Most of the greatest open-world games in the genre’s history, like Grand Theft Auto V, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and Red Dead Redemption 2, are connected by the fact that they’re all driven by one or more narratives. For many people, the stories are the best part of open-world adventures, as it keeps them emotionally invested and encourages them to progress in the game.
However, not everyone is a fan of heavy-handed storytelling in their open-world games, as they’d rather spend their time simply exploring the world, completing its objectives, and perhaps even formulating their own narrative. These games are few and far between, but there have been just enough released over the years to keep players busy.
10 Subnautica
A few screenshots and a glance at Subnautica‘s cover art will give most people the impression that the game is going to be a relaxing adventure similar to games like Endless Ocean and ABZÛ. However, it will soon become apparent that things aren’t as they seem when players boot up the game and are immediately on the wrong end of a ship crash, leaving them stranded in the middle of an alien ocean.
The game has a few narrative segments, though most of Subnatica‘s runtime is spent freely diving into the ocean’s depths, trying to uncover materials while avoiding deadly creatures like the aptly named Reapers.
9 Shape Of The World
Sometimes gamers just want something to play where they can switch their mind off, which is exactly what Hollow Tree Games’ Shape of the World offers. The procedurally generated world has stunning artistic visuals dripping with creativity and artistry, ensuring that there is never a dull moment when traversing the environments.
A note from the game’s Steam page summarizes the game best: “Immersion, exploration, and contemplation form the core of Shape of the World. This is a place to get lost in, a relaxing world for you to spend 1 to 3 hours meandering at your own pace, observing and unwinding.“
8 Terraria
Originally released in 2011, the 2D adventure sandbox game Terraria is still going strong today. The game has constantly been compared to Minecraft over the years, not only for the crafting and mining gameplay but also for how the two games are among the most non-linear ever released. Re-Logic’s game hasn’t been able to reach Minecraft‘s eye-watering sales figures of 200 million+, but it impressively exceeded the 30 million mark in 2020.
Terraria has a fair amount of lore that can be researched, but it is completely optional.
7 The Legend of Zelda
For the sake of variety, it makes sense to include at least one retro title in this list, and considering that most open-world games wouldn’t have existed without The Legend of Zelda‘s influence, it would seem unfair not to pick it. The Legend of Zelda‘s map certainly doesn’t compare in size and aesthetics to the huge open-world maps of today, but The Legend of Zelda‘s world is so well designed and filled with so many secrets that most players wouldn’t have it any other way.
The game was a pioneer of the open-world genre in how it gave virtually no sense of direction or help; the players can complete dungeons in any order that they chose, except for the final one. Although it certainly shows its age, The Legend of Zelda is still thoroughly enjoyable today.
6 Burnout Paradise
From one revolutionary open-world title to another, Burnout Paradise was instrumental in paving the way for modern open-world games, particularly those set in busy US cities. The shift was controversial at the time; fans of the series and arcade street racing as a whole were unhappy as they thought Paradise would mark the death of street racing games, which up until now they have been correct about.
However, the vast majority of Burnout Paradise players evidently enjoyed the open-world, as producer Matt Webster has previously stated that data showed most players were simply cruising around the open-world map without partaking in events. This data was almost certainly instrumental in the racing genre’s shift in direction away from arcade-style games.
5 The Long Dark (Survival Mode)
Following a warm reception to an alpha version of the game which was released in 2014, The Long Dark finally released in full in 2017 on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One before coming to the Nintendo Switch in 2020. The game has since had an episodic story mode release, but the popular survival mode is still intact.
The Long Dark‘s survival mode takes the word “survival” very literally, as players need to keep stock of realistic factors such as their thirst, hunger, and body temperature. Players also need to keep their eyes out for the potentially deadly wildlife, which randomly spawns in each new game to ensure players never feel too safe.
4 A Short Hike
Developed by Adam Robinson-Yu, A Short Hike is a simplistic open-world adventure that requires players to collect feathers to reach the game world’s peak. There are also numerous side activities to indulge in, such as fishing, searching for treasure, and competing in the “beachstickball” mini-game. A Short Hike was awarded the Independent Games Festival Awards’ Seumas McNally Grand Prize, which has also been won by classic indie titles like Minecraft and Fez.
The game isn’t entirely devoid of story, though outside of the opening and final cutscene, there’s very little in the way of narrative.
3 The Witness
The Witness is a puzzle game designed by Braid‘s Jonathan Blow. It solely features line-puzzles, which may make the game sound too one-dimensional, but the puzzle-designers were able to cram tons of creativity into the squares, ensuring that it doesn’t become tiresome by the time players reach the end.
The Witness puts players on a wonderfully designed Myst-like island, which they are free to explore in any direction once leaving the short tutorial area. The game’s story is predominantly told through gameplay and environmental clues, while audio logs, secret videos, and a secret cutscene offer further perspective.
2 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The most recent Legend of Zelda title joins the first game in the series on this list for a very similar reason to the first. Nintendo decided to go back to its roots with Breath of the Wild and consequently let players tackle the game in almost any way that they chose. Players need to complete the tutorial stage and defeat Ganon to complete the game; everything in between is totally up to them.
As for the story, Breath of the Wild is very hands-off. Although there are numerous cutscenes and story moments in the game, the vast majority are optional and can be completely ignored, a design choice likely inspired by the soulsborne series.
1 Minecraft
The ultimate non-linear experience, Minecraft lets players explore its worlds in any way that they like. There’s no direction, no cutscenes, and no story, making Minecraft one of the most non-linear and least story-driven games ever released.
This nonlinearity is likely why Minecraft has become the second highest-selling video game of all time, as the open-world sandbox lets players create their own stories and their own adventures with tons of different possibilities, ensuring that the game never grows tiresome as long as players are willing to use a bit of imagination.
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