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How long is an ideal gaming session for you?

Long enough to do whatever it is I need to on whatever game I am playing on at that moment. So for instance, I may decided to complete a set amount of chapters, get to a certain point etc.
 
It's changed over the years several times, but I think now I'd say an hour or two...I rarely play much longer than that these days.
 
If a game really grabs me, sort of like dragon age inquisition did recently, I can easily go 6 hours straight, but usually it's about 45 minutes to an hour and a half.
 
Week days i would say 2 - 5 hours. Weekends I think it would range from 4 - 12+ hours depending on the plans I have for that day.
 
Completely dependent upon the game.

I can play a good MMO 10+ hours easily, and I can only play TriviaCrack for about ~20 minutes at a time.

A good single player game can captivate me for probably 4-6 hours. Although there's exceptions. I beat Starcraft II and HotS both in one playthrough.
 
I wish for 3 hours, I get under 45mins usually.

I do play a lot of games that you can drop at any moment, like Bloodborne, because when I sit down, I really have no idea when I will be getting back up.
 
Ideally, for how long as I feel like. But nowadays I'm way more busier than I was when I was a kid, so at least 1 hour per day is what I try to achieve.
 
I remember being 18 or 19 and playing LOTR online from 1PM to 6 or 7 AM on summer break. Those were the days man.

Or sitting on the couch 10 hours straight playing some PS2 game was another thing of beauty. I just got a flashback of me playing MGS 3.

Sadly, college, job, GF, my dog, and other stuff, has taken that away from me and I currently play 1 or 2 times a week, mostly on weekends and no longer than 4 hours a session (if I am lucky enough, I always get interrumpted).
 
2-4 hours generally speaking. I have definitely had gaming sessions that lasted 12+ hours but doing that regularly would be awful.
 
Ideally, 90 minutes. I feel like that would give me enough time to make significant progress in many games.

In practice, it's like 25 minutes which means that all I play nowadays is Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate: 1 hunt at a time.
 
I don't know what are good gaming sessions anymore.
As I don't have a lot of time to game, I tend to pick and play several games for like 20 minutes each, and don't have the time to enjoy each play session.

So basically, an ideal gaming session would be playing one single game for two or three hours.
 
it really depends really, now that im older sometimes i boot up a game and then close it because i feel im done with gaming. sometimes, i expect to do a quick session and get hooked really bad and end up playing till 10-12pm

at the end of the day it just depends on my mood

right now, i keep playing on my vita for short bursts through the whole day because i got really hooked on the game
 
2 to 3 hours. Less than that and I don't feel like I've made much progress, more and I start to get tired. This of course varies a bit from game to game.

I usually settle for 1 to 2 hours at best on working days, though.
 
Controller, 2-3 hours. My hand start become hurt, especially on finger joints.
Slow mouse based game like Civ V? I can up to 12 hours.
 
As a father now, having a full hour to play its the most I can hope for. I usually will do an hour with one game each night if I don't have other things to do.

Often times I have less time, maybe 30-45 mins, so I'll jump on BF or something.

Ideal would probably be 2 hours though.
 
Typically at least 2 hours. It depends on the games length though. If it is a 50 hour game I have no problem hopping on for 30-45 minute tasks and completing some missions. If it is a 8-10 game I like to break it up into 2-3 hour sessions and if it's a 4-6 hour game I'll want to beat it in one go but am usually pretty exhausted by the end.

Some games do weird things to me though, I can play Destiny for 8 hours and not be exhausted but playing Borderlands for 1 hour my eyes literally start to tear up from strain.
 
Usually 3 hours at night , Days ago I played Bloodborne like 11 hours until my eyes felt like burning so I guess that is my max playable time
 
About 2 hours. Anything less and sometimes it's hard to accomplish much depending on the type of game, anything more and I get restless and have to go do something else.
 
I dunno. I really like playing and used to be able to do it all day as a kid. Now if I play more than a couple hours a week I feel guilty. I have more important things to do.
 
Vexidus said:
I would love to be able to sit down for six hours and game like I used to. Get immersed in the world and have a blast. Unfortunately with a toddler running around and refusing to take naps now, my time is limited to 1-2 hours that I rarely devote to gaming. Most of the time when I get my son to bed I am so burned out and exhausted that I just want to unwind. At that point a console game seems like a daunting commitment to attempt to make progress on. I don't expect this to change for years, so right now all I can do is daydream about all the games I hear about in podcasts and think about my colossal backlog that I might someday get to.
Click to expand...
I used to be able to look forward to gaming (to unwind) after a long day at work but it's pretty hard for me as well. It used to be relaxing but I must be choosing more difficult games these days because like you said, it seems like too much work at the idea of playing when I need to just sit back and relax.
 
As many good GAFfers in here, two hours is the sweet spot for me. I could do more or less, depending on the game.

There was a time that I had too many distractions so it gave me the sense that I was playing for more hours but that is no more. Now, when I play I no longer check the phone unless someone is calling me, I do not search the web while playing or any other similar distraction. If you can concentrate only on the game you are playing, the immersion will be bigger but I also feel that the time I spend with the game is better when it comes to quality time.

Having a schedule or keeping your priorities in order can also help making that time you are playing a much more relaxing moment so you can focus on the story, soundtrack, etc.
 
About one hour a few times a week.

On the very rare occasion (like a handful of times a year) I spend 3-5 hours on a single game session. Sunset Overdrive is the most recent game that I spent 3-4 hours with at a time.
 
Usually a couple hours in a sitting.

It's honestly rare for a game to really grab me these days. I literally feel like I've played it all most of the time.
 
Depends on the game. I usually play RPGs in 30min-Hour chunks, but I could play Civ or Smash Bros for hours if I don't look at the clock.
 
Generally, I don't feel like I get much out of a gaming session unless I can play for a minimum of 2 hours. 3-5 hours is better for RPGs. The only exception to this is sports games which I will occasionally do in small chunks of an hour or less depending on quarter length (basketball or football). Basically, gaming is only fun to me when I can relax and take my time, get lost in it for a few hours. If I have other pressing concerns from work or school I dont bother with games until I have the time to set aside.
 
2 hours straight, 15 minutes snack break, 2 other hours straight, of course that would be the ideal for me for games that i like, but even in weekend it's hard to find 4 hours a day to play
 
I think it depends on many factors: genre, comfort of controller, screen size, my mood, how tired I am and a ton of other things. Had a 9 hour session on Axiom Verge this weekend and it felt great. I would rarely have such long sessions on a handheld and some genres like shmups would simply tire me out.

So it differs.
 
About an hour, since I was a kid its always been a case of playing for an hour and then getting on with other shit in life. It keeps the game fresh throughout as well that way, there are some occasions where a session does last more than an hour but it's rare. An hour twice a week or so is ideal.
 
3-4 hours is the best for me. But I rarely reach that these days. I have time to play games maybe three days a week anyway so… yeah.
 
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