Konami's latest game in the nu-Silent Hill era has arrived, and as is the case with previous entries in the series, Townfall boasts a handful of endings to unlock and an even bigger handful of scares. But how long does it all take? We got five different members of the IGN team, who all played Silent Hill: Townfall very differently, to share their time. So whether you’re a completionist, or just someone who’s only interested in the story, you’ll learn just how long you’ll be spending in St. Amelia depending on your playstyle.
How Long is Silent Hill: Townfall?
- Our fastest player finished Silent Hill: Townfall in 12 hours and 37 minutes.
- Our “slowest” player spent 15 hours and 15 minutes before credits rolled.
Everyone plays games differently, so read on for more details about how everyone played, how long it took to reach the credits, and some of the individual statistics from their end-of-game report card. Once you've finished the game yourself, be sure to submit your times on How Long To Beat and see how your time compares!
Playstyle: Trying to Find Everything
Player: Jesse Gomez
Completion Time: 12 hours and 55 minutes
With just under 34 hours of playtime under my belt, a few restless dreams between two separate playthroughs, and three wildly different endings, my intended aim was clear: to experience as much of Silent Hill: Townfall as possible.
To start, I chose the Normal/Hinted difficulty, which Townfall recommends when you select new game in the main menu. That combo set me up for a 12 hour, 55 minute clear time, reaching the "Forever" ending. As far as I could tell at the time, this was a largely "positive" outcome, but I knew there had to be more to unravel with a "true" ending, so to speak.
Once I hit New Game Plus, however, it became pretty clear that new collectables had snuck into this seaside town. I quickly abandoned Simon's hunt for the truth to instead get the bizarre secret endings, something that’s a Silent Hill tradition and well worth seeing for yourself. You can get both of these in the same playthrough with some additional puzzle-solving, combing over every inch of Townfall, and some tactical saving.
Despite experiencing true horror in the form of the auxiliary line B puzzle for nearly an hour, and pushing myself through a New Game Plus puzzle that had me on the verge of tears, I'm sure I could've cleared Townfall a lot sooner. But what's a Silent Hill game if not incredibly obtuse and wholly rewarding all at the same time?
Playstyle: Stealthy and Cautious
Player: Matt Purslow
Completion Time: 15 hours and 15 minutes
The fog-shrouded island of St. Amelia is the stage for a different kind of Silent Hill compared to what we’ve had over the past couple of years. Where the Silent Hill 2 remake was a traditional survival horror and Silent Hill f went heavy on the combat, Townfall features comparatively fewer enemies and far fewer options for eliminating them. As a result, combat is downplayed and each individual foe feels more like a mini “stalker” enemy than a regular mob. This design influenced my entire playstyle: for me, Townfall was a stealth game.
My slower, more cautious approach means I clocked up a slightly longer time compared to most of my colleagues – it took me 15 hours and 15 minutes to complete my first run of the story. Rather than bludgeoning every enemy with my pipe, I’d use bricks and bottles to distract them and create openings for myself. My final stats claim I spent four minutes and 15 seconds hiding, but that only accounts for when I was concealed in lockers – I spent many, many more minutes hiding behind cover or locked in sheds and bathrooms as I tracked enemies on the CRTV and planned my next move. I chose my victims carefully, only killing foes that blocked pathways I’d frequently use as I looped back and forth around each location. My total kill count was 76, most of them racked up when the pressure really kicks in during the story’s final chapters.
This approach netted me the “Abandoned” ending, which felt thematically appropriate for the story, but definitely leaves the door open for more discoveries. And so I’m looking forward to diving into New Game Plus to take another crack at solving St. Amelia’s troubles.
Playstyle: Story Mode
Player: Dale Driver – Story Mode
Completion Time: 12 hours and 37 minutes
I really enjoy the stories of Silent Hill, particularly their ambiguity and puzzles, but I've been less engaged with their combat recently, so I decided to try Silent Hill: Townfall on Story Mode to make getting through fights a easier. With this set up I clocked a final time of 12 hours and 37 minutes, reaching the "Abandoned" ending.
In Story Mode, enemies drop a little easier, and there are more supplies in storage cupboards and drawers, so I found myself taking on more monsters than my colleagues did, clocking up a whopping 105 kills during my time in St. Amelia.
One thing Story Mode doesn’t help with, though, is the puzzles, and a few particular late-game ones really added significantly to my playtime. I found a few particularly obtuse (or maybe I was just being really dumb) but I could easily see a second playthrough taking half the time when you know the solutions. And I plan to do just that, knowing there are new weapons to find and four new endings to discover. After all, the story is what I love the most, so I can’t wait to learn more about it.
Playstyle: Going For the True Ending
Player: Lauren Harper
Completion Time: 15 hours and 8 minutes
It took me around 15 hours and 8 minutes to finish my first playthrough of Silent Hill: Townfall. As a member of the guides team at IGN, I always find that it takes me a bit longer than everyone else (my current overall play time shows 44 hours). I’m often writing while I play and taking screenshots of everything as I run back and forth, double-checking each drawer, cabinet, and locked room to make sure I don’t miss anything in terms of collectibles. That being said, I did actually miss a few of the 85 possible discoveries. What I didn’t miss out on was the opportunity to use every weapon in the game, and I racked up a kill count of 92. I also finished up with the "Abandoned" ending on my first go.
I then played through again and decided to take on as much of a pacifist run as possible. I avoided killing anything unless it was absolutely necessary and opted for a stealthier approach using every method of distraction I could find. Despite a more considered playthrough, because I knew all the puzzle solutions and locker combinations on my second go, my second run came in at 8 hours and 24 minutes, with just five saves, but an enormous number of healing items used. This netted me the "Justice" ending. Is this the "true" ending? You'll have to play to find out. Now, I’m off to complete another New Game Plus run to hunt down anything new and find those remaining collectibles so our guide is complete.
Playstyle: Reviewing
Player: Tristan Ogilvie
Completion Time: 13 hours and 36 minutes
Given that I was reviewing Silent Hill: Townfall for IGN, I tried to be as thorough as possible with my search through the small town of St. Amelia and beyond. Playing on the Normal difficulty settings for both combat and puzzles, it took me 13 hours and 36 minutes from the moment Simon washed up on the Scottish shoreline through to the intense final moments of its climactic boss fight. Although admittedly, roughly 30 of those minutes were spent stuck on one of the late game puzzles that had me properly flummoxed. Curse you, auxiliary line B!
According to the endgame stats page, I made 78 out of the 85 discoveries and found 9 out of the 13 phone numbers, so clearly there was the odd optional room here and there that I overlooked. Although I spent much of the early hours opting for stealth and avoiding enemy confrontations, I still managed to murder 92 of Townfall’s ghouls by the story’s end, with the vast majority of those occurring in the second half of the game once more powerful weapons were made available. Ultimately, the ending I received was the one dubbed "Abandoned".
I definitely plan to do another run-through on New Game Plus, although it won’t be in the near future because trying to keep up with all the other awesome games coming out this month is a form of survival horror in itself.