Appropriate play time?

I have a 1 year old hedgie who i've had for just a week now..
I see that most people have separate play pens for their hedgies and I was wondering how much time they spend in it?

I don't have a play pen yet.. Bacon stays in his cage all day..
Then around 6pm every day after I come home from work I wake him up and play with him in my backyard/garden for about 30min-1hr. (which is very difficult since he'll find somewhere to hide no matter where i put him lol) I've tried to make him play longet than that but he'll just find a bush to hide in and try to sleep there or if I block off the bushes he'll just stubbornly sit in the grass with his face pushed onto the ground.. as if I won't see him as long as he doesn't see me.. lol
Then when we come back inside, I try to let him run around my room so that he'll stay awake and have fun but as soon as he's inside all he'll want is to sleep.. AGAIN.
I've given him a bath twice and that seems to energize him a bit and he will run around like crazy.. but if he finds anything that he can hide and go sleep in he will immediately.
If I leave him alone for a bit he falls asleep and gets really grumpy (3times more than usual), so now I've just started to put him back in his cage after he's done with his little romp outside.

I really want Bacon to be more active and have fun, but he refuses to. Would it help him be healthier if I kind of force him to stay awake and run around by eliminating all hiding places or would it stress him out? Is 1-2 hrs outside his cage enough time for him to play?
He does have a wheel in his cage.. and he has started to use it.. but only after i turn off the lights and go to sleep.
Maybe it's a lighting thing... Would he play more if I put him in a dark room by himself? Should I get a playpen and have him play in there all night and then keep him in his cage to sleep during the day? What's the normal routine for you guys?