Summary
- Some open-world games suffer from bloated filler content, but others, like Dredge and A Short Hike, offer a small scale that enhances exploration.
- Dredge, A Short Hike, and Disco Elysium excel in providing concise, immersive, and rewarding experiences within their small-scale open worlds.
- Games like Westerado and Gloomwood offer minimalist, tight-knit environments that allow for deep exploration without overwhelming players.
Open-world games are known for their large and expansive environments, but this impressive scale can sometimes be a downfall. Certain open-world games, while impressive, can often be so bloated and padded out with filler that it's harder to uncover the more worthwhile content.
Other open-world games, however, make use of a small scale that compacts the overall experience and ensures players rarely have to waste their time exploring uninteresting areas. Some of these titles aren't full open-world experiences, but are sure to appeal to open-world fans with their emphasis on free-form exploration.
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8 Dredge
Fishing In A Minimal Archipelago
Dredge
- Released
- March 31, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
Captain your fishing trawler to explore a collection of remote isles, and their surrounding depths, to see what lies below. Sell your catch to the locals and complete quests to learn more about each area’s troubled past. Outfit your boat with better equipment to trawl deep-sea trenches and navigate to far-off lands, but keep an eye on the time. You might not like what finds you in the dark...
Starting from your new home in the remote archipelago, ‘The Marrows’, take to the water and scour the depths for curious collectables and over 125 deep sea denizens. Explore each area while completing quests and visiting neighbouring island regions – each with their own unique opportunities, inhabitants, and secrets.
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Use of Tobacco
- Genre(s)
- Adventure
Dredge is a small-scale open-world game that's minimalist in its design. This minimalism is truly elegant, both in the game's visuals and gameplay. In the game, players explore a small but mysterious archipelago, collecting and selling myriad fish as they avoid eldritch horrors.
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Perhaps the greatest strength of Dredge is how immediate of an experience it is; Dredge is quick to let players loose in its world, to play with its mechanics, to explore its nooks and crannies. This is facilitated by intuitive controls and the small scale of its world, which allows players to explore freely without getting lost.
7 A Hat In Time
A Colorful 3D Platformer
A Hat in Time
- Released
- October 5, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
A Hat in Time is a cute-as-heck 3D platformer featuring a little girl who stitches hats for wicked powers.
In A Hat in Time you play as a tiny space-travelling girl with a big tophat. Her adventure is halted when all her fuel, the Time Pieces, is lost and scattered across a nearby planet. Hat Kid must now jump, fight and stitch new hats to make her way into every nook and cranny of this new world in order to restore her fuel and resume her journey. On her way, she'll bump into the menacing Mafia of Cooks, the goofy birds of Dead Bird Studio, the spooky shadows of Subcon Forest, and more!
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood, Fantasy Violence
- Genre(s)
- 3D Platformer
A Hat In Time is a nostalgic 3D platformer that excels with its colorful visuals and free-form exploration. In the game, players explore a variety of large and unique areas with fluid movement controls, searching every nook and cranny to uncover countless collectibles.
With its expansive areas and emphasis on exploration, fans of open-world games are likely to enjoy A Hat In Time. Furthermore, its small scale keeps each level compact, ensuring each level is dense and rewarding to explore.
6 Westerado: Double Barreled
A Minimalist Wild West
Westerado: Double Barreled
- Released
- April 16, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
Westerado: Double Barreled is Ostrich Banditos’ homage to Spaghetti Westerns about dirty pasts, consequences and taking a hold of your future. When your family is murdered by a mysterious desperado, you set out into the world to take revenge. Take control of your own fate and that of others, all using your trusty shooting iron. If words aren’t enough to persuade a character, draw your revolver and see what happens. You can shoot whomever, whenever you like. Be an outlaw or a saint, explore the open world, meet a varied cast of characters and decide how you want your revenge story to unfold.
Features
Hunt down the desperado that killed your family and explore the stories of the world’s inhabitants. Discover all the possibilities and create a unique story each time you play.
Ride, shoot, and threaten your way through an expansive Wild West, expanded with all-new environments like the forest, desert and mountains.
Soak up the western sun in a world built out of the grittiest pixels this side of Montezuma, and an expanded western soundtrack, featuring live recorded banjos, trumpets, saloon pianos and more!
GUNS! Let your gun do the talking, by drawing and cocking it during any conversation. Shoot whoever you want, whenever you want, no exceptions. Pick your favorite weapon, whether it’s a revolver, shotgun or even a tomahawk.
Multiple save slots to keep your progress across sessions and explore the splitting narrative.
Technical upgrades to include full controller support and 720p/1080p display resolutions.
