When The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launched, many players called it one of the biggest open-world games ever made. Few games could match its size, freedom, and creativity. Exploring Hyrule’s skies, depths, and villages can easily take over 249 hours for completionists. Yet, there are open-world games out there that stretch even longer, according to HowLongToBeat. With worlds so large and time-demanding, Tears of the Kingdom starts to look almost compact in comparison.
Open-World Games With A Ridiculous Amount Of Depth
Some open-world games stand out for their depth and complexity, making it tough for fans to find similar experiences elsewhere.
Some of these open-world games keep players hooked through long-term goals, hidden discoveries, and evolving systems that take dozens of hours to understand. And then there are those that never really end at all. There’s always a new corner to explore, a new skill to master, or a new challenge waiting somewhere out there.
ARK: Survival Evolved
Solo 243 Hours / Co-Op 295 Hours / Vs. 301 Hours
ARK: Survival Evolved
- Released
- August 29, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Survival
ARK: Survival Evolved is basically about surviving on hostile islands. Players should be able to finish the main objectives in 60 to 70 hours, but that requires learning base building, taming a few creatures, and defeating some tough bosses. Completionist runs push time into the high hundreds. Full completion has players mastering breeding programs, acquiring ideal creature stats, fully building out advanced bases across maps, and defeating content at the highest difficulties.
When the game is played with friends or on PvP servers, social dynamics and warfare extend the timeline. Players focused on a perfect collection of creatures, max tech, and multiple domes of production will easily reach 300 hours.
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Completionist: 251 Hours
Xenoblade Chronicles X
- Released
- December 4, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Open-World
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
- How Long To Beat
- 68 Hours
When people talk about big open worlds, few realize just how enormous Xenoblade Chronicles X really is. Its planet is wild, layered, and full of secrets that can take hundreds of hours to uncover. The game was built to make players feel small in a world that never stops stretching out before them.
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Completionists will spend roughly 251 hours finishing everything. This massive runtime comes from the depth of exploration, the detailed side missions, and the constant need to upgrade character and gear. Unlocking flight for Skell (a giant mech suit) is one of the game’s most rewarding moments, opening up the world in ways that few RPGs ever manage. But before that happens, players will spend dozens of hours building strength, resources, and skills just to survive what Mira throws at them.
Kenshi
Completionist: 273 Hours
Kenshi
- Released
- December 6, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Open-World, Survival
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
- How Long To Beat
- 80 Hours
Even though Kenshi is pretty hard, it’s easy to fall in love with because it gives players an open space and just a few rules. Players start as an unknown wanderer, hungry and weak, in a wasteland filled with slavers, starving bandits, and cannibals. There’s no main story pushing them forward, so their only job is to stay alive and build something that lasts.
Kenshi is great for players who like long arcs and slow growth. And for those who want to see nearly everything in Kenshi must find multiple outposts, research full tech trees, max characters across different builds, and control or destroy key factions. That kind of long play will require around 273 hours to be completed.
The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind
Completionist Time: 298 Hours
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
- Released
- May 1, 2002
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- RPG
- How Long To Beat
- 45 Hours
Before Skyrim made the Elder Scrolls series a global name, Morrowind was already showing what true freedom in an RPG could look like. Nearly every house hides a story, and every faction offers unique paths and endings. Players can become a wizard, a thief, a noble, or even a god-like figure, and each path changes how people treat them. There’s so much optional content, from books to read, to relics to hunt, and side quests to solve, that it’s easy to lose track of time.
What makes Morrowind so long is how much it respects curiosity. It doesn’t push players toward objectives; rather, it rewards those who take time to understand its world. And for those willing to go all the way, they might spend around 300 hours.
Genshin Impact
Solo 298 Hours / Co-Op 531 Hours
Genshin Impact
- Released
- September 28, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Action, Adventure, Gacha, Open-World
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
- How Long To Beat
- 294 hours
A player who follows only the main plot and the key Archon quests in Genshin Impact can expect about 60 – 70 hours of play. That path gives a clear narrative arc and a satisfying sense of progress without deep investment in character builds or collecting.
For players who want to fully commit, they will be spending 298 – 531 hours owning and fully equipping many characters, ascending weapons, farming rare boss materials, and chasing every collectible. And as many know, completion in a live service game means chasing both permanent content and time-limited events. For someone who wants a huge roster of characters and to max many of them, the completionist estimate of over 500 hours makes sense.
Project Zomboid
Completionist: 433 Hours
Project Zomboid
- Released
- November 8, 2013
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
- How Long To Beat
- 60 Hours
In Project Zomboid, survival doesn’t mean beating the game. It means lasting another day. And that’s why Project Zomboid is one of the most difficult open-world survival games out there. There’s no final mission, no rescue team, and no cure waiting at the end. So players have to scavenge for supplies, fortify safehouses, and keep themselves alive as the world decays around them. The game’s open world is huge and constantly changing, and survival isn’t measured in missions, but by the days lived.
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A player might survive for weeks only to be bitten during a routine supply run, forcing them to start over. But that’s part of the loop that keeps people playing for hundreds of hours. So players not only have to think of better strategies. They have to know when to fight, when to flee, and how to turn a boarded-up gas station into a fortress. And even though there’s no fixed goal, players can sink in 433 hours trying out everything.
Elite: Dangerous
Completionist: 677 Hours
Elite Dangerous
- Released
- December 16, 2014
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Flight Simulator
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
- How Long To Beat
- 109 Hours
This is a great space sim where players decide what kind of pilot they want to be, be it a trader, bounty hunter, explorer, miner, or outlaw. The galaxy reacts to their choices, as prices shift, factions rise and fall, and entire systems change hands depending on what players do. The scale is overwhelming at first, but that vastness is what makes the experience so much fun.
The main story alone might take most people more than 100 hours, while completionists might spend six times more. The length is not only because of grinding, but also because of the distance and discovery. Traveling from one side of the galaxy to the other can take real days of flight time. Players spend hundreds of hours mapping planets, upgrading ships, and learning how to survive in deep space.
World of Warcraft
Solo 1390 Hours / Co-Op 2154 Hours / Vs. 1769 Hours
World of Warcraft
- Released
- November 23, 2004
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- MMORPG
There’s a reason World of Warcraft still has players logging in twenty years after launch: it never runs out of things to do. Some players start just to “try it out” and realize months later they’re still chasing quests, gear, and stories that never stop unfolding. Players will have to spend anywhere between 1390 and 2154 hours, depending on whether they’re playing solo or with friends.
Leveling one character can take weeks, but many go on to build armies of alts across different classes and roles. There’s always another goal to chase, one more raid boss, one more reputation grind, one more legendary item. The game just doesn’t seem to end.
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