How Long to Beat Directive 8020? Full Playtime Guide

TL;DR

• A single story playthrough takes around 8 hours on average.
• Thorough explorers who dig into secrets can see 10 to 13 hours on their first run.
• Full completion with all outcomes and trophies takes 20 to 30 hours.
• The game has 8 episodes, each roughly 40 to 90 minutes long.
• The Turning Points system lets you replay key decisions without starting over, which cuts down completion time compared to older Dark Pictures games.
• Losing characters early can shorten your run, but you miss story content.

Directive 8020 is the fifth game in The Dark Pictures Anthology from Supermassive Games, and it is noticeably longer than anything the series has done before. If you are planning your gaming sessions around it or trying to figure out how much time you need to see everything, this guide breaks it all down.

Before you start, make sure your game is running well on PC. Check out our Directive 8020 Disaster scene guide if you are already in Episode 1 and wondering what to do when Simms goes flying off the ship.

How Long Is Directive 8020? Quick Answer

Here is the short version based on your goal:

• Main story (first playthrough): 8 to 10 hours
• Thorough first playthrough with secrets: 10 to 13 hours
• 100% completion with all trophies and outcomes: 20 to 30 hours

Supermassive’s creative director Will Doyle confirmed that the main story runs around 8 hours for players who focus on the narrative. He also said test groups spending time with all branching outcomes spent more than 20 hours in total. That is a big jump from older Dark Pictures games, which usually clocked in at 5 to 7 hours for a single run.

Why Directive 8020 Is Longer Than Previous Dark Pictures Games

Earlier entries in the anthology, like Man of Medan and Little Hope, were designed to be finished in one evening. Directive 8020 changes that in a few important ways.

First, the game is simply bigger. It has 8 full episodes with more exploration, more collectibles, and more branching paths per chapter. Second, the new Turning Points system encourages replaying decisions, which naturally pulls players back into the story again and again. Third, the stealth sections and optional objectives add time that linear cutscene-heavy games simply do not have.

The result is a game that feels much more like a full release rather than the shorter, tighter experiences the series was known for in its first season.

Directive 8020 Episode List and Length

The game is divided into 8 episodes. Early episodes are shorter and more focused on setup. Later ones stretch out significantly as decisions start compounding and more characters are at risk. Each episode takes roughly 40 to 90 minutes depending on how much you explore.

Episode 1: Little Star

This is the opening chapter. It is mostly linear and takes around 30 to 45 minutes. You meet Carter and Simms, deal with the meteorite damage, and face the first few choices including the Oracle decisions and the Disaster scene with Simms. It is a good introduction to the game’s mechanics.

Episode 2: Best Laid Plans

The rest of the crew wakes up here. This is another shorter, more linear chapter. However, it contains one of the most impactful decisions in the whole game involving the ship’s power systems, which affects character survival much later. Worth taking your time with.

Episode 3: Dragnet

Things start to escalate. This chapter introduces the first opportunity for a main character death that has massive consequences going forward. Still fairly linear overall, but the stakes jump sharply here.

Episode 4: Eyes Open

More branching outcomes start to appear here. More crew members are at risk, and the story begins to show the full impact of earlier choices. Expect around 60 minutes.

Episode 5: Mr. Williams

One of the longer middle chapters. Most decisions here do not hugely derail the story on their own, but there is a potential character death that is largely determined by what you chose in Episode 2. This chapter builds on the story and atmosphere more than it branches.

Episode 6

This is where the game opens up the most. Branching paths become much wider here and a lot depends on who is still alive at this point. If you want to see all of this episode’s content, you will need to replay the game at least two or three times from different decision points.

Episode 7

Split into two halves. One part takes you outside the Cassiopeia while the other deals with the consequences of choices made inside. There are a couple of significant 50/50 decisions that will change your ending. Around 60 to 75 minutes.

Episode 8: Come True

The finale. More QTEs than any other chapter. Character deaths stack up fast here, and your entire run’s worth of decisions come into play. It is shorter than it looks at first glance because most of the branching already happened earlier. Still, expect a tense 45 to 60 minutes to reach the credits.

How the Turning Points System Affects Playtime

Directive 8020 introduces a Story Tree called Turning Points. After completing the game with at least one character alive, you can jump back to any major decision and replay from that point. This is a big deal for completionists.

In older Dark Pictures games, seeing all outcomes meant replaying the entire game from scratch multiple times. Now you can go back to a specific branch and test the other path without losing hours of progress. This makes the 20 to 30 hour completion estimate much more comfortable than it sounds. You are not grinding through eight hours repeatedly. You are replaying targeted sections.

One important note: some outcomes only reveal themselves if you play forward from the branching point. For example, if a character dies in Episode 2, you need to continue playing from there to see how that death changes what comes after. The Turning Points system handles this well, but it means you cannot just rewind one second and instantly see everything.

How Long for 100% Completion?

Getting everything in Directive 8020 requires more than just seeing all story outcomes. Here is what full completion involves:

• 50 Secrets scattered throughout all episodes
• 10 Simms Recordings hidden across the game
• 5 Curator Secrets for a special unlock
• All character deaths witnessed and all survival routes completed
• Multiple endings seen including the best ending with all crew alive
• At least one run completed on Standard Mode without using the Turning Points rewind feature, as there is a specific achievement for this

With all of this factored in, 100 percent completion sits between 20 and 30 hours. Using guides for collectibles and trophy conditions can bring that closer to 15 to 20 hours for experienced players.

Does Losing Characters Change How Long the Game Is?

Yes. Directive 8020 uses a form of permadeath where characters who die early are gone for the rest of your run. Losing a character means losing their unique story segments in later episodes. This can shave an hour or more from your total playtime, but you also miss significant story content.

Keeping everyone alive pushes the game toward the longer end of the 8 to 10 hour range because all character arcs play out in full. Losing several characters early can cut a run down noticeably, but it is worth doing on a second playthrough to see what the alternate scenes look like.

Is Directive 8020 Worth the Time Investment?

For one playthrough, absolutely yes. Eight hours is a very reasonable ask for a story-driven horror game, and Directive 8020 delivers a tighter, more polished experience than most of its predecessors in the anthology. The Turning Points system also makes replaying much less painful than before, so if you enjoyed the first run, going back to explore different choices feels natural rather than like a chore.

For full completion, it depends on how much you enjoy the story. If you get hooked on the crew’s fate and want to see every possible outcome, 20 to 30 hours feels earned. If you just want to finish the story and move on, 8 hours gets you there cleanly.

ENding With

Directive 8020 is the longest and most replayable Dark Pictures game to date. A single story run takes around 8 hours. Curious completionists will find themselves comfortably at 20 to 30 hours when all is said and done. The Turning Points system removes most of the frustration from replaying, which makes the longer journey feel worthwhile rather than repetitive.

Plan for a full evening for your first run. Then use the Story Tree to pick apart the branches at your own pace afterward.