Best Open World Games

A Short Hike is an adventure traversal game where you play the penguin-like character Claire, who needs to climb a mountain in a beautiful national park to receive an important phone call.

A Short Hike is an adventure traversal game where you play the penguin-like character Claire, who needs to climb a mountain in a beautiful national park to receive an important phone call. Presented in cute pixel graphics, the game invites you to explore the park, help other animals, and find seashells and even buried treasure.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a role-play collecting game where you live on a small island teeming with life.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a role-play collecting game where you live on a small island teeming with life. Insects, fish, trees, vegetation and fossils are represented with cute cartoon visuals.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild departs from the previous Zelda formula with the scale and depth of its world.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild departs from the previous Zelda formula with the scale and depth of its world. You walk, fly, ride and climb your way through a landscape that varies in climate, terrain, inhabitants and vegetation.

Sneaky Sasquatch is an adventure game where you sneak around in campsites and try to find food from coolers and picnic baskets without getting caught.

Sneaky Sasquatch is an adventure game where you sneak around in campsites and try to find food from coolers and picnic baskets without getting caught. From this simple premise grows a game with endless ways to play and explore its open world: race, play golf, ski, scuba dive, find buried treasure, rent an apartment, get a driver's licence or just find some books to read.

Toca Life: World is part of a series of games that comprise what are essentially toys in electronic form.

Stormworks: Build and Rescue is an open-world adventure where you design, build and pilot your own air-sea rescue service.

Stormworks: Build and Rescue is an open-world adventure where you design, build and pilot your own air-sea rescue service. You create programmable vehicles using its block-building system and pilot them into dangerous situations to rescue stricken vessels or individuals.

Subnautica is an open-world adventure where you explore the ocean on an alien planet after crashlanding.

Subnautica is an open-world adventure where you explore the ocean on an alien planet after crashlanding. You collect resources and fight creatures to survive.

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is an action-adventure game based on the Marvel Comics superhero Miles Morales.

Stardew Valley looks like a farming simulator.

Stardew Valley looks like a farming simulator. That’s partly what it is, but you also develop relationships with the other townsfolk and delve deep into the mines.

Journey is an adventure game set in a desert.

Journey is an adventure game set in a desert. Exploring the eerie sandscape, you discover a world abandoned by the race that created it.

Sea of Thieves is an online game where you play a pirate searching for treasure and adventure.

Sea of Thieves is an online game where you play a pirate searching for treasure and adventure. Cast into a large open sea you work with other online players to crew your ship and find treasure.

Firewatch is an explorative adventure where you play a fire lookout in America’s Shoshone National Forest.

Marvel's Spider-Man is a series of superhero adventures where you swing through an open-world city fighting crime and advancing a film-like story.

Marvel's Spider-Man is a series of superhero adventures where you swing through an open-world city fighting crime and advancing a film-like story. Play is a combination of exploration, taking on fights and collecting items.

Super Mario Odyssey is a running and jumping game in the long-running Mario series where you save Princess Peach from Bowser.

Super Mario Odyssey is a running and jumping game in the long-running Mario series where you save Princess Peach from Bowser. While it's a familiar setup, here you explore vast open worlds and use your hat to help you get around, fight, and even possess enemies to gain new abilities.

Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island is a friend-making adventure game where you help the Greek gods remember their past and unravel a mysterious curse.

Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island is a friend-making adventure game where you help the Greek gods remember their past and unravel a mysterious curse. As you explore the tropical island, you encounter rare treasures and interact with the gods, helping to restore them to their glory.

Everything is an unusual game that simulates a world where you can become any object.

Everything is an unusual game that simulates a world where you can become any object. It sounds strange and not much fun, but the enjoyment is in discovering how small or how big a thing you can become.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is an action-adventure game where you play monster-hunter Geralt in a vast open world as he searches for his missing adopted daughter.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is an action-adventure game where you play monster-hunter Geralt in a vast open world as he searches for his missing adopted daughter. The game responds to your actions and has dynamic environments, weather and day–night cycles that affect the creatures you hunt.

Go Vacation is a resort exploration adventure where 50 mini-games can be discovered and played.

Go Vacation is a resort exploration adventure where 50 mini-games can be discovered and played. The mini-golf, skating, surfing, volleyball, car racing, tennis and other games use the Wii and Switch motion-sensitive controllers and are simple fun for youngsters.

Fable is an adventure role-playing game set in a fantasy world where your interactions with the world and villagers, and decisions about your use of magical power, substantially alter the story and the environment.

Fable is an adventure role-playing game set in a fantasy world where your interactions with the world and villagers, and decisions about your use of magical power, substantially alter the story and the environment. As you progress through the game over many hours, your character visually changes depending on how you play.

The Long Dark is a thoughtful exploration-survival game where you have crash-landed in the icy Canadian wilderness after a global disaster and must find a way to survive.

The Long Dark is a thoughtful exploration-survival game where you have crash-landed in the icy Canadian wilderness after a global disaster and must find a way to survive. Through exploring, crafting and fighting you must look after your body temperature, caloric intake, hunger, thirst and fatigue.

Flower is a traversal collecting game where you control the breeze across fields of grass and blow petals into other flowers to make them bloom.

Flower is a traversal collecting game where you control the breeze across fields of grass and blow petals into other flowers to make them bloom. Flower is simple and single-purpose in evoking the feeling of the wind.