- ESRB
- t
- Genre(s)
- Indie Games, Action-Adventure
Westerado: Double Barreled is a decidedly minimalist experience. This pixel-art shooter tasks players with enacting vengeance on the outlaw who murdered their family. This underlying mystery leads to deeply emergent gameplay as players explore classic Western environments and partake in myriad shootouts.
Best of all, Westerado's world isn't too large, allowing players to hunt down this desperado without getting overwhelmed. Furthermore, the game is infinitely replayable, as the murderer is different every playthrough.
5 A Short Hike
A Small & Wholesome Adventure
A Short Hike
- Released
- April 5, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
Hike, climb, and soar through the peaceful mountainside landscapes of Hawk Peak Provincial Park. Follow the marked trails or explore the backcountry as you make your way to the summit. Along the way, meet other hikers, discover hidden treasures, and take in the world around you.
Explore the island any way you like. Choose your own path to follow and see where it leads you. You never know what you might stumble into! Hike at your own pace — there’s no need to rush to the summit! Take your time fishing along the river banks or swimming by the lakeshore. Collect hidden treasures to reach new heights. Try taking a dive off the mountain peaks to soar above the forests. Chat with the other hikers you meet along your route. You might be able to help each other out!
Listen to a lush original soundtrack by Mark Sparling that progresses dynamically as you explore the wilderness.
- ESRB
- E For Everyone
- Genre(s)
- Adventure
A Short Hike is a minimalist open-world game with a clear focus on exploration. Supporting this emphasis on exploration are intuitive movement controls and a truly cozy, small-scale landscape that's densely packed with NPCs, points of interest, and beautiful vistas.
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A Short Hike's small scale is perhaps its greatest strength, allowing players to easily stumble across the game's many wonders. It also means players are unlikely to get lost, and can instead sit back and soak in the game's cozy environments.
4 TUNIC
A Zelda-Like Adventure
Tunic
- Released
- March 16, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
Explore a land filled with lost legends, ancient powers, and ferocious monsters in TUNIC, an isometric action game about a small fox on a big adventure. Stranded in a ruined land, and armed with only your own curiosity, you will confront colossal beasts, collect strange and powerful items, and unravel long-lost secrets.
Stories say that a great treasure is hidden somewhere in this land. Perhaps it lies beyond the golden door? Or somewhere deep beneath the earth? Some tales tell of a palace high above the clouds, and of ancient beings with incredible power.
During your travels, you’ll reconstruct the game’s Instruction Manual. Page by page, you’ll reveal maps, tips, special techniques, and the deepest of secrets. If you find every last one, maybe something good will happen...
Dive into varied, technical combat. Dodge, block, parry, and strike! Learn how to conquer a wide cast of monsters, big and small — and discover useful new items to help you on your way.
- ESRB
- e
- Genre(s)
- Adventure
Though more of a Metroidvania/souls-like mash-up, fans of open-world games are more than likely to enjoy the Zelda-adjacent gameplay of TUNIC. Combining the large-scale boss fights and stamina management of Dark Souls with the adventurous spirit and exploration of Zelda, TUNIC excels in more ways than one.
From the very beginning, TUNIC is able to make players feel lost while clearly directing the adventure. This is thanks to the game's small scale, which provides dense environments and twisting dungeons that slowly unveil as players progress, allowing TUNIC to maintain a brisk pace.
3 Outer Wilds
Exploration Of A Minimalist Solar System
Outer Wilds
- Released
- May 28, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
A strange satellite photo that can’t be explained. A new museum exhibit that marks the trailhead for one last journey into the wilds. Should you pull at the thread and unravel the solar system’s deepest secret, or is some knowledge better left in the dark?
Welcome to the Space Program!
You're the newest recruit of Outer Wilds Ventures, a fledgling space program searching for answers in a strange, constantly evolving solar system.
Mysteries of the Solar System...
What lurks in the heart of the ominous Dark Bramble? Who built the alien ruins on the Moon? Can the endless time loop be stopped? Answers await you in the most dangerous reaches of space.
Echoes of the Eye
The hearthian space program has detected an anomaly that can’t be attributed to any known location in the solar system. Grab your flashlight and prepare to illuminate the darkest secrets of the Outer Wilds...
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ due to Fantasy Violence, Alcohol Reference
- Genre(s)
- Adventure
Outer Wilds is an expansive adventure game that focuses its efforts on meaningful exploration and an immersive atmosphere. Despite the massive scope of this time-travel adventure, Outer Wilds is decidedly small in scale.
