Beacon Pinesis a game that had quite the development journey. It wasfirst conceptualized as a fantasy rhythm-based RPG, and it took some serious iteration and discarding ideas to reach its current form: a narrative adventure game about an eerie small town mystery.
In it, players take the role of Luka, a young boy and resident of the titular town ofBeacon Pines. It’s an agricultural town on hard times, after a disastrous event known as “The Foul Harvest,” which ruined the towns crop output, put its fertilizer plant out of business, and led to the death of Luka’s father. Six years later, Luka and his friend Rolo discover that the abandoned fertilizer plant is secretly still in use, and discover a deadly conspiracy.
RELATED:Beacon Pines Devs Describe Game as ‘Winnie The Pooh Meets Stranger Things’
It’s a project that took 4 years anda successful Kickstarter campaignto complete, and their effort can be clearly seen in the game’s high quality art and music. But how long will it take for players to see all of it?
How Long to Beat Beacon Pines
Before listing how long it takes to finish the game, it’s important to understand its structure.Beacon Pineshas a branching narrative, but it’s onlypartiallynon-linear. It has multiple endings, but only one true end with a credits roll. All the other endings are merely stops on a continuous long journey. '
The story branches are determined by “charms,” which are words that change how characters act or events happen. These charms are unlocked byexploringBeacon Pines' environments, speaking with its characters, and reaching its various endings. Later charms can be used to unlock new story branches earlier in the story.
It’s also important to know that not all charms are necessary to finish the game. Some are merely there as rewards for dedicated players, or used in side events like the fishing minigame.
With all this in mind, it takes about 5 hours to complete the game. This can be stretched to 6-7 hours if the player tries to go for a 100% run, or if they play at a leisurely pace.
Beacon Pinesis available now for PC, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
