Two ways to consider:
1. Stroke play, more holes, more ball usage
2. Match play, fewer holes, quicker result, more matches
Either way should result in same ball usage in that players allow a certain amount of time for play. If someone plays 1 hour @ 1 stroke per minute, it doesn't matter if that stroke is in match play or stroke play.
Only caveat is that in match play putts can be conceded while in stroke they can't. Thus in match play there can be more ball strikes that take from ball life per hour than in stoke play.
Obviously solo play allows for the most ball strikes per hour while group play means 1,2, or 3 players are idle while each ball strike occurs.
From a ball usage stand point, multi-player games cost the WGT.