It never comes across as small, as the game does an excellent job of immersing players in its world. However, the game's solar system is tightly packed and minimalist in its design. Despite this, Outer Wilds is packed with points of interest and memorable locations, all of which are easy to find thanks to the restraint of the game design.
2 Gloomwood
A Dark & Interconnected Victorian City
Gloomwood
- Released
- September 6, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
The producers of DUSK, AMID EVIL, ULTRAKILL and FAITH bring you a frightening, gothic immersive sim full of haunted streets, dark tunnels and decadent mansions. Gloomwood is a stealth horror FPS that follows your mysterious abduction to a forgotten, twisted Victorian metropolis in the midst of a horrifying transformation. Wield your canesword and take to the shadows as you uncover the accursed mystery hidden within the fog.
An intricate, hand-crafted city with free-form exploration - from towering rooftops down to hidden passages, the routes you take and paths you make, are your choice. A detailed stealth and sound system that tracks your light visibility and propagates noise accurately through the world. Tread lightly. Or prepare to get loud. A unique arsenal to meet any situation - a stealthy canesword, six-shot revolver, folding shotgun, hand-placed traps, rope-slinging harpoon rifle and more.
In-depth player interactivity, from leaning to eavesdrop, peeking through door cracks, checking the bullets in your firearms and mantling onto ledges. A mob of ghastly denizens and monsters with acute senses, like the sharp-clawed Crowmen and the fearsome, cadaver-seeking Corpse Duster. Gloomwood is full of objects to pick up, throw, climb, smash and use to your advantage.
There is more to this city than you can possibly imagine...
- ESRB
- t
- Genre(s)
- Stealth, FPS
Taking place in a dark and interconnected Victorian city, Gloomwood is a first-person mash-up of old-school immersive-sims and classic survival-horror. There's plenty here for fans of retro experiences, but Gloomwood remains a decidedly unique experience despite its influences.
Gloomwood's painstakingly designed environments provide constant opportunities for expression within the game's systems. Best of all, the often small scale of these environments ensures players are able to easily access resources and handle enemies without getting lost or overwhelmed. That said, Gloomwood does often hint at a larger world, and some areas are more expansive than others.
1 Disco Elysium
A Limited But Evocative Setting
Disco Elysium
- Released
- October 15, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
Disco Elysium - The Final Cut is the definitive edition of the groundbreaking role playing game. You’re a detective with a unique skill system at your disposal and a whole city block to carve your path across. Interrogate unforgettable characters, crack murders, or take bribes. Become a hero or an absolute disaster of a human being.
Full voice acting. All of the city's beautiful people are brought to life with full English voiceover. Play characters against each other, try to help them, or fall hopelessly in love as each word is spoken to you with the appropriate accent and emotion.
New political vision quests. Face the reality of your worldview as your political compass leads you down new paths. Discover more citizens, a whole extra area, and monumental sights as you leave an even bigger mark on the world by chasing your dreams.
Unprecedented freedom of choice. Intimidate, sweet-talk, resort to violence, write poetry, sing karaoke, dance like a beast, or solve the meaning of life. Disco Elysium - The Final Cut is the most faithful representation of desktop role playing ever attempted in video games.
Countless tools for role playing. Mix and match from 24 wildly different skills. Develop a personal style with over 80 clothing items. Wield 14 tools from guns to flashlights to a boombox, or pour yourself a cocktail of 6 different psychoactive substances. Develop your character even further with 60 wild thoughts to think – with the detective's Thought Cabinet.
A revolutionary dialogue system with unforgettable characters. The world is alive with real people, not extras. Ask probing questions, make insightful observations, or express your wildest desires as you play cop or something completely different. Disco Elysium's revolutionary dialogue system lets you do almost anything.
Carve your unique path across the city. Explore, manipulate, collect tare, or become a millionaire in an open world unlike anything you've seen before. The city of Revachol is yours for the taking, one small piece at a time. From the streets to the beaches – and beyond.
Hard boiled, hard core. Death, sex, taxes, and disco – nothing is off the table. Revachol is a real place with real challenges. Solve a massive murder investigation, or relax and kick back with sprawling side-cases. The detective decides, the citizens abide.
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs, Violence
- Genre(s)
- RPG
Disco Elysium is a point-and-click adventure game that excels with its small but incredibly detailed open-world environments. The painterly art-style, abundance of intriguing characters, and evocative writing all work together to provide an immersive experience, backed by meaningful RPG systems.
Despite the small scale of Disco Elysium's open environments, the game frequently hints at a larger world. This world-building is elegantly woven into the dialogue, the environments, and the very fabric of the game. Best of all, this world unravels naturally as players progress, though it requires attention and intent to fully understand its finer details.
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