Best Open-World Procedurally Generated Games

Open-world games provide players with the chance to explore entire worlds or entire universes filled with content players can enjoy such as NPCs, puzzles, environments, plants, animals and so much more. This provides players with hours worth of entertainment, but there are game developers that go the extra mile by adding procedurally generated content.

If a game has procedurally generated content, it means that an algorithm has been designed to create it rather than having a person do it by hand. This means that games have a 'random chance' factor for things to spawn, meaning that even previously explored locations could be totally new should players return to it, keeping a game fresh and exciting.

Updated March 19, 2024, by Mara Cowley: Open-world games have become one of the most popular genres in modern years with many once-linear games series experimenting with open-world versions, to much success. One facet that makes these games so great, other than the freedom of exploration for players, is the use of procedurally generated content. This means that every new game, and every new map location is guaranteed to be a unique affair, allowing for infinite playability. This article already showcased some truly fantastic examples of these games, there are plenty more on the market, which is why this article has been updated to include more amazing procedurally generated open-world games.

11 Starfield

Explore Numerous Fictional and Non-Fictional Worlds in the Milky Way Galaxy

Bethesda's latest foray into the world of sci-fi resulted in Starfield, an open-world game featuring a space miner tasked with delivering an artifact that has peculiar effects on gravity. Humanity has spread beyond the confines of a dying Earth to colonize other planets and has fractured into various factions the players can join.

It all sounds a little like Fallout in space, but players have much more freedom in the fact that they have more than just a world to explore--they have an entire galaxy. The Milky Way is on full display with some original planets that are Bethesda's creations, and others that exist in the real-life galaxy. Each one is uniquely generated, with an undetermined amount of fauna, flora, and places of interest for the player to explore.

10 Don't Starve

A Survival Game That is Unique Every Time

The Tim Burton-esque Don't Starve is a masterclass in survival games. Players must manage resources to ensure their survival is guaranteed, and keep an eye on the hour, as when nightfall comes, danger approaches.

Players have the freedom to explore the island as they wish, which is essential to ensure they have enough resources for crafting recipes such as meals or light sources, each generated randomly to ensure a unique survival experience with each run.

9 No Man's Sky

Every Element and Location is Procedurally Generated

Despite a rocky start, No Man's Sky eventually kept its word of a complete, unlimited universe players could explore, allowing them to land on any planet that they wished. This boundless exploration is aided by procedurally generated content, ensuring that each planet, star, alien, flora, and fauna is unique. No seed is repeated, an impressive feat that means players can wile away thousands of hours with no repeated worlds.

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Players assume the role of the aptly named Traveler, who will travel across the uncharted universe to see what or who might dwell in the universe. They have the freedom to chart their own path or follow the guidance of the Atlas towards the center of the galaxy.

8 Elite: Dangerous

An Open-World Game of Ambitious Scale

Elite: Dangerous is not just an open-world game but an open-world galaxy, allowing players to cruise through the stars in their spaceship and land down on one of the billions of planets as the game boasts a replica of the entire Milky Way. With a game of this scale, it would have to be procedurally generated, as no amount of human hands could create this much content for players.

As such, the game stays fresh for longer as players are sure to never run out of places to explore and things to do, as Elite: Dangerous has mechanics for combat, puzzles, and RPG elements.

7 Starbound

A Perfect Marriage Between Survival and Open-World Gameplay

Another game that allows players to venture amidst the stars, Starbound features an expansive sci-fi open world that puts its emphasis on survival, crafting, and procedurally generated content. After crash-landing on a planet, players must scavenge for the materials they need to repair their craft in order to escape the planet while exploring its mountains and crevices, coming face to face with the unfriendly creatures that inhabit it.

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With combat, crafting, and pleasingly retro pixillated graphics, Starbound has plenty of gameplay elements and random content to keep players entertained for hours without the game growing too stale or boring. The weapons, monsters, and even the planets are randomly determined by an algorithm, giving Starbound much replayability.

6 Deep Rock Galactic

Up to Four Players Can Enjoy this Procedurally Generated Game

This open-world procedurally generated game allows players to invite up to three of their friends to join in on the fun. They take on the role of dwarves that are decked out in armor and armed to the teeth as they venture into alien worlds and monster-infested caves, all of which are randomly generated to ensure that no exploration feels the same.

Deep Rock Galactic has plenty of gameplay elements and other features to help retain players' attention, such as character class selection, exciting combat, and a rotating roster of monsters that generate along with the unique cave seeds, with the entire environment being destructible. No two playthroughs of Deep Rock Galactic are the same, and no single run is lacking in fun.

5 Dorfromantik

Places Emphasis on Crafting and Cultivation

For those who want to experience a procedurally generated game with open-world elements, but would rather not deal with monsters or combat, Dorfromantik is definitely the game for them. Its focus is more on crafting and creating worlds by placing down connecting tiles and cultivating lifeforms.

For Dorformantik, players can truly relax, creating beautiful worlds and peaceful villages, and watch their worlds expand and flourish. There are also quests that will be presented as the player progresses, meaning that they will always have an objective to chase to ensure players will always keep coming back for more.

4 Superflight

Fly Through Procedurally Generated Worlds for a Unique Flight

• Platforms: PC
• Released: 9 Nov 2017
• Genres: Action, Sports
• Developers: Grizzly Games

Superflight is a fast-paced, exciting but easy-to-learn flight game that allows players to spread their wings and take flight through beautiful, mountain-filled worlds filled with color and personality. There are countless maps for players to explore, each procedurally generated, so no flight feels the same, maintaining a new and exciting feel to the game.

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The gameplay on offer is simple but exciting. Players will don a wingsuit and take off through the worlds, exploring the ever-lasting vistas and landscapes which all feel unique thanks to their random designs. Players will then have to dodge around the landscapes and can choose to play chicken with upcoming obstacles for exhilarating excitement. The game tracks the player's high scores, so they can always come back and try to outdo themselves on every run.

3 Tales of Maj'Eyal

Rich Lore and an Exciting Original Fantasy World

Tales of Maj'Eyal is the perfect game for fans of rich lore, fantasy, and roguelike games, with the game is set in a unique fantasy world that drip-feeds players information on the vast world they are exploring, which they are given the freedom to move around in as they wish. Each level is procedurally generated, so players will never know what lies ahead, each corner turning into a new and exciting surprise.

The numerous classes players can choose from, tactical turn-based combat, and challenging enemies ensure that the combat is up to par with the rest of this fantastic game that is sure to provide hours of fresh fun for its players.

2 Valheim

Takes Inspiration from the Best of Norse Mythology

Not for the brave of heart, Valheim takes players into a procedurally generated purgatory greatly inspired by Norse mythology and Viking culture, with each player dropped into a unique world seed they must prove themselves in through blood and steel. Players can team with up to 9 friends to craft weapons to test the mettle of the monsters they share these worlds with.

Players are given the freedom to explore the world seeds as they please and scavenge the resources they might find while doing so in order to craft better equipment to ensure they are ready to face whatever lies ahead. Each map is wholly unique to ensure no single playthrough is alike, making it a fresh and new experience every single time.