As Astro Bot emerges as a 2024 GOTY frontrunner, its director says "12 to 15 hours of condensed fun" beats 40 hours with parts "you feel like skipping"

Astro Bot director Nicolas Doucet says he'd rather play short bursts of pure fun than spend dozens of hours playing a game that has parts you'd rather skip.

The sequel to the underrated platform gem Astro's Playroom, which is bundled into all PS5s as a purchase bonus, launched this week to absolutely stellar reviews. I think the most efficient way I can express just how much people are digging this game is by pointing out how many reviews compare it to Super Mario Bros. I mean, you just don't invoke that name unless you mean serious business. And serious business these critics mean.

Our own 5/5-star Astro Bot review says the sequel "soars above and beyond [Astro's Playroom] to serve up a near-perfect platformer to rival – and possibly surpass – the best of Super Mario's Mushroom Kingdom romps."

I was already sold on this game and was excited to dive in this weekend, but these latest comments from Doucet, from an interview with Bloomberg, have me straight buzzin' for Astro Bot. Any frequent reader of mine will know well how much I detest that industry trends have driven up the average length of big new games to the point where I have no hope of keeping up with everything being released.

"Having something that’s 12 to 15 hours of condensed fun, where there wasn’t five minutes in which you felt it was long or lacking, is much more valuable than 40 hours when you have some moments that you feel like skipping," Doucet said to thunderous applause from me and my cats. "Being able to be OK with that, goes in some way to keeping things under control."

Another core design tenet of Astro Bot, according to a Doucet who spoke with VGC in a separate interview, is that it fills a gap missing since PlayStation Studios "went from making cartoon games" to "mature, hyper-realistic games". And you know what? I quite like that as well even though you can argue games like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and Astro's Playroom itself were already partially filling that gap.

Ready to jump in this weekend? Here's how to unlock all Astro Bot collectibles, including Bots, Puzzle Pieces, and Warps.