# How long do you like your screens? **URL:** \ **Category:** Game Development\ **Created:** [May 31, 2021, 8:44am UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/how-long-do-you-like-your-screens/101524 "2021-05-31T08:44:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sam\_Ursu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/user_avatar/forum.choiceofgames.com/sam_ursu/32/111478_2.png) [@Sam\_Ursu](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/Sam_Ursu)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2021, 8:44am UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/how-long-do-you-like-your-screens/101524/1 "2021-05-31T08:44:11Z")
**Whereas** , some people play on laptops/computers and other people play on phones or tablets, and people play on a mix of different devices. **Whereas** , even amongst mobile phones, screen sizes can vary. **Whereas** , some players change the size of the text on the screen. **Whereas** , “short” means that the narrative text and the choices text does not fill the entirety of your screen. **Whereas** , “full” means that the narrative text and the choices text more or less fills your screen without any scrolling up/down necessary. **Whereas** , “long” means that you have to scroll down to see the entirety of the narrative text _and_ the choices text. **Whereas** , nobody wants to see an excessively long “wall of text.” **Whereas** , this question is directed towards players/readers. I’d really love to hear all of your opinion on how much text you prefer to see on your screens, **short** , **full** , or **long**. Do you prefer if all the screens are the same length? Do you think that some scenes warrant an exemption? For example, a prologue scene might be better displayed as **long** but an action scene might be better displayed as **short**? Or is it a fairly irrelevant issue to you, and what counts most is the quality of the story/game? ---
**Author:** ![CrappyBanana](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/user_avatar/forum.choiceofgames.com/crappybanana/32/198360_2.png) [@CrappyBanana](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/CrappyBanana)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2021, 9:55am UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/how-long-do-you-like-your-screens/101524/2 "2021-05-31T09:55:23Z")
I would say a “page”, options excluded, should not be longer than 200 words, on any device. More and we enter “wall of text” territory. ---
**Author:** ![Gower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/user_avatar/forum.choiceofgames.com/gower/32/21972_2.png) [@Gower](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/Gower)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2021, 10:13am UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/how-long-do-you-like-your-screens/101524/3 "2021-05-31T10:13:56Z")
For reference, these are the threads where these ideas have been mooted before. > [@Noob question: how long should an "ideal" paragraph be?](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/noob-question-how-long-should-an-ideal-paragraph-be/85942/21): > > Thank you very much, everyone. love_letter I really appreciate your dedication. Your hints are very useful, I will cherish them. star_struck > [@Page Length: When Does it Become A Wall of Text?](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/page-length-when-does-it-become-a-wall-of-text/528): > > I was recently going through my game files and adding page breaks, when I noticed that my pages tend to vary quite a bit in length. Personally, I don’t particularly care for long bits of reading before being prompted to make a choice or push the “next” button, but I have an extremely short attention span. What I’m looking for is a public opinion on how long you prefer your pages to be, or if it makes a difference to you at all. Any thoughts on the matter would be greatly appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Ursu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/user_avatar/forum.choiceofgames.com/sam_ursu/32/111478_2.png) [@Sam\_Ursu](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/Sam_Ursu)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2021, 8:14am UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/how-long-do-you-like-your-screens/101524/4 "2021-06-02T08:14:10Z")
Thanks! It’s always interesting to see what the Grandparents had to say nine years ago (seriously - it’s a great link!), but I’d really love to hear what some of the newer players/readers have to say, especially since the majority of games are being read on phones now. ---
**Author:** ![Havenstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/user_avatar/forum.choiceofgames.com/havenstone/32/198451_2.png) [@Havenstone](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/Havenstone)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2021, 11:36am UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/how-long-do-you-like-your-screens/101524/5 "2021-06-02T11:36:15Z")
Ha! Grandpa’s not objecting to the request for new discussion, but it’s worth noting that CoGs were mostly read on smartphones back in the good old days of 2012 too, kiddo. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jin\_Thunderfang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/user_avatar/forum.choiceofgames.com/jin_thunderfang/32/190574_2.png) [@Jin\_Thunderfang](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/Jin_Thunderfang)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 12:12am UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/how-long-do-you-like-your-screens/101524/6 "2021-06-03T00:12:25Z")
I would say long. You of course have to make choices, and those choices must affect the story, and for that to happen a “Next” or “Continue” button is needed, however I rather enjoy a wall of text than 5-15 buttons moving pages along. Next time you play a book, while youre inmersed in your character, imagine that whenever you find a button to go to the next page, a very loud, booming voice reads its content over your character. Like youre helping some doctors to treat some patients, and you decide to inject the patient with a vaccine, and suddenly you hear a booming “NEXT” or “CONTINUE” as if god is talking to you or something. It kills the immersion xD