Some of the biggest and most popular open-world games seem to be all about progress these days. You have quests, a sense of urgency as your character must save the world, and you have to actively ignore a call to action to enjoy some of the game's side content. One of the most amusing examples of this paradox is Fallout 4. The game's main quest has you chase after your kidnapped child, which is a pretty personal and urgent quest, so why would you ever stop for side activities? You wouldn't. And yet, that's where Fallout 4's best content lies: side quests.
5 Open-World Games You’ll Play for Hours Without Realizing
These five open-world games can be so absorbing that a quick session can turn into hours.
If you're feeling a little exhausted by these big open-world games that tell you to constantly push forward, to level up, to do this, that, and the other, you might find some enjoyment in these games that put absolutely no pressure on you. They're open-world, so you have plenty of exploration and adventuring at your fingertips. In most cases, that's the whole point: just explore and appreciate the view. Some might have quests and tasks to complete, but you won't exactly suffer if you don't engage with those systems. Let's have a look at the best open-world games to just vibe in.
Honorable Mention - The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
Skyrim is a game that gets recommended a bit too much, I'll admit that, but just hear me out, because there's something quite special Bethesda managed to do with this game. If you play Skyrim's latest version today, you have access to a ton of side content that's not really about completing the main quest or playing the part of a chosen one.
You can make your own house, courtesy of Hearthfire. You have fishing, hunting, cooking, smithing, and alchemy. You can get married, buy a house if building one isn't your cup of tea, and you can also just walk around and admire the world. I'd argue Skyrim is far less about being the Dragonborn than it advertises, which is why I couldn't help myself and add it in for a small honorable mention.
A Short Hike
It's About The Journey, Not The End
Starting off with a super cozy entry, we have A Short Hike. First of all, I need to appreciate the art style of this one, with the warm color palette and the cutesy pixel art graphics. Like most games, this one does have a goal: your job is to get to the top of the mountain, but before you rush the full way up, slow down, take a deep breath, and just relax. Explore. Pick the path you wouldn't usually take, and you might find some interesting characters and well-hidden secrets. And that's really the main charm of this game: the journey.
There are multiple paths to the top, and no one's rushing you to get there in a set time, and if you do, you'll miss out on the best part of the game. You can even stop your climb and go do some side activities if you find a nice body of water. Fishing, swimming... The choice is yours. If you're a big fan of the Animal Crossing games, which I am, you'll definitely fall in love with the style of A Short Hike and some of the other animal characters you meet on your way up.
Eastshade
A Low-Pressure Quest-Driven Experience
A lot of the other games on this list won't necessarily have the look of an RPG as much as Eastshade does, but I still wanted to include this charming little game for the simple fact that it's a pretty low-stakes take on the genre, and focuses more on atmosphere and exploration. You're not being rushed anywhere, and there's no looming doom for you to fix as the main character. Instead, you're a painter, and completing the game's quests just unlocks more exploration and tools for you to use during your travels.
Despite quests still pushing you towards unlocking new areas, I'd still argue Eastshade is an experience that rewards stopping and appreciating the view more than constantly pushing forward for progress. You can linger for the perfect painting, take a detour and go fishing, and, much to my delight, even brew tea. It's a cozy version of the RPG experience, so if you're looking for something that still has some degree of direction but doesn't feel like a high-pressure experience where you have to constantly move forward, Eastshade is worth a try in my opinion.
Slime Rancher 2
A Simple Life Of Growing Cute Slimes
The sequel to the hyper-popular Slime Rancher came out in the fall of 2025, and while it reportedly introduces a bit more grindiness than the first game, it's overall an adorable and relaxing farming game in a colorful open-world environment populated by... Yes, slimes. Of all colors and different appearances. It's pretty hard not to squeal and fall in love with some of the different slime designs in the game, so if you want something super low-pressure, cute, with farming involved, then Slime Rancher 2 is the ideal open-world game for you.
Best Open-World Games To Just Chill
For fans of open-world games just looking to sit back an relax, here are some of the best options available.
Like in a lot of sandboxy, survival craft games, you very much go at your own pace. There's very little pressure to reach any sort of goal, and any progress you make towards new tech is just a bonus that lets you do things more efficiently. In that sense, it's perfectly up to you how hard you grind with this game. You can make this all about exploration and just having a few adorable slimes to look after, or you can adopt the hardcore mentality of min-maxing to the extreme. Either way, the game won't tell you when to do things, so it's truly one of the best games to just vibe in when you're not feeling like being the Dragonborn or some other chosen one in a high-stakes game.
No Man's Sky
Story? Quests? You Choose Your Path In The Universe
While No Man's Sky does have some lore and story content, and even something that could be called quests scattered in it, it would be wrong to say that you're absolutely required to complete anything. My best way to describe this game is Minecraft in space, with an asterisk, because there's a bit more complexity to the gameplay that makes it feel far techier and more sci-fi survival. But ultimately, the game is a sandbox, and you can do just about whatever you want in its normal mode (which, again, will be the focus here). You get dropped on a planet in the thick of it, and from there on, after a few initial tasks, it's up to you to do whatever you want in the world.
Build a base right where you spawned? Sure, why not? Get on your ship and look for a different world? That's a possibility, too. Over the years, the game has seen a huge expansion of its content, which is a testament to the developers' devotion despite a rather rocky start when it was first released. The options of what you can do are huge now, from scavening and raiding abandoned ships to engaging in trade, and even hopping into your friends' world to see what they're getting up to. It's definitely a game where you're meant to appreciate the vibes and just enjoy the journey, without rushing anything.
Minecraft
Getting To The End And Killing The Dragon Is Optional At Best
A wonderfully directionless game like Minecraft is the ideal example of progress never being mandatory. If anything, you get to define what progress looks like in this game. It could be that you're satisfied enough just farming wheat day in, day out, living in a dirt hut, and watching the sun set on your plains biome. The only goal, at least in its default survival mode (and that's what we'll focus on, not hardcore), is to just keep surviving. Keep your hunger up, and avoid dying, but even if you do die, it's not the end of the world. You can simply start over again.
You could spend all your days building in the overworld and gathering resources, creating the perfect base, or running around with your pet dog, and that's enough for Minecraft. All the endgame features are propositions more than necessities. You don't have to kill the Ender Dragon, and you don't need to explore the End for an Elytra or Shulker boxes. Those are certainly nice extras and cool things to have in survival mode, but nothing's stopping you from also opening your world to LAN midway through and just enabling creative mode to fly around if you get bored. It's a sandbox game without rules and requirements—your job is to come up with those two things for yourself, but only if you want to.
Best Open‑World Games for Casual Players, Ranked
Not every open-world game has to be intense and complex. These titles are perfect for casual players who just want to relax.