How Long Is The Sinking City 2? Hours & Completion

Main Story Length

The developer’s stated figure is 8-12 hours for a single playthrough depending on playstyle, quoted in a Steam community discussion. It matches the structure: nine main areas plus a New Game+ epilogue.

HowLongToBeat’s day-two data supports it from the player side: the stats table shows Main Story at 6h51m from one polled player, and Main+Extras averaging 10h02m — median 9h52m — from five. All PlayStyles average: 9h30m across six submissions.

One community player reported about 15 hours on the second-hardest difficulty — a single data point at the slow end, consistent with harder settings stretching ammo scarcity into more retreat-and-retry loops.

100% Completion Time

The best-evidenced completion figure is under 20 hours: a reviewer who 100% cleared the game — all collectibles, all achievements — finished in a little less than 20 hours including a New Game Plus run.

New Game Plus is not optional for completionists: at least one collectible exists only there, so 100% requires a second run by definition. NG+ also brings extra options and rewards that sweeten the revisit.

A claimed 30-40 hours for 100% circulates from a secondhand developer quote via a Facebook post, and one review mentions 30-plus hours in passing. Neither is verified on an official page, and no measured run comes close — treat 30-40 as marketing-scale or multi-playthrough accounting.

Why the Numbers Vary

Three forces stretch the clock: difficulty (ammo scarcity punishes sloppy combat), exploration depth (optional investigations and collectible hunting roughly double main-story time), and NG+ (mandatory for the full achievement list).

The HLTB page itself shows internal inconsistency — its header summary contradicts its own stats table. When citing it, prefer the stats table, which carries per-category sample counts.

All figures are launch-week data from six HLTB submissions and a handful of reviewers. Expect the community averages to tighten as samples grow.

Pacing Notes

Reviewers describe the game as shorter than its Kickstarter-era reputation suggested — one called it kind of short — but the chapter structure with points of no return keeps the pace honest rather than padded.

The under-20-hour 100% figure implies focused routing; a first-time player who explores casually, solves side investigations, and reloads for missed collectibles will land between the 10-hour and 20-hour marks comfortably.

Value per Hour

At $49.99 and 8-12 hours for a first run, the hourly cost sits near a cinema ticket — and the NG+ completion path roughly doubles that for achievement hunters.

Reviewers explicitly weighed replay value in their buy verdicts: the recommendation to buy leans on intending a second run. The free demo remains the best personal calibration for how fast you will move through Arkham.

Every Figure, Side by Side

The complete playtime record with sources and evidence weight. Where sources disagree, the table shows all of them rather than picking a winner.

Note the pattern: the measured numbers cluster between 7 and 20 hours, while the only 30-plus figures are unverified secondhand claims.