Building Content to Optimize User Time: 20-40 Minute “Goldilocks” Session Length on Meta Quest

Why a 20-40 Minute “Goldilocks” Session?

20-Minute Low End

40-Minute High End

• Long sessions can be physically uncomfortable.
• VR is known to cause eye strain and motion sickness, especially in users who are new to the medium.
• Many current VR experiences require social isolation, physically separating users from others in their physical space.
• Battery life is limited, and limiting, in VR.

Chaining Shorter Core Loops in Games

1. Is placed in a three-person squad
2. Matches against five other squads
3. Begins match
4. Reaches a win/loss state
5. Finishes quests and advances the battlepass
6. Collects battlepass rewards

How to build for the “Goldilocks” session length

1. Deliver on core expectations of the game within the first 20 minutes of the experience:
   • Avoid long tutorials or text that may get in the way of delivering this promise in time. Utilize reactive or “Just in Time” tutorials that appear only when you need to teach players necessary skills.
   • Incorporate as much “teaching” into the actual experience as possible and build early objectives or levels around the mechanics you want to teach early.
   • Start users off with a few short objectives (e.g., 5-10 minutes) to provide quick wins while they learn. Foreshadow longer term objectives to give players a reason to return.
   • Progressively teach users controls and gameplay mechanics as part of the initial objective or loop.
2. Focus on shorter loops & objectives (10-20 minutes) that chain together into 20+ minute sessions:
   • Chain shorter progression loops together to create full sessions that allow users to play as long (or as short) as they want. This looks different across game genres:
     • Round-based multiplayer games: Matches (composed of multiple rounds) should be playable in under 20 minutes. Players can then choose to queue up for another match, or take a break.
     • Single player games: Ensure levels or objectives can be completed in under 20 minutes with a sense of accomplishment and clear next steps.
3. Build in regular breaks every 10-15 minutes:
   • Allows players to complete non-headset related tasks (e.g. bathroom breaks, getting a drink, talking to someone in their house) without ending their session.
   • Breaks have been shown to improve session satisfaction if they are non-disruptive to engagement (e.g. they can pause content, sit out a round and jump back in, break between loops, etc.).
   • Breaks do not reset comfort and should not be used as a stand-in for a satisfying end to a session.
4. Build features that make it easy to leave and return later:
   • Regular autosave so players are confident they can pick up where they left off.
   • Let players see how long since last save/autosave so they know how much progress they will lose if they leave.
   • Provide information on progress toward an objective or the next checkpoint so players can decide whether to keep going to take a break.
   • Clearly remind players of their next checkpoint or objective so it’s easy to pick up where they left off.
5. Tailor recurring quest/reward systems to appropriate timelines:
   • Daily quests should be fully-completable within 20 minutes. Additional quests should provide more time for players to earn them (e.g., providing users a week to complete multiple quests).
   • Weekly quests should incorporate checkpoints or multiple smaller quests to allow users to make progress over multiple sessions.
   • Avoid very short mobile-style quests that encourage brief check-ins: VR sessions require a higher payoff per session. Check-ins (e.g. a login reward) should be paired with longer engagement (e.g. a login reward as part of a longer Weekly Quest list).
6. If building for Worlds, consider Horizon mobile app cross-screen compatibility:
   • Balance the need for shorter time frames (5-8 minutes) on mobile devices with the desire for more immersive experiences on other platforms.
   • Consider quests or tasks that are better reserved for VR or mobile, and build loops that allow people to switch between as necessary.
7. In entertainment, ensure there are easy continue or drop in options for users to pick up where they left off.
   • Save current state so a user can easily resume.
   • Ensure persistence between sessions.
   • Encourage users to resume partially-viewed content upon launching the app.
   • Include easy pause, rewind and reset functions in case the user is interrupted.