10 Exploration Games That Reward Getting Lost

Exploration is always a given with an open-world game, regardless of how long or short the title truly is. It doesn't matter what kind of open world it even is; you just know that with an open world game, you're about to embark on a really cool adventure.

Some open worlds are more fun to explore than others, of course, but there are some where it's better to explore without even glancing at the map. In these games, the map hinders the full experience of your adventure, so it's better to just ditch it and start running around blindly — almost always, it ends up being better for players.

In fact, aimlessly wandering will lead you to all sorts of avenues that you would have never witnessed if you kept your eyes glued to your map. It's better for you to take everything in with each step, and enjoy the adventure and where it takes you.

So, as affectionately as I can tell you: get lost.

10 Baldur's Gate 3

Every Act Hides Secrets in Plain Sight

Every single act in Baldur's Gate 3 hides all manner of secrets, either pertaining to the world you're exploring or to serve as foreshadowing to the plot that follows. As BG3 is its own original Dungeons & Dragons story, complete with dice rolls and countless roleplaying opportunities, you'll want to explore every nook and cranny as if you were playing the tabletop. After all, this DM had done quite a bit of worldbuilding.

About the only time you'll even open your map is so that you can fast travel, because it's truly that much fun to just run around and see what you'll come across. This is without mentioning how playing through again with context changes everything, prompting you to dig deeper in areas that you may have glossed over in your first playthrough.

Depending on how you made your playthrough different from the last, you'll end up learning something new during your adventure, and it typically almost always comes from a document that you'll find among ruins and ash. If you stick strictly to the map, you're going to miss out on a ton of details and encounters.

Just make sure that you, at the very least, have a decent Charisma; sometimes you'll have to talk your way out of a situation you stumble upon lest it end in a bloodbath. Even more so if you happen to be playing on Honour Mode, your best bet is to just pray, then go back exploring as if it didn't get you into trouble in the first place.

9 Subnautica

Just Keep Swimming

Subnautica is one of those adventure games where it's absolutely horrifying to explore every step of the way thanks to the immeasurable thalassophobia that this game preys on. As you heed the call of the ocean, there are countless creatures that you can see and raw materials that you can collect, making it easy to get lost (and even more fun to do so).

Soaking in the game's rich ecosystem (pun intended) is the core gameplay mechanic here, with the only time when looking at your map intently truly matters is when you're making your way back up to your base on the surface. While you're underwater, your map just serves as a reminder of which biome you're in.

Not to mention, it doesn't actually take too long to beat, so you can just jump into the water and get started. The only thing you have to keep in mind with exploration is the potential threat of Leviathans, but they're not going to bother you when you're at a measly 50 meters underwater. Most of them are far deeper than that.

Regardless of what lurks underneath, the ocean is genuinely so pretty to explore and take in that it's easy to push those threats to the side.

8 Any Assassin's Creed Game

Get Some Tour Guide Training

When it comes to mindless exploration that you can be caught up in for hours, you can pick literally any Assassin's Creed game, and it would work perfectly. It doesn't matter; all of them do a great job at giving players a rich open world that they can explore, a world that's better to explore blindly (well ... maybe not Assassin's Creed: Shadows).

These open-world stealth games will have you take in the world both slowly and cautiously, no map required. If anything, the map only exists to show you what you haven't found yet in the AC games.

It's a bummer that by their most recent title, Ubisoft has basically lost its own plot, but that doesn't stop anyone from diving into the old games and reliving what made the series so beloved in the first place. In fact, in some games (such as Assassin's Creed 2), people had played it so much that they genuinely learned their way around these places, so that when they visited major cities in Italy, they were actually able to get around without a map whatsoever.

Just saying, if you wanted to make it big in a career as a tour guide, these games will unironically give you a push forward for certain locations.

7 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

All Kinds of Encounters Await

Players all around rave about The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and its immensely rich world, and every single one of them is correct in that opinion. The world itself plays a part in having to piece together the story, especially if you're new to the franchise overall, but it's not overly confusing for new players of The Witcher.

The game revolves around you playing as Geralt, looking for Ciri, who is basically your daughter, but she's gotten a bit in over her head with her own magic abilities. Geralt will stop at nothing to find her, but that doesn't mean that you can't keep yourself busy along the journey — even if you're just playing Gwent in your spare time.

The world is so vast and full of life that it's better to just walk around and encounter all those aspects on your own, map be damned; just be sure that you're prepared for whatever may jump out at you. Even then, the monsters are absolutely part of the fun.

This makes me even more excited to see how all of this is improved upon in The Witcher 4, and it's something we'll learn as the time comes.

