Confused about game length, and episodic nature.

[notstanley]

There's a huge swing between the length estimate at Howlongtobeat (TWENTY-FOUR-AND-A-HALF HOURS!?) and the "full game" walkthroughs available on Youtube (closer to five hours).

Am I missing a big piece of the puzzle here, insofar as reconciling these? I'm seeing a lot of discussion about episodes, so I guess I'm piggybacking my own topic to ask if the current game purchasable on Steam is complete, or if there's still more game coming; then, subservient to that, if that five hour walkthrough I see is just one episode of several, lending credence to the 24.5 hour estimate.

I bought the game a couple of sales ago, but haven't gotten to it (largely because I have no idea what size game I'm going to embark on). Thanks for whatever you can tell me, all.

[Oskutin]

Beating the game in approx 5 hours is possible if you know what you're doing; all the locations and puzzle solutions and etc.

For the new players 16-24 hours is a closer estimate.

[Pesky]

Time taken for 'full game walkthrough' videos is not a guide to how a player plays the game. In these videos the narrator knows where to go, where to look, and what not to bother with. If you want to know how long the game will keep a player busy for, a 'let's play' video is a better guide.

Also, there's a huge difference between finishing this game and doing everything in this game. For example, at one point in the game stopping progress and solving a complicated puzzle opens up a whole new area.

For a speed run – start to credits – you wouldn't do it: save time not solving the initial puzzle, and skip past the later section. But if you are trying to assess the value of the game – how much content there is and how long it might keep you amused – you would include both the time solving the puzzle and the time exploring the extra area that it makes available. The difference in playing styles could be two hours solving the puzzle, and three hours exploring the new area it opens up. And that's just two small parts of the game.

[Iido]

I really took my time on my first playthrough, achieving around 40 or so hours, I believe. 5 hours is pretty much a speedrun; if you really let yourself get absorbed into the game and take your time exploring and doing all you can (and potentially getting stuck on a few puzzles here and there) then you'll be playing INFRA for quite a while. It's the longest walking sim type game I've ever played, by a longshot.