Summary
Open-world games aren’t just about exploration or combat. They can shift a person’s perspective and change how they see the world. Like great works of art or transformative travel experiences, the best open-world games offer emotional depth, cultural insight, and philosophical themes that stick around long after the credits roll.
Not every video game rises to that level. However, when an open-world title leans into freeform travel, self-reflection, or social commentary, it has the power to challenge players' worldviews in subtle and surprising ways. Whether they communicate a message directly or indirectly, the following offer more than miles of explorable land, but also other ways to see the world.
This PS1,Kingsfield-era looking open world RPG might not seem like much of a vehicle for mind changing at first glance. However,Dread Delusioncontains some of the most difficult and thought-provoking choices in an open-world game throughout the main story (and as a part of its side quests). As such, players will not finish the game with their picture of morality and ideology unscathed.
From questions about progress, self-sacrifice for the greater good, to the role of the state in relation to its citizens (when the state appears to be a literal magi-computational monarch with infinite power and terminal dementia),Dread Delusionwill have players pondering their choices long after they have made them (especially since the game autosaves your selection), and all while staying firmly in the domain ofgrusome high fantasy, may even cause them to reassess their own ethical and political points of view.
Getting a different perspective on life doesn’t need to be literal, butThe Sims 3affords the player a bird’s-eye view of everything, from day-to-day life to the entire surrounding world. Although the simulation is complex and deep enough to hold a mirror to life, it affords players a chance to see entire lives play out,from cradle to graveand all between.
Although much of their virtual lives are abstracted, being able to see Sims' lives, from their own cast of characters to the entire community, play out in fast-forward can make players reflect on the habits, experiences, and achievements of their own lives. The imperfect utopia where every person gets a starting cheque to kickstart their lives and secure a place to live might also prompt questions about how real life might be if everyone were granted such a financial equalizer.
If open-world games likeMinecraftorFactoriothat focus on exploiting the natural world for progress,Ecois the counterbalance that tasks its players with averting a natural disaster while building a better world for everyone, but without destroying the balance of nature that makes creating such a world of abundance even possible. Set on a shared server,Ecotasks players not only to survive and build but to govern, regulate, and collaborate.
Pollution, over-harvesting, and unchecked industrial growth have real consequences that affect the game world and its eventual outcome. Players must pass laws, track data, manage resources, andbalance personal ambition with long-term sustainabilitywhile a planet-wrecking meteor hangs overhead. Eco provides a rarely-seen simulated framework that acts not only as a series of interesting choices for players to grapple with but a lesson in civics, holistic economics, and collective responsibility.
Death Strandingis not only a game that will challenge a player’s sense of space and traversal, but also how they think about connection. In a fractured, timefall-ruined America, players take on the role of a porter delivering packages. That job involves rebuilding communication networks and reconnecting people.
Love it or hate it,Death Stranding’s gameplay mechanics stress the pain of long-distance journeys, alleviated only by faceless friends who lay down helpful structures and shortcuts for no other reason than goodwill. Although thestory may be bafflingon its face for some, the core message about how people need each other (and can be good for each other) shines through, and is something that now, of all times, when the world seems so fractured, should be heeded.
Outer Wildsis an open-world space exploration game where players uncover a mystery locked in a 22-minute cycle. There’s no combat or inventory grind. Instead, the player is left to focus on learning about planets, civilizations, and the dark mystery at the heart of the miniature solar system.
What makesOuter Wildsprofoundly different is how it explores concepts like time, death, and knowledge without ever spelling them out. Players are encouraged to piece together the truth for themselves, as a scientist or explorer might, as they navigate the game’sendlessly repeating time loop. By the end, it is hard to walk away and not think differently about the universe, humanity’s place in it, and what it means to search for meaning when time is running out.
Without a single dialogue box or spoken voice line,Minecraftserves several philosophical lessons to its players from the moment the world loads in.Minecraftoffers no goals, quests, or captivating story, but silently prompts the player to ask themselves what they want to accomplish with the life (or lives, outside of Hardcore Mode) they have been given. They can use their time for grand projects or simply reshape a little patch of the world like they might a bonsai tree.
While being able toreshape the world with creativityis more commonplace now, the idea that the player could go out and exploit any plot, biome, or entire world is still mind-bogglingly deep upon consideration. Besides its quiet lesson about will and resource exploitation,Minecrafