Movies aren’t the right comparison; they’re efficient. Video games operate more like TV — with lots of filler that you don’t want but can put up with, and can’

Movies aren’t the right comparison; they’re efficient. Video games operate more like TV — with lots of filler that you don’t want but can put up with, and can’t really skip because there’s probably something notable interspersed (intentionally, to make it unskippable). Honestly I’ve found that I can extract the vast majority of value from most single player games in a few hours (core mechanics and their interrelationships, anything interesting from the setting/world building/themes, aesthetic design, etc); some games can keep on trucking… but most of them are far longer than they are valuable.