Summary
- Open-world games offer diverse RPG experiences, blending exploration with survival elements.
- Slow-exploration is challenging yet rewarding, showcased in games like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
- Titles such as Red Dead Redemption 2 offer immersive side activities that make players lose track of time.
Open-World games offer more than just the average RPG experience that satisfies both Vanquisher and Conqueror-type of players, they also have something for those who enjoy exploration the most. With huge landscapes to lose your way through, many landmarks to visit, secrets to uncover, and probably an unhealthy number of Easter eggs.

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The art of slow exploration is not something that can be easily mastered, and people tend to underestimate games developed with the purpose of making players engage in their worlds for years. This list spotlights eight open-world games that have been designed to be enjoyed leisurely. And remember what the wizard said: Not all those who wander are lost.
8 The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion
Because Skyrim Is Not Always The Answer
When people think about an Elder Scrolls game with a huge open world map to explore, they immediately think about Skyrim. But before TES5 was even on the inkwell, Oblivion was already an incredible game, that offered the chance to players for a slow-exploration experience. Sure, there was a sense of impending doom, like in every Elder Scroll 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. Several 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 stable thanks to the efforts of the modder community, even if it's charged with 200 GB worth of mods.
7 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood And Wine
Geralt Definitely Needed Some Time-Off in a Beautiful Wine Country
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- Top Critic Rating: 93/100 Critics Recommend: 95%
- Released
- May 19, 2015
- 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 things went full circle 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 mounts, 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 suppress a coup d'etat 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 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.
6 The Long Dark
Few Other Games Have Nailed The Slow-Exploration Experience Like This One
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- Top Critic Rating: 78/100 Critics Recommend: 71%
- Released
- August 1, 2017
- Developer(s)
- Hinterland Studio
- 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 any step they take in.
In that sense, taking things slow and carefully considering every move is not only part of this charming experience: it is a need to survive until the end-game. So, in that sense, Hinterland Studios really nailed it with this Slow-Exploration mechanic that is both captivating and challenging.
5 Red Dead Redemption 2
There Is Not Another Game That Makes Players Loose So Much Time In Side Activities
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.
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 taming rare horses, then this game might be just the thing they need.
4 Kenshi
A Dystopian Sci-Fi Wasteland Exploration Game, And It's Not Fallout
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- Top Critic Rating: 76/100 Critics Recommend: 57%
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Released
- December 6, 2018
Kenshi is a game that emphasizes exploration above all else, in a vast wasteland where the warlord clans are making the life impossible for anyone who dares oppose them. Players have dozens of choices: become leaders, or vagrants,or thieves, or oligarch overlords, there's no right way to play the game, but the main focus still remains to be 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, offers a deeper experience than most games of 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 aimlessly for hours.
3 Last Oasis
A Game That Has Suffered A Lot, And Still Offers A Great Experience For Explorers
The concept of Last Oasis is quite unique: there are people who live as nomads because the sun scorches the earth and they need to move or the oasis where they gather and forage will be burnt to a crisp. To do this, in the middle of a huge desert-like world, they use Walkers, contraptions that are a mixture of sailwind boats and all terrain vehicles, which use legs made of wood to step over the dunes.

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Players will need to join clans to enjoy this vast open-world survival game since it is also a multiplayer game. But, there's a possibility of playing alone, or against smaller groups of players in selected servers. Wandering can be interrupted by the occasional PvP fanatic harassing those who enjoy the art of slow-exploring, but thanks to the many tools that the game provides, including a gr
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