Open-world games cover such a wide spectrum of experiences that combining them all into a single category is way too restrictive. You can play a power fantasy that is jam-packed with over-the-top action, or a story-driven epic that is more concerned with emotion than explosions. However, the one element that nearly every member of the genre has is exploration. Some games might prioritize it more than others, but it is a staple part of the open-world package. If you cannot explore even a little bit, can a game really be open-world?
Free Open-World Games With The Best Exploration
These free open-world games offer vast and beautiful open worlds, great exploration, loads of content; there's almost no catch.
Thanks to the constant influx of open-world adventures, you pretty much always have new realms waiting for you. 2025 has seen the release of fantastic games like Where Winds Meet, Ghost of Yotei, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, all of which can scratch an exploration itch and let you ignore the story for as long as you want, if that is what you crave. That said, let's take a look at some of the greatest games for slow exploration.
After due consideration, Last Oasis has been removed as its future is too unpredictable to recommend at this point. Hopefully, it will eventually leave early access and prove to be great.
7 The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Or Oblivion Remastered
Because Skyrim Is Not Always The Answer
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
- Released
- March 20, 2006
WHERE TO PLAY
When people think about an Elder Scrolls game with a huge open world map to explore, they immediately think about Skyrim. However, before TES5 was even on the inkwell, Oblivion was already an incredible game that offered the chance for players to embrace a slow-exploration experience. Sure, there was a sense of impending doom, like in every Elder Scrolls game, but it is also true that Tamriel was much more attractive than the inhospitable cold of Skyrim.
With lush forests filled with wild animals, bandits, and the occasional Daedroth, TES4 was designed to be enjoyed leisurely. If you specifically want to stick to the original game's base, s everal modders and players in the ever-expanding TES community have taken things to the next level, revamping the maps with custom visuals and 4K re-textures. This is also another of Oblivion's attractions: it runs quite well thanks to the efforts of the modder community, even if it's charged with 200 GB worth of mods.
However, nowadays, Oblivion Remastered is arguably the best way to experience this classic, as it blends a few modern QOL improvements with the fundamentals that made the original so beloved. It also looks gorgeous.
6 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood And Wine
Geralt Definitely Needed Some Time Off in a Beautiful Wine Country
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Released
- May 19, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- CD Projekt Red
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was already a great game with plenty of slow-exploration potential, but this aspect was pushed further with the Blood and Wine expansion. Mostly because of the new mechanics (and the Skellige Gwent deck!) But, particularly, because of the scenery. The beautiful Touissant, with its mountains, lush forests, and fairy-tale-like design, is a powerful magnet for exploration fans.
This expansion was primarily designed to be either a wild goose chase (players are in charge of hunting down an ancient vampire and suppressing a coup d'état after all) or a relaxing experience through the valleys of the beautiful Kingdom of Knights, depending on how players look at it. Geralt's last job, and the retirement he most definitely deserved after more than a lifetime of service, was hitting the roads and defending the common folk from monsters. This is also a great way for players to unwind after the emotional and exhausting main quest from the core game.
5 The Long Dark
Few Other Games Have Nailed The Slow-Exploration Experience Like This One
The Long Dark
- Released
- August 1, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Hinterland Studio
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
The Long Dark is one of those games that can give players endless hours of exploration through a vast and near-desolate wilderness, with the sole company of the chilling winds and the wolves looking to make players their supper. There are not too many survival open-world games (except Green Hell, maybe) where the world turns against players with every step they take.
In that sense, taking things slowly and carefully considering every move is not only part of this charming experience: it is a need to survive until the endgame. So, in that sense, Hinterland Studios really nailed it with this Slow-Exploration mechanic that is both captivating and challenging.
4 Red Dead Redemption 2
There Is NOT Another Game That Makes Players Lose So Much Time In Side Activities
Red Dead Redemption 2
- Released
- October 26, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Rockstar Games
Be it that players are out there looking for the Perfect Pelts, or they are trying to unlock the Legend of the West outfit, or simply out for blood, looking for the Orchids Algernon Wasp needs for his collection, Red Dead Redemption 2 offers the most complete Western experience of all open-world games.
Longest Open-World Games
Even the most sophisticated gamer will be bewildered by the sheer scale of these games. These are the open-world games that take the longest to beat.
There's no doubt that the game will have players enthralled with so many side activities that cannot even be listed here, so be prepared: entering the world of RDR2 is a one-way ticket to slow exploration. And that can be a good thing, if players want to chill down hunting outlaws, or tame rare horses, then this game might be just the thing they need.
3 Kenshi
A Dystopian Sci-Fi Wasteland Exploration Game, And It's Not Fallout
Kenshi
- Released
- December 6, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Open-World, Survival
Kenshi is a game that emphasizes exploration above all else, in a vast wasteland where the warlord clans are making life impossible for anyone who dares oppose them. Players have dozens of choices: become leaders, vagrants, thieves, or oligarch overlords. There's no right way to play, but the main focus remains wandering and searching for resources, people, and important game events.
The game itself is a huge sandbox simulation of how life in a post-apocalyptic world would be, and surprisingly, it offers a deeper experience than most games in the Fallout franchise. It is even better than the Mad Max game, and it has a vast and hyperactive modder community with thousands of mods ready to be plugged in and augment the game experience beyond what the players expect. Fair warning, though: be prepared to wander for hours.
2 The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
One Of The Best Games Nintendo Has Ever Made
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Released
- March 3, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo EPD
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Wii U, Switch
The Legend of Zelda: BOTW is one of those games that makes us think about the possibilities of slow exploration in a vast and beautiful fantasy world. The setting, the worldbuilding, and thrilling narrative are steps beyond what one could expect from a simple Zelda game, which was more traditionally focused on Adventure and Platforming than open-world and RPG mechanics.
And so, when BOTW and its successor Tears of the Kingdom made their respective debuts, people were fascinated by the way the game makes players engage with the environment and every creature that inhabits it. It is not just simple and mindless exploration; it is about interactivity taken to a whole new level. One of the greatest things about BOTW (and TOTK as well) is that players have control of everything that surrounds them: anything and anyone can be a weapon, and that creates thousands of incredible combos to overcome foes.
1 No Man's Sky
The Greatest Comeback Story in Gaming, Where Players Explore a Universe
No Man's Sky
- Released
- August 9, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Hello Games
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Nintendo Switch 2
A game that privileges exploration at a slower pace than most games, in a vast, ever-expanding universe, with hundreds of thousands of open-world planets to explore. No Man's Sky is the apex of spacefaring simulation games, with incredible core mechanics and many more arriving with each year it passes. It's a game that, when it was released, nobody thought would make it to the next year. But despite the initial criticism, this space survival/simulation title created by Hello Games is more alive than ever.
With dozens of different types of ships to acquire, several alien languages to understand and learn, and even more activities than you could complete in a lifetime, this game is the best for those who enjoy exploring alone or with their friends. When a new expedition arrives, players have a new chance to start over and collect cool and unusual rewards they can later transfer to their main playthrough, so in terms of replay value, it is also one of the best.
8 Best Open-World Games That Everyone Should Play, Ranked
There's a reason that open-world games are so popular, and while there are countless choices available, these genre entries are must-play experiences.