Originally posted by Simple Tora:

was curious how long this game would keep my attention solo.

Probably somewhere between 2 and 2,000 hours.

(This is the craziest post I've ever seen. lol)

first time playing? solo? no guides? then a long time. otherwise youll be done in a day or two. Dont be fooled into thinking the world is filled with mystery...once youve seen the 4 biomes thats it....copy and paste for what feels like infinity (its not though), theres like 8 mobs in the whole game...and recolors of those to fill in the bs.

your question is a bit odd and the answer (as long/short as you make it, depending on your play style and goals, which we can't possibly know) a bit obvious but i'll try to be helpful none the less.

I decided to not look up any videos or info in the beginning and got very frustrated and ultimately done in by a VERY tough seed (map). If I didn't start another map I'd still be trying to find the second boss. I started a new map and watched a video about sailing and I then progressed just fine. I'm waiting for mistlands to actually defeat the 5th boss but I got to that point at around 120 hours. I play slow and enjoy.
I'm up to about 520 hours now because I do a lot of building and I also have a modded survival character as well as a modded building character, all with their own maps.
"Lack of content": I'll admit there could be more but the more creative one is, the more content they will find.

i just replayed from scratch to test hearth and home improvements after about a year away. having good working knowledge of the game from a previous playthrough, i beat the last boss in about 100 hours. wasnt rushing, just playing normal speed, gathering plenty of surplus resources like iron, silver, blackmetal, not just the bare minimum.

so, for a new player still learning the mechanics and alt-tabbing to the wiki, etc., maybe 150-200 hours to beat the game and ostensibly make all the equipment (weapons and armor) that you want.

if you want to build and explore, there is really no upper limit. build castles on the highest mountain peaks, or on top of the stone obelisks in the plains. sail around the entire edge of the world. gather flametal from the ashlands (does nothing currently, placeholder metal). build bridges across rivers until you can walk from one side of the world to the other, no boating. find an ocean oasis (tiny sandbar in the middle of nowhere) and build a base on it (hoe raise ground). build farms/automation. hunt sea serpents for fun.
there is plenty of unstructured end-game sandbox content.

14 hours for some, 2500 for others.

Depends entirely on how you play. Either way, you get what you pay for.

If you're very familiar with survival crafting games, 20-40 (generous) hours. Most of that will be hauling back and smithing metal to progress to the next area. Much of the content is simply hauling ore and metals and mining said ores. You will not be doing a lot of combat if you don't go out of your way to find it. If you're easily distracted, enjoy simply relaxing in game, and are a fan of terraforming/building, you can double or triple that pretty easily.

This game gives out as much as you want to put into it. I've dumped 150 hours into one world, i've built mountain castles, massive trading ports, highways for my villages and outposts and still have a boss to fight.

You can have a simple life and work out of a small fort or you can let your creativity flow and build whole living worlds for you and your friends.

If you just want to "win" as soon as possible you could maybe do all the bosses within 40 hrs, assuming you're meta about your play style. If you are like me and like to explore and built your world out then you will get hundreds of hours out of this title.

Originally posted by Fzanco:

How long is a piece of string?

that was my initial answer too!!!

you can play with google blinds on and have a great time exploring and discovering using tons of real time.. if however you ask Mr n Mrs Google they will shortcut your experience HEAPS and lose some enjoyment... but that said it is a frustrating game initially if you go in blind "hugin" (an initial helping character )doesnt give comprehensive advice and doesnt hang around long.. personally if you buy it play blind untill frustration bites too hard and selectively seek answers like how to make or craft x y z??

I'm 484 hours into my first world and am on day 1184. Working on finding the current final boss' location. I don't hurry through the game as I like the journey more than the destinations and I also don't have very good reflexes any more since I suffered a stroke 9 years ago.

The game has some pretty grindy gates for the content in each of the various biomes. Not too much fun to just run through it as fast as you can.

No Man's Sky is a proc gen game that is mostly exploration based. The only survival elements are really in the first 15 minutes of play.

Factorio is a 2D game that emulates 3D. Its a survival type game. You crash land on an alien planet inhabited by hostile bugs and only get to salvage a few bits and pieces of your escape pod and have to pretty much build a factory from scratch and defend it while you try and advance far enough to build a rocket that you can load a satellite on to signal for rescue.

It has a free demo that you can download and see if its a game that you will like before you buy it.

You might try those while you wait for the devs to finish this one.

How long is a piece of string?

Originally posted by Fzanco:

How long is a piece of string?

???

If you are not the sort of person to look up youtubes and guides you could spend hundreds of hours on your first world. And that is without a lot of loafing.

One of the benefits of RNG map generation is that each world is different. Even similar biomes will have drastically different resources depending on its layout.

If you look up walk through guides/vids you can rush it in maybe 30ish hours? Less if you use cheats.

Game has a lot to offer... I often think the people who complain about lack of content only played one world.

It is an amazing world to enjoy and explore.

That said, if you are only interested in "beating" the game and moving on to the next one then you should probably pass until the game is complete.

Otherwise you may end up another person who complains about content.

Originally posted by GunsForBucks:

It is an amazing world to enjoy and explore.

That said, if you are only interested in "beating" the game and moving on to the next one then you should probably pass until the game is complete.

Otherwise you may end up another person who complains about content.

Mainly just looking for something to take my attention till other games get updated. I'm used to roguelike/lite games and survival games as my main genres to play but if the game isn't one of those 'beat in a few days/weeks and move on" then yea I could probably wait a bit longer and find something else till this one is done

Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine, I'll give you a measured answer. First play through, didn't rush imo, completed current content approx 250 days, didn't sleep alot from memory so 21min x 250game days = 5250 min ÷60 = 87.5 hours

As this is an approximation from memory I'd say you should get approx 100 hours into your game if you supe laid back

Well it is a game you can walk away from and pick up again later easily.

That may be another factor for you to consider. I am waiting for the next big thing to catch my attention so I have just been bouncing between Valheim and Kerbal Space Program mostly.

I have 30 some worlds I have done in this game and thousands of hours in both games.

If you don't like this kind game of game, it'll be very short. Perhaps short enough to refund it.

If you do like this kind games, however, it'll last a good while.

As for the lack of content: things are added, just not at the pase people want it to be added. Which - reading some comments - is like: buy a game now, get new content next week, next month and the months after that.

Thorin :)

I stopped playing to wait for Mistlands in June 2021, but not before I had enjoyed playing it for 365 hours. I played solo and so the hype or popularity meant nothing to me.
Once Mistlands drops, I'll be sure to jump right back in again. I'll do the same for the next biome after that and so on until they release the game conclusion.
So, depending on your gaming routine, I'd say you'd get a few months at least of enjoyment from it. Or you could continue playing for the fun of it, especially if you're into creative building as many do.