Best Open World Games on Steam
Games with large spaces you can explore and tackle in flexible order.
Browse all Open World →
1Terraria - Dig, fight, explore, build! Nothing is impossible in this action-packed adventure game. Four Pack also available!
May 16, 2011
In this game, you can…
- kill one world-changing boss and watch new biomes appear, new ores rise up, and the whole map turn into a deadlier version of itself.
- hunt down specific triggers to summon absurd bosses, like catching a rare worm just to call up a sea monster that can wipe you.
- fight a boss rush that starts with a cult leader, escalates into world-invading pillars, and ends with a final boss dropping in immediately after the last pillar falls.
- build a tiny shelter before night, then hold out until dawn against monsters that suddenly flood the surface.
- dig so deep you stumble into giant underground landmarks like beehives, buried pyramids, and hidden mushroom biomes.
- build a custom arena with platforms and buffs, then use it to fight bosses on your own terms instead of wherever you happen to meet them.
- build a hotel-like tower of houses to attract dozens of NPC residents, then watch them move in and sell new gear and services.
2Black Myth: Wukong - Black Myth: Wukong is an action RPG rooted in Chinese mythology. You shall set out as the Destined One to venture into the challenges and marvels ahead, to uncover the obscured truth beneath the veil of a glorious legend from the past.
Aug 19, 2024
In this game, you can…
- turn into bosses you've defeated and use their forms in fights.
- play as Sun Wukong in the prologue.
- beat a chapter's main boss, then watch a stylized animated epilogue that turns your actions into a narrated painting.
- build energy by dodging and basic hits, then spend it on heavier attacks instead of blocking.
- chain perfect dodges to power up your next big hit.
- respec for free and switch your whole build at any rest point.
- stumble into secret zones, hidden bosses, and optional questlines by exploring and backtracking.
- fill a journal where every enemy kill can unlock a folklore story entry.
3ELDEN RING - THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED FANTASY ACTION RPG. Rise, Tarnished, and be guided by grace to brandish the power of the Elden Ring and become an Elden Lord in the Lands Between.
Feb 24, 2022
In this game, you can…
- discover a whole underground world layer with its own landscapes, secret bosses, and places you'd never guess existed.
- find bosses that only appear at night, turning a quiet road into a sudden unique fight with special loot.
- follow a side quest that escalates into meeting an entire eccentric family and ends with you marrying into it.
- walk away from a boss, roam somewhere else for gear and levels, then come back later and finally win.
- step out into a massive open world and immediately ride in any direction you can see.
- ride a spectral horse that can double-jump, then use mounted combat to fight huge enemies in the open field.
4Stardew Valley - You've inherited your grandfather's old farm plot in Stardew Valley. Armed with hand-me-down tools and a few coins, you set out to begin your new life. Can you learn to live off the land and turn these overgrown fields into a thriving home?
Feb 26, 2016
In this game, you can…
- marry someone with the exact salad you found in a trash can.
- build an 8-player farm together and even tweak the group profit split for a harder run.
- spam bombs in a monster-filled cavern to blast straight through floors for loot.
- run the mines in co-op, with one person fighting monsters while the other grabs ore and bolts.
- restore a run-down community center to reshape the whole town, or buy into a big corporation instead.
- ignore farming and still build a whole life by fishing, mining, foraging, cooking, and specializing into different work paths.
- befriend townspeople by learning their schedules, catching them at dawn, and steadily unlocking personal cutscenes and secrets.
- turn an overgrown inherited farm into a working homestead by clearing debris, planting crops, upgrading tools, and expanding your setup.
5Euro Truck Simulator 2 - Travel across Europe as king of the road, a trucker who delivers important cargo across impressive distances! With dozens of cities to explore, your endurance, skill and speed will all be pushed to their limits.
Oct 12, 2012
In this game, you can…
- practice alley-docking so much in-game that it carries over to real CDL-style trailer backing tests.
- join online convoys where a small bump can turn into a cross-country chase, or into a friendly honk-and-wave road trip with strangers.
- install major map mods and end up convoying through places like Iceland on custom roads with new physics and navigation.
- start with quick jobs, buy your first truck, take out loans, hire drivers, and grow into a multi-garage fleet that earns while you're out hauling.
- hammer down the highway with the speed limiter off, then sweat every speed camera and fine as you try to keep the delivery on time.
- reverse a full trailer into a tight loading bay and park it cleanly.
- cross a border and immediately deal with new road rules, new signage, and suddenly driving on the opposite side in the UK.
- haul everything from fuel and chemicals to oversized machinery and vehicles, then adjust how you drive to keep the cargo intact.
- tune in to live local radio stations as you drive and switch countries until the music and traffic rhythm sync up with the route.
6Red Dead Redemption 2 - Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde Gang are outlaws on the run. With federal agents and bounty hunters massing on their heels, the gang must rob, steal, and fight their way across the rugged heartland in order to survive.
Dec 5, 2019
In this game, you can…
- get remembered as a thief months later, with people recalling what you stole and treating you differently.
- tie someone up, feed them to an alligator, then come back later to see scavengers pick over what's left.
- kill someone in the wilderness, then return days later to find the same body still there, rotting as birds gather.
- lose at poker, then pull a revolver, shoot the table, and loot your money back.
- watch eagles grab rabbits, fish jump for bugs, and predators hunt while the world keeps going without you.
- ride into a town, chat with strangers, and have individual people remember how you acted toward them.
- rob a train, get into a high-stakes shootout, and watch the world snap from quiet travel to explosive violence in seconds.
7The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - You are Geralt of Rivia, mercenary monster slayer. Before you stands a war-torn, monster-infested continent you can explore at will. Your current contract? Tracking down Ciri — the Child of Prophecy, a living weapon that can alter the shape of the world.
May 18, 2015
In this game, you can…
- miss a unique card from an NPC, then later find that same card lying under a tree of hanged civilians if you never won it.
- pay out of your own pocket to take care of an orphan, finishing the quest with less money than you started.
- ignore the main quest and travel the continent just to find one specific card and beat one specific merchant at Gwent.
- turn a simple contract into a whole mini-drama, like mediating a divorce and then stumbling into a curse and a missing-person hunt.
- build fights around prep: read a monster entry, choose the right oil, brew a potion, pack bombs, then walk in ready.
- switch from swordplay to a full spell-and-alchemy style: parry, dodge, shield up, cast, then escalate to oils and bombs for bosses.
- walk into a huge city without a loading screen, then watch people change routines from day to night and react to rain.
- make small choices that ripple forward and change outcomes much later, leaving you stuck with the consequences.
8The Forest - As the lone survivor of a passenger jet crash, you find yourself in a mysterious forest battling to stay alive against a society of cannibalistic mutants. Build, explore, survive in this terrifying first person survival horror simulator.
Apr 30, 2018
In this game, you can…
- get knocked out, dragged through the forest, and wake up trapped in a cave you have to escape.
- watch cannibals scout your camp, retreat to call reinforcements, and come back as a coordinated raiding party.
- fight off a base siege where mutants smash your walls and one rips up a whole tree to use as a weapon.
- wake up after a plane crash and hunt for your kidnapped son by following clues through caves, boats, and survivor camps.
- build treehouses, cliff forts, and spiked walls, then have a falling tree smash your own structure to pieces.
- craft gear by gluing teeth to your axe, wearing bones as armor, and turning skulls and bodies into lamps and defenses.
- creep through pitch-black caves, squeeze through flooded passages, and surface missing gear with enemies still hunting you.
- turn the crash site into a long-term fortress, or build rafts and dock houses into a whole river-and-coast base network.
9Unturned - Unturned is an open-world zombie survival sandbox game. As one of the few not yet turned, you must fight to remain among the living.
Jul 7, 2017
In this game, you can…
- arrest other players with handcuffs and blindfolds instead of killing them, then stage prisoner captures on roleplay servers.
- find a tank, stock ammo for it, and use it to raid other players' bases.
- pose as a killed player, talk your way into their squad, ride in their truck, then shoot the front seats and take everything.
- build a silenced, scoped marksman gun from junk parts, including duct-tape optics and a campfire-made muffler.
- shoot out of vehicles, cram friends into a truck, and do drive-bys as a rolling squad platform.
- fortify rooftops and hillside bases with barricades and traps, or even build on a vehicle to make a moving fortress.
- recruit a beach full of kids into your crew, make yourself the leader, and roll up on bases as a growing mob.
- explore huge maps for hidden bunkers, military zones, and radioactive deadzones, then hop into custom workshop maps built for totally different modes.
10Hollow Knight - Forge your own path in Hollow Knight! An epic action adventure through a vast ruined kingdom of insects and heroes. Explore twisting caverns, battle tainted creatures and befriend bizarre bugs, all in a classic, hand-drawn 2D style.
Feb 24, 2017
In this game, you can…
- jump into the minds of characters and enemies to hear their thoughts and dig up secrets that aren't told in normal dialogue
- learn boss fights with no health bar, reading their patterns until you can tell you're winning just from how they move
- take on a near-mythic platforming gauntlet of saws and spikes that can take hours, then reach a hidden payoff at the end
- get dropped into a kingdom with no map, then slowly piece together where to go by exploring, backtracking, and unlocking routes
- customize your build with charms that can completely change how you fight and move, then swap setups to make the same boss feel different
- chain movement upgrades into fluid traversal: wall jump, double jump, dash, then dash through danger and bounce off enemies to keep flying forward
- realize you've charted a massive interconnected world when the full map finally clicks into place and you can see how everything connects