Horizon Zero Dawn is a post-apocalyptic action adventure where you explore an overgrown landscape with now-crumbling remnants of modern life.

Horizon Zero Dawn is a post-apocalyptic action adventure where you explore an overgrown landscape with now-crumbling remnants of modern life. Play involves exploring the world, learning your new abilities as the story unfolds and using them to defeat the robotic dinosaurs.

Wood and Weather is a simulation game where you play god in a wooden toy city.

Wood and Weather is a simulation game where you play god in a wooden toy city. You interact with the world using your floating blue hand to change switches and control the weather.

Immortals Fenyx Rising is a mythical adventure game where you play Fenyx, exploring the huge open world, solving puzzles and fighting evil fantasy creatures.

Immortals Fenyx Rising is a mythical adventure game where you play Fenyx, exploring the huge open world, solving puzzles and fighting evil fantasy creatures. Fenyx is a newly winged demigod, who was prophesied to be the one to save the Greek Gods' home on Olympus from an evil curse.

My Time At Portia is an adventure role-play game set after civilization has been destroyed, and humans are emerging from underground to rebuild society.

My Time At Portia is an adventure role-play game set after civilization has been destroyed, and humans are emerging from underground to rebuild society. By gathering resources, crafting and building you slowly gain the tools to collect food, store grain, chop trees and build dwellings.

Don't Starve is an open-world survival game where it’s the environment and enemies, rather than other players, that you have to work with.

Don't Starve is an open-world survival game where it’s the environment and enemies, rather than other players, that you have to work with. You need to find and develop food, weapons and shelter to survive.

Outer Wilds is an exploration space mystery about a solar system trapped in an endless time loop.

Outer Wilds is an exploration space mystery about a solar system trapped in an endless time loop. After twenty minutes of game time, you must start again – but each time brings a new opportunity to learn how you ended up on the planet and solve the secrets of who built the strange galaxy.

The Touryst is a puzzle-based adventure, where you seek to unlock the mysteries of an archipelago of sun-drenched islands.

The Touryst is a puzzle-based adventure, where you seek to unlock the mysteries of an archipelago of sun-drenched islands. That's if you want to, because the adventure can wait if you'd rather soak up the sun and make the most of your time away by indulging in a little scuba-diving or spelunking; all of which is brought to life with a uniquely beautiful take on games from years ago.

Tchia is an adventure where you play a young girl (Tchia) who can climb, glide, swim, and sail around a beautiful archipelago.

Tchia is an adventure where you play a young girl (Tchia) who can climb, glide, swim, and sail around a beautiful archipelago. Along with the usual sandbox quests and play, the game offers an unusual ability to take control (and become) any animal or object you find.

Hogwarts Legacy is an open-world role-play game set in the world of Harry Potter.

Hogwarts Legacy is an open-world role-play game set in the world of Harry Potter. You control a wizard character who starts as a student at Hogwarts and then ventures out on a dangerous journey with a mystery to solve.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is part of a long series of Zelda adventure games.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is part of a long series of Zelda adventure games. As well as exploring Hyrule you can also take to the skies in an expanded world full of secrets.

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture lands you in a fictional deserted English village in 1984.

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture lands you in a fictional deserted English village in 1984. As you walk the streets of another era you discover bright human forms who re-enact events like a radio play.

Lego City: Undercover offers an open world to explore.

Lego City: Undercover offers an open world to explore. While most Lego games have an open-world element in at least some areas, this one keeps play open throughout so that children can enjoy exploring at their own pace.

A Hat in Time is a running, jumping and exploring game inspired by retro platform games like Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Spyro the Dragon and Psychonauts.

A Hat in Time is a running, jumping and exploring game inspired by retro platform games like Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Spyro the Dragon and Psychonauts. As you explore each of the worlds, you discover characters to talk to, enemies to battle and an unfolding story about Hour Glasses falling from the Sky.

Horizon Forbidden West is a post-apocalyptic action-adventure where you explore an overgrown landscape with now-crumbling remnants of modern life.

Horizon Forbidden West is a post-apocalyptic action-adventure where you explore an overgrown landscape with now-crumbling remnants of modern life. The story of Aloy continues as she sets out to investigate a plague terminating from an arcane frontier known as the Forbidden West.

Proteus is a narrative adventure game which takes you to a pixelated island.

Proteus is a narrative adventure game which takes you to a pixelated island. As you explore you discover that your presence changes the seasons and time of day.

Omno is a running, jumping and surfing game where you explore an ancient fantastical world.

Omno is a running, jumping and surfing game where you explore an ancient fantastical world. As you explore you meet all manner of strange and wonderful lifeforms, from cute critters to enigmatic giants.

Elden Ring is a role-play game set in a fictional world created by fantasy novelist George R.

Elden Ring is a role-play game set in a fictional world created by fantasy novelist George R. R.

Graveyard Keeper is a funeral-themed role-playing game where you are the caretaker of a local cemetery.

Graveyard Keeper is a funeral-themed role-playing game where you are the caretaker of a local cemetery. You make choices about how to lay out the plot, what services to offer and generally how to make money from your unusual enterprise.

The Gecko Gods is a puzzle game where you control a small lizard reptile exploring a world and solving puzzles.

The Gecko Gods is a puzzle game where you control a small lizard reptile exploring a world and solving puzzles. You interact with the flora and fauna, catch insects and visit other animals.