games you’ve had on your backlog forever.
It’s Always Satisfying to Beat Games
It’s often very gratifying, both physically and emotionally, to see your hours of gameplay rewarded with a satisfying ending and the knowledge that you may move on to something new.
With much longer games, though, these feelings are often few and far between as it takes a long time to reach the end. The gratification you get at the finale can be nice, but it can easily be overshadowed by a broader sense of relief or weariness if you’ve felt swamped by the sheer scale of the game.
Playing games that can be beaten in a short amount of time gives you this same sense of gratification in more rapid succession. When you’re chasing that feeling of satisfaction, shorter “palate cleanser” games are the best way to achieve it.
The Best Genres for “Palate Cleanser” Games
Some of my favorite genres to play as palate cleansers in between triple-A titles are platformer games likeCastlevania, Metroid, Super Mario, andShantae.These typically have less of a focus on narrative presentation in favor of tightly designed levels and mechanics that are often deceptively simple.
Simulation games likeJurassic World Evolution,theTwo Pointseries, andanything with the word “simulator” in the titlecan be great candidates as well. While these typically don’t have a storyline to “beat” in the traditional sense, there are still in-game goals, achievements, and scenarios to provide a similar sense of gratification. There’s rarely an end-game, so you can dip in and out as you please.
Horror games are also usually fairly short and have a strong focus on puzzles, narrative presentation, and exploration of usually tightly-designed locations. They often rely less on cutscenes and more on atmosphere, sometimes even incentivizing multiple playthroughs to unlock several different possible endings.
The next time you finish the latest and greatest single-player campaign or a modern open-world RPG set in a “living” world, think about taking a break with something a little more sedate. Sit back, look at whatever else you have that might be a fun change of pace, and cleanse your gaming palate with something short and easy to digest without too much commitment.