6 Crimson Desert

Carve Your Own Path

On the newer end of games, Crimson Desert is absolutely massive, with so much to the world that it will take you hundreds upon hundreds of hours to even make a scratch in its surface. The exploration is one of the most unique, especially as it doesn't try to shove content in areas of the map it doesn't belong. You enjoy the negative space between areas of the world as much as you enjoy the actual quests themselves.

You can't trust the initial scores of the game once you understand a game review's life span, because this is a world that you need to take in every second and every inch. To say that exploration is a must is an understatement — getting completely lost in the world is a must.

Sure, its gameplay is janky and can be off-putting to players, but some quality of life updates are enough to fix it. In fact, the world itself is so immersive and addictive that you won't even care about the jank.

5 Cyberpunk 2077

Pacifica is Still Pacifica

Night City is easily one of the most alive maps I've ever played through, and it's a magic that only Cyberpunk 2077 can capture. Do not let the initial reception deceive you; it's been updated and polished to perfection since then.

In Cyberpunk, you have freedom in its purest form, where practically everything is optional. Walking around Night City and figuring out what you want to do is part of the charm — even if you're just apartment hunting, clothes shopping, or trying out sick new wheels. You can even take the subway from Point A to Point B if you don't want to fast travel and break any immersion.

The only time it's worth looking at your map is when you're following a GPS to a particular gig, but even then, that's if you want to go to it. You could just deal with some random gang you see instead if you want. Be cautious as you explore, though, because you'll never know if you're running right into a Cyberpsycho.

Just drive around Night City and enjoy it; it'll become a home away from home.

4 Red Dead Redemption 2

Just Don't Wander Unprepared

When it comes to open world games, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a gold-star standard, with players using it to be the game to compare new open worlds to. It's realistic, it's grounded, and rich in every possible conceivable way, and people are still finding new details in the game that add to this.

This is a world that you're meant to walk (or trot on your horse) incredibly slow and steady, paying attention to all parts of your surroundings — your map is not part of it. Unless you want to find a specific trophy hunt, it's better to just explore around the world the good old-fashioned way.

You get to experience all aspects of America in 1899, quite literally all of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Adventuring is pulling a random card; you never know what you're going to be dealt, but you're excited and eating it up all the same.

Sure, you can make money based on what happens during your adventure, but that's not why people go out and explore the world (mainly, anyways). They explore the world to simply exist in it, and it's fantastic.

The Richest Open World to Date

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is simply one of, if not the most iconic, open-world fantasy RPGs of all time. The immensely rich and warm world plays a huge aspect in it, especially once you let yourself just wander through it. In fact, depending on the area, it'll be as relaxing as an ASMR video.

The worldbuilding in this game is simply unreal, and it's best to experience it directly (and blind, if that's possible). The only times you'll want to look at the map are to teleport if need be, but there is so much you can run into on the way to or from an area that it's better to just walk through. If you're overencumbered, you'll have no choice — just admire the scenery.

If you don't know what to do, talk to a Jarl; they'll give you a job that you can get started on until you abandon it for a random cave you stumbled across. And if you're a loot goblin like myself, there is plenty for you to get your sticky fingers on as a reward for your efforts.

But in all honesty, the experience is the reward in and of itself.

2 Ghost of Tsushima

Save Your People

Now that Ghost of Yotei is out and doing great for itself, many players are diving into the game where it all started: Ghost of Tsushima. And personally, I think it handles exploration just a little bit better than Yotei had, because it's a lot more concentrated. This is a world that doesn't have any padding, and every bit of your adventure feels organic.

When you're not trying to quite literally save the island of Tsushima, you can find various Duels you can challenge, reuniting with the musician Yamato to get started on various Mythic Tales, ascend different shrines that will reward you with various charms — the list goes on.

I think I've only ever looked at the map when I'm marking a quest to track — fast travel is convenient and easy, sure, but there is so much you can discover on your way to where you need to go. They're good distractions; not once will you feel like your time has been wasted while going through the world.

Just be sure to play it in Japanese; it's a far better experience that way.

1 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

You're Meant to be Curious

When Nintendo developers were working on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, exploration was centered first and foremost. For example, if a player were to come up to a hill, there would be at least three different points of interest that a player can go to next, and they will be sure to find even more on their way to their desired destination. You are quite literally meant to play curiously.

Good thing, too, since a stunningly comforting game like this one deserves all the love and appreciation it can get — and it only compounds on itself the longer you're exploring this version of Hyrule.

It's ironic that one of the greatest Zelda games of all time just so happens to also be one of the most adventurous open-world games to date, and it's because of this direction during development. It feels like the adventure of a lifetime, wholly immersing you as you wander and get lost. The only time the map is important is when you're returning to somewhere you found, but weren't quite high enough level to succeed in it yet (or you went at night, when the world is a lot more aggressive against you).

Zelda herself can keep Ganon at bay as you wander your way through Hyrule's scars; the adventure is far more worth it.