The gaming industry's continuous rise in prominence has resulted in more money being pumped into upcoming releases, consequently making games longer and more in-depth than ever before. Open-world games have become particularly popular, as many gamers enjoy how much freedom they provide, as well as their value-for-money length. Although long, open-world games are extremely popular right now, there are many gamers who prefer the linear, structured experience that shorter games provide.

RELATED: 10 Open-World Games That Can Be Completed In Under 10 Hours

The 10 entries on this list are all adventure games (including action-adventure, puzzle-adventure, etc.) that won't take long to beat but provide a well-constructed and meticulously designed sub-7-hour experience.

10 Day of the Tentacle

When people think of LucasArts today, their mind usually goes straight to Star Wars and Indiana Jones. However, back in the 90s, the company was also well known to gamers for their point-and-click graphic adventures. The games were popular with PC players thanks to their humorous dialogue, engrossing game-worlds, and ingenious puzzles.

Day of the Tentacle is one of the most critically acclaimed graphic adventures of all time, especially due to how it found a great difficulty balance with its puzzles, something that many point and click games struggled with at the time.

9 A Short Hike

Befitting of its name, A Short Hike is one of the shortest games on this list, as it will only take around 1-2 hours to complete the main story. The indie adventure was a creation of Adam Robinson-Yu and won the prestigious Seumas McNally Grand Prize at the Independent Games Festival Awards in 2020.

The Nintendo Switch and PC game requires players to collect golden feathers that will help them complete their main goal of reaching the map's peak. A Short Hike also contains multiple side quests and activities to keep players busy, such as treasure hunting and fishing.

8 Full Throttle

The second and final graphic adventure to appear on this list, Full Throttle was another creation of LucasArts. Although Full Throttle kept the humorous dialogue of previous games, it had a more serious tone, with players taking control of a motorcycle gang leader named Ben.

RELATED: 15 Ridiculously Short PC Games (& How Long They Take To Beat)

Full Throttle, as well as the aforementioned Day of the Tentacle, are two of numerous LucasArts graphic adventures that have been remastered in recent years. Both remastered games are currently available on Microsoft's Game Pass service.

7 God of War: Chains of Olympus

God of War: Chains of Olympus was the fourth game in the franchise to be released when including the oft-forgotten mobile game God of War: Betrayal. The game hit stores in 2008 exclusively on the PlayStation Portable and instantly became one of the handheld consoles' most critically acclaimed titles.

Chains of Olympus didn't try to reinvent the wheel and kept the same simple yet engrossing hack and slash gameplay that had been so successful for the first two God of War releases.

6 Journey

In a year when first-person shooters, action-horror games, and RPGs were dominating the market, Journey released to provide a far more artistic and meditative experience than what was available at the time.

Along with the beautiful art design, the game was also highly praised for its atmospheric and memorable music. The game's music was orchestrated by Austin Wintory, who has also worked on Abzû, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, and Flow.

5 Mirror's Edge

When the trailer for Electronic Arts' Mirror's Edge was first released, gamers were immediately encapsulated by its impressive, bright art style and fast-moving, free-running gameplay. The trailer is one of the most popular for a new IP ever to be released on YouTube, and it now has over 8 million views.

Mirror's Edge may not have become the instant classic that some were expecting, but the game is still an excellent 6-hour adventure that gives players a true sense of speed. The sense of speed is especially apparent with how the first-person perspective is more realistic and engrossing than in most games, making players feel like they're truly in the protagonist's shoes.

4 The Stanley Parable

2011's The Stanley Parable is an interactive drama that narratively takes inspiration from vintage text adventures with its branching paths that rely on a narrator guiding the player's way. The story initially starts in the mundane place of a dull office, though the game can soon take drastic turns as players either follow or disobey what the narrator (Kevan Brighting) is saying.

The Stanely Parable was one of the key games behind the rise of "Let's Play" YouTube channels, as people flooded to the site to learn the strangest paths possible as well as the YouTuber's reactions to them.

3 Devil May Cry

The original Devil May Cry was initially released exclusively on the PlayStation 2 in 2001, before coming to numerous other consoles over a decade later.  Interestingly, the game was originally going to be a part of Capcom's iconic horror series Resident Evil, as the company was looking to change its direction following criticisms over Resident Evil Zero's lack of innovation. Capcom decided to make the game into a new IP instead and developed what became Resident Evil 4 for the RE franchise.

RELATED: Every Devil May Cry Game, Ranked According To Metacritic

The Devil May Cry franchise is today recognized as one of the best in the hack and slash genre's history, with the aforementioned God of War being one of its few competitors.

2 What Remains Of Edith Finch

What Remains Of Edith Finch is a first-person exploration game, more commonly known as a "walking simulator." As the name suggests, the game requires players to investigate Edith Finch's past, along with other members of the Finch family.

What Remains Of Edith Finch was highly praised by both fans and critics, exemplified by its huge Metascores between 88 and 92 across its four releases. Moreover, the game performed well at gaming award shows, with accolades including a BAFTA for Best Game.

1 Inside

Inside is a puzzle-platform adventure developed by Playdead. The game is the successor to Playdead's critically acclaimed Limbo, which also could have featured on this list. Much like its predecessor, Inside has a less-is-more approach to its gameplay, music, and art design, giving the games their own unique charm.

Inside is one of the most critically acclaimed titles on this list, exemplified by its whopping 93 Metascore on Xbox One. IGN were particularly impressed by the game, giving it a perfect 10/10 score and listing it in the number 85 spot on their 100 greatest games of all-time list.

NEXT: The Legend of Zelda: Every Game, Ranked By How Long They Take To Beat