Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Indie Spotlight
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Total Film
  • home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Indie Spotlight
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • View Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Total Film
Trending
  • Pokemon Winds and Waves
  • New Games for 2026
  • Submit your game clips
  • GDC
  1. Games
  2. Action

The shortest game names of all time

Features
By Brett Elston published 14 April 2009

Because sometimes just one syllable will do

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Get the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more


By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful


Want to add more newsletters?

GamesRadar+

Every Friday

GamesRadar+

Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.

GTA 6 O'clock

Every Thursday

GTA 6 O'clock

Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.

Knowledge

Every Friday

Knowledge

From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.

The Setup

Every Thursday

The Setup

Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.

Switch 2 Spotlight

Every Wednesday

Switch 2 Spotlight

Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.

The Watchlist

Every Saturday

The Watchlist

Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.

SFX

Once a month

SFX

Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!


An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Subscribe to our newsletter

Collected here are the simplest, monosyllabic game names we could dig up. By limiting our search to one word and one syllable we’ve been able to weed out seemingly tiny names like Ico, Oni and Uno, while games like Grid and Pure still make the cut.

Now, in descending order, the shortness:

Worms
Spawn
SPRay
Realm
Hoops


Sqoon
Zoom!
Doom
NARC
KORE
MULE
Spore
Flock!
Joust
Skate
Gods
Moon
Ruse
Braid
Hook
Goal!
Jaws
DiRT
Trog!
Flink
Pure
Cars
Prey
Myst
Saw
Plok
Klax
Grid
Golf
Lair
One
LOL
Rez
Bolt
Wet
Vay
Qix
LIT
Ys

That brings us to the last batch. What could possibly be shorter than Ys? Why, a trio of games that are merely one lonely character.

First up is 9, a game that bafflingly combines the talents of Robert De Niro, Cher, Christopher Reeve and James Belushi (as “Salty”), plus Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, into one clunky PC adventure title. We’d go on, butthese guyshave already spent enough time tracking down all the trivia.

Nextis N. Just the letter N. You probably know it better as N+, the enhanced version of thefree web game. You’re a little ninja silhouette running around collecting gems. Simple name, simple game. But, there’s a game we say ranks even higher (lower?) on the list, and that’s PlayStation crap-terpiece D.

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Imagine playing Myst, only you’re a girl that looks, acts and talks like a stone-faced, emotionless robot. Frustrating puzzles, ghastly graphics and terrible voice acting made this a pain to play even in the ‘90s, but today, well, the most notable thing about it is that it’s the shortest name we could find.

But why’s it shorter than N or 9? If we assign numerical values to the alphabet, N is 14 and D is 4, making it smaller than N’s value plus smaller than the number 9. What, did you think there was going to be some kind of grand point to all this? It’s just for fun.

Speaking of fun, D is not fun.


PS – The D stands for Dracula

Apr 14, 2009

The longest game names of all time
Yes, they’re all longer than Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

Top 7... little heroes in big worlds
Honey, we shrunk the protagonist

CATEGORIES
PC Gaming Nintendo PlayStation Xbox Platforms
PRODUCTS
Doom 3 Myst Lair N+ Braid Rez
Brett Elston
Brett Elston

A fomer Executive Editor at GamesRadar, Brett also contributed content to many other Future gaming publications including Nintendo Power, PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazine. Brett has worked at Capcom in several senior roles, is an experienced podcaster, and now works as a Senior Manager of Content Communications at PlayStation SIE. 

Latest in Action
GTA 6
Grand Theft Auto AI making something to GTA 6's scale is "laughable," Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick says
 
 
Death Stranding 2 PS5 screenshot
Action Games Death Stranding 2's PC port brings a harder difficulty mode, new live-action scenes, and much more, Sony confirms
 
 
GTA 6
Grand Theft Auto GTA Wiki splits from Fandom citing "a reportedly pro-AI CEO," "terrible" ads, and censorship
 
 
Artwork showing Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, a remake of Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, with protagonist Edward Kenway looking out from the side of ship
Assassin's Creed Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced – Everything you need to know about the Assassin's Creed Black Flag remake
 
 
GTA 5 cheat codes and phone numbers
Grand Theft Auto Ahead of GTA 6, Rockstar-owned GTA 5 RP mega mod FiveM breaks its own Steam record with 200,000 concurrent players
 
 
A screenshot of the upcoming PS5 game, Ghost of Yotei.
Action Games Ghost of Yotei devs "really enjoy watching people die" to superboss Takezo the Unrivaled, but know you loathe him
 
 
Latest in Features
Kliff loiters on a street corner in Crimson Desert as guards in green march past, led by a bulky mechanical suit of armor that's curiously sci-fi-inspired against the medieval fantasy style elsewhere
Action RPGs As Crimson Desert hype reaches fever pitch, the massive RPG looks set to live or die by its world
 
 
Marathon Triage runner
FPS Games I'm playing Marathon like a single-player stealth sim, and after 70 hours of sneaking I'm begging you to try a solo run
 
 
Resident Evil The Board Game map laid out on a black table
Board Games I've been playing this board game for years, but I didn't know how much it had taught me until I played Requiem
 
 
The Future of Starfield hero image
RPGs The Future of Starfield: How Bethesda Game Studios is beginning to breathe new life into its most misunderstood RPG
 
 
The Future of Starfield branding
The Elder Scrolls Everything Todd Howard told us about The Elder Scrolls 6, Creation Engine 3, and the future of Bethesda RPGs
 
 
The Future of Starfield branding
RPGs Here's the 5 biggest changes coming to Starfield this April, from interplanetary travel to more varied exploration
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. Chase Infiniti as Willa in One Battle After Another
    1
    Stream all of the Oscars 2025 Best Picture nominees – and the winner
  2. 2
    How to get into Cryo Archive in Marathon
  3. 3
    This controller lets you swap between Xbox and PlayStation thumbstick layouts without a toolkit, and it only costs $50
  4. 4
    Resident Evil Requiem's Leon actor yearns for a team-up with the "underutilized" Sheva Alomar, so Ada and Claire might want to redownload Hinge: "I just love her character"
  5. 5
    If you were hoping for Destiny raid loot from Marathon's Cryo Archive map, these exclusive mods ought to do it: "This weapon deals significantly increased damage against [REDACTED]"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • Terms and conditions
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...