Open world games are, by definition, vast. Sometimes they're full of engaging, exciting stories to tell, and sometimes they're just full of random tokens to collect.
But no matter how they populate their maps, open world games need to be fun to traverse, since you'll be spending a lot of time getting from point A to point B — and chasing distractions in between. Here are 10 of the best games to just run around in.
10 Spider-Man 2
A 2004 tie-in to the Spider-Man 2 film was a landmark achievement in sandbox-style open world games. Spider-Man 2's New York felt, at the time, like an incredible leap (or rather web-swing) forward for video games as a medium.
This is an open world that may seem less impressive by comparison to more recent titles, but the thrill of swinging through New York City was still enthralling for gamers during the mid-2000s — a thrill that 2018's Spider-Man and 2020's Spider-Man: Miles Morales made all the more delightful.
9 Skyrim
One of the granddaddies of modern open world gaming and fantasy RPGs, 2011's The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has been dominating players' schedules for nearly a decade. While it also helps that Skyrim has been released on just about every platform available, the game's vast, sprawling fantasy world and deep wealth of customization also deserve credit for its longevity.
Running around Tamriel and knocking enemies over with Dragon Shouts has proven a beloved endeavor, and the deep complexity of every faction, region, and quest gives Skyrim a lot to love.
8 Death Stranding
While walking around America in Death Stranding may not be the most purely enjoyable example of traversal in games, the world itself is both beautiful and endlessly complex. While you begin Death Stranding with two left feet, tripping on every pebble and root in your way, you eventually get the ability to build infrastructure in your own game and the games of other players.
Thanks to the fact that it presents a world that can evolve and improve, and because of its lushness of detail, Death Stranding's map is a memorable example of open-world exploration that is more complex than just riding a horse around and hopping from checkpoint to checkpoint.
7 Grand Theft Auto V
Similar to Skyrim, Grand Theft Auto V is an open world game that has gotten a lot of mileage out of countless rereleases since it first came out in 2013. The latest in the city-wide crime sim series offers a sprawling metropolis to get lost in and endless side activities to enjoy while ignoring the main story.
From robbing convenience stores to joining a cult, GTA V wants players to make the most of their time in Los Santos. The game's use of multiple protagonists adds even more mileage to this journey, and even more fun to be had while driving around in a stolen car.
6 Fallout: New Vegas
While not a numerical sequel in the long-running post-apocalyptic RPG series, New Vegas represents an exciting jump forward for the series' open world. The extreme amount of flexibility and responsiveness the story has in regard to the player's choices is staggering. There are endless ways for the story of New Vegas to shake out, all dependent on your actions and dialogue choices.
Traversing the nuke-ravaged wilderness may not always be pretty, but it is always fascinating and full of surprises, reminiscent of the more tabletop-inspired flavor of the first two Fallout games.
5 Red Dead Redemption 2
Rockstar's Wild West juggernaut Red Dead Redemption 2 has an enormous world for players to gallop around in, from dense woods to vibrant cities and humble towns to misty mountain majesties.
From hunting game and fishing to stealing horses and robbing banks, Red Dead Redemption 2 is bursting with activities to do and scenic places to visit, all rendered in extremely dense detail. Going for a ride in the middle of the night, under the eerie light of the moon, a player can witness just how thoroughly-realized this fictional west is.
4 Assassin's Creed: Black Flag
Considered by many fans to be a franchise highlight, Assassin's Creed: Black Flag gives its players access to the high seas.
While the ocean isn't as thickly-populated as the plains of Red Dead or the streets of GTA, Assassin's Creed Black Flag still captures a sense of adventure and discovery as you cut across the waves, accompanied by some wonderful sea shanties.
3 The Witcher 3
CD Projekt Red's masterwork, The Witcher 3 is a top-shelf action game and, more importantly, a vibrant and strange open world.
The magic and monsters found all across The Continent mean that traversal is never boring, and the game's high-quality side quests mean player time is always rewarded. The way trees blow in the wind, or the hustle and bustle of the metropolitan Noivgrad, all make Geralt's adventures feel like part of a bigger, stranger world.
2 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Nintendo's daring deconstruction of the Legend of Zelda franchise and of the open world game genre in general, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild presents a Hyrule that's been wracked with a century of disaster. The game throws you into the world with almost no preamble, and in no time Link is climbing on everything, stuffing his pockets with food and very breakable weapons, and getting attacked by everything that sees him.
Breath of the Wild presents a Hyrule that is dangerous and unpredictable, but also extremely beautiful due to the game's cel-shaded art style. Stalking across the massive map, and discovering the little pockets of life and society that have somehow persevered, is one of the most rewarding exploration experiences in recent memory.
1 Horizon Zero Dawn
Horizon Zero Dawn, like Breath of the Wild, presents a sort of post-post-apocalyptic world. Running around as Aloy, seeing vast lands full of richly-detailed robot animals as well as the new cultures and structures humanity has built, players get a front-row seat at a whole new iteration of humanity.
Horizon Zero Dawn is a beautiful game, full of places and experiences that will take a player's breath away, all in the first installment of a new franchise that feels bright, unique, and like a world unto itself.