Summary
- Elden Ring features brutal enemies & terrifying dungeons that test player skill & patience.
- Outer Wilds challenges players to explore a volatile solar system within a time loop.
- Dredge turns a cozy fishing game into a frightening underwater exploration at night.
Open world games have long offered players vast explorable landscapes that are often filled with lore, loot, and side content. However, there are certain games that take a unique spin on this formula, turning open world exploration into a challenge itself. The worlds in these games aren't mere backdrops, but serve as active participants that encourage tactical and decisive exploration.
10 Most Iconic Moments In The Doom Games, Ranked
The Doom series is now over 30 years old, and in that time, these iconic FPS games have featured dozens of iconic moments. Here are just a few of them
These examples are some of the best games that feature worlds that are not only dangerous to traverse but also offer a sense of accomplishment when facing the fear of the unknown.
1 Elden Ring
Explore A Vast Realm Featuring Daunting Dungeons & Dangerous Enemies
Elden Ring
- Released
- February 25, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
- Brutal Enemies: Encounter challenging enemies, mini-bosses, and main bosses, who test player skill and patience.
- Terrifying Dungeons: Numerous dungeons in the Lands Between are home to enemy mobs, mini-bosses, and valuable loot. Careless exploration often results in quick punishment.
Exploration in Elden Ring can feel incredibly daunting as the game grants full agency to players on how they wish to traverse the world and progress through the story. The game also tends to surprise players with numerous enemy mobs and mini-bosses guarding various regions of the Lands Between, such as bridges, dungeons, and often times access to legacy dungeons.
The Lands Between is also home to numerous dungeons that can catch unprepared players off guard if they venture into one unprepared. While exploration is central in Elden Ring to acquire valuable gear, it does come at the cost of facing the dangers of curse-stricken lands.
2 Outer Wilds
Explore A Volatile Solar System Where Each Planet Holds Clues To Solving A Mystery
Outer Wilds
- Released
- May 28, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ due to Fantasy Violence, Alcohol Reference
- Genre(s)
- Adventure
- Time Loop Pressure: Explore a solar system stuck in a 22-minute time loop. Race against the clock to gather the necessary clues to piece together a grand mystery.
- Explore Lonely & Terrifying Planets: Each celestial body in the Outer Wilds exhibits an unsettling anomaly that makes traversing them challenging.
The danger of exploration in the Outer Wilds comes from the changing nature of the solar system and the impending doom that awaits at the end of each 22-minute time loop. Each celestial body in the Outer Wilds alters as time progresses, making exploration a priority to gather clues to understand time loop phenomena.
8 Mistakes Everyone Makes While Playing Outer Wilds
Outer Wilds doesn't hold players hands, which can often lead to silly little mistakes that end up wasting a lot of time. Here's how to avoid them.
While the changing solar system and the ticking time raise player anxiety, embracing the fear of the unknown and mustering the courage to explore the volatile solar system is key to appreciating the beauty of Outer Wilds.
3 Dredge
Brave Treacherous Waters That Spawn Terrifying Creatures At Night
Dredge
- Released
- March 31, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Use of Tobacco
- Genre(s)
- Adventure
- Lovecraftian Twist: What at first seems like a cozy fishing game, Dredge soon turns into a frightening experience as players explore the dark waters at night.
- Sanity-Driven Terrors: As players explore the ocean at night, they must learn to manage their rising panic as horrifying creatures and hallucinations take a toll on the player character's sanity.
Dredge is an indie open-world game set on a small archipelago where the players must make money by fishing a variety of fish species and selling them during the day. However, as night befalls, the once peaceful ocean turns into a dangerous body that challenges exploration.
Players choosing to explore these treacherous waters must contend with whatever the night throws at them, including dangerous sea monsters and hallucinations that raise the player character's panic meter. Nighttime exploration is crucial as it provides a wider context to the game's lore, and players can catch rare and exotic fish species that net larger profits when sold.
4 Subnautica
Survive The Alien Ocean Where Oxygen Management & Prey Avoidance Is Paramount
Subnautica
- Released
- January 23, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- Terrifying Predators: Players must navigate the underwater carefully as they protect their fragile submarine from giant predators.
- The Frightening Ocean Depth: Explore the ocean's depth to gather valuable resources and uncover the alien planet's lore.
Subnautica can be a terrifying experience for players with thalassophobia as it turns the worst fears of the oceanic depths virtually real. Despite the looming threat deep within the ocean, the game mandates players to explore the depths of an alien ocean to collect resources and ultimately discover a way to escape the planet.
Subnautica: 25 Scariest Creatures, Ranked
Many creatures live under the sea in Subnautica but some are far more frightening than the rest.
Exploration in Subnautica is intensified by its survival mechanics, hostile sea creatures, and an overwhelming sense of isolation on an alien planet.
5 Death Stranding
Explore A Post-Apocalyptic World Where Altered Weather & Hostile Entities Haunt Players
Death Stranding
- Released
- November 8, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Strong Language
- Genre(s)
- Action
- Treacherous Terrain: Often passed aside as a walking simulator, Death Stranding demands careful route plotting and navigating rocky terrain skillfully.
- Threat From Spectral Entity: Stalking the apocalyptic world are specters known as BTs. Players can either evade them or confront these terrifying creatures in battle.
In Death Stranding, exploration takes the center stage, requiring players to deliver goods across the United Cities of America. The game ups the ante with Timefall, an altered version of rain that ages living things and corrodes deliveries, and the looming threat of BTs that can attack players if detected.
As the delivery distances increase, players must plan their routes carefully and stock up their inventories for any unforeseen consequences, such as BT threats and combat with MULEs (bandits).
6 Metro Exodus
Explore Post-Apocalyptic Russia & Combat Radiation, Bandits, And Mutants
Metro Exodus
- Released
- February 15, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Genre(s)
- FPS
- Resource Scarcity: On harder difficulties, players must complete mission objectives and explore the threatening open world with limited ammunition and gas masks.
- Combat Mutated Monsters & Cultists: Exploration is thwarted by packs of mutated monsters that attack in groups, while human cultists take advantage of the weak and loot the isolated.
In Metro Exodus, life outside the tunnels shows no promise as Artyom expected. The surface, while vast and empty, is now home to radiation pockets and mutated monsters. Despite the dangers, the player must conduct exploration activities to progress through the main story and discover weapon upgrades.
Metro Exodus: 7 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do
There are a lot of hidden secrets, easter eggs, and places to visit in the world of Metro Exodus that every player should make sure to see.
Players can choose to explore the world during the day when the monster threat is minimal, but bandits are out in the open looking for their prey, or use the cover of the night as bandits sleep and monsters prowl the land.
8 Best Games Based On Books, Ranked
These games did an outstanding job of translating their source material into the gaming world.