This guide compares five games from other developers, followed by two from Ruxar. It is a selection of short platformers, rather than a ranking of every game on Steam. The emphasis is on reaching an ending: short individual levels do not necessarily make a short game.
Developer disclosure: I made iZBOT and iZBOT 2. They appear in a separate section, with their much smaller completion-time samples shown alongside the figures.
How Short Are These Platformers?
The table uses the Average column from HowLongToBeat's detailed Single-Player tables, as shown in page snapshots reviewed on November 8, 2026. Each time describes submitted playthroughs across platforms. It is an estimate to plan around, rather than a promise about your own first run.
| Game | Main Story average | Main Story submissions | Completionist average | Completionist submissions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toree 2 | 33m | 97 | 2h 38m | 34 |
| Sheepy: A Short Adventure | 1h 10m | 226 | 3h 41m | 58 |
| VVVVVV | 2h 28m | 705 | 5h 24m | 113 |
| Gato Roboto | 3h 27m | 296 | 4h 40m | 257 |
| INSIDE | 3h 37m | About 3,000 | 4h 52m | About 1,500 |
| iZBOT — Ruxar | 2h 42m | 4 | 2h 13m | 4 |
| iZBOT 2 — Ruxar | 2h 10m | 1 | 1h 56m | 2 |
Five Short Platformers, Five Different Styles
Toree 2: A Compact 3D Course Run
Toree 2 is built around fast movement through low-poly 3D levels. Running and jumping through its courses is the main attraction, with stars and time-based ranks providing reasons to revisit them.
Its 33-minute Main Story average makes it the shortest campaign in this selection. That does not include every objective: the Main + Sides average in the same snapshot is 1h 10m, and the Completionist average is 2h 38m. Think of a first clear and a run for better ranks as different projects.
Sheepy: A Short Adventure: Atmosphere in About an Hour
Sheepy follows an abandoned plush toy through a broken world. Pixel art, music and environmental storytelling give the journey its character, with platforming abilities opening up as it progresses.
The Main Story average is 1h 10m, which suits an evening with limited time. Exploring beyond the main route is a larger commitment: the Completionist average is 3h 41m. It is a useful example of why a short campaign and a short achievement hunt are separate things.
Sheepy: A Short Adventure on Steam
VVVVVV: Short, Demanding Gravity Puzzles
VVVVVV replaces jumping with gravity reversal. Flip from a surface, steer towards the opposite side of the room, and work out how to cross the spikes in between. Frequent checkpoints keep most failed attempts close to the problem you are practising.
The Main Story average is 2h 28m, but the Completionist average rises to 5h 24m. Optional trinkets can require substantially more practice than simply finding the next route forward. A short running time does not make this an easy game.
Gato Roboto: A Small Metroidvania
Gato Roboto puts a cat inside an armoured mech. Exploration, shooting, upgrades and boss fights make it a different kind of platformer from a sequence of standalone jumping courses. It offers the connected-map structure of a metroidvania in a compact adventure.
The Main Story average is 3h 27m, with a Completionist average of 4h 40m. Boss retries and time spent searching can change that considerably: a Shacknews reviewer reported five and a half hours after getting stuck on a boss. Leave some room around the average.
INSIDE: A Puzzle-Platforming Evening
INSIDE follows a boy through an unsettling industrial world. Movement serves environmental puzzles and carefully staged scenes, rather than time trials or high-speed obstacle courses. Its dark tone is as much a part of the choice as its length.
The Main Story average is 3h 37m and the Completionist average is 4h 52m. Puzzle-solving pace will affect your run, so those figures are more useful as an evening or weekend budget than a deadline. This is also a game best approached without a detailed account of its later scenes.
Two More Short Platformers From Ruxar
These are our own games. Their recorded times suggest compact campaigns, but the samples are too small to establish a dependable typical-player duration.
iZBOT: Double Jumps and Short Courses
iZBOT uses double jumps and wall slides to navigate short, hazard-filled levels. Quick respawns let you repeat a sequence while adjusting the timing. The challenge comes from learning and executing those routes.
HowLongToBeat's snapshot shows a Main Story average of 2h 42m from four submissions. Treat that as a small set of reported clears. It does not support a confident prediction for someone new to precision platformers. The iZBOT game page has more about the mechanics.
iZBOT 2: A Dash Added to the Movement
iZBOT 2 adds dashing alongside double jumps and wall slides, with saws, lasers and spikes shaping the routes. It keeps fast respawns and adds boss encounters.
The snapshot's Main Story figure is 2h 10m from one submission. That is one reported experience, not an established average across a player population. It also gives us no sound basis for saying the sequel takes less time than the original. See the iZBOT 2 game page for gameplay details.
Choosing a Game for the Time You Have
For the smallest main-campaign commitment, look at Toree 2 or Sheepy. For precise movement and repeated practice, VVVVVV offers a short main route with much harder optional tasks. Gato Roboto adds combat and exploration, while INSIDE centres on puzzles and atmosphere.
If you want brief attempts rather than a brief campaign, that is a different question. Our platformers with fast restarts guide compares retry structures. Games such as N++ can fit short sessions while still containing a large amount of content.
Sources and How to Read the Times
Read the categories separately. Main Story and Completionist contain different submissions. The shorter completionist averages for the two iZBOT games do not show that collecting everything takes less time. INSIDE's counts are rounded because the source displays them as 3K and 1.5K.
Completion times were transcribed from seven HowLongToBeat game-page snapshots reviewed on November 8, 2026. We used the detailed Single-Player Average figures and each category's Polled count, rather than mixing the rounded headline cards with medians or speedrun records. The snapshots cover Toree 2, Sheepy, VVVVVV, Gato Roboto, INSIDE, iZBOT and iZBOT 2.
These are self-reported completion submissions across platforms. They are not a random sample of all players, a PC-only benchmark, or a measure of how long people who stopped playing would need. The two completion categories contain separate groups. Your experience with platformers, time spent exploring and repeated attempts can all change your duration.
Game descriptions are based on the Steam listings linked in each entry. This is a comparison of mechanics and time commitments, not a claim that the author has completed every game. HowLongToBeat ratings and Steam positive-review percentages are different measures; neither is used here as a numerical ranking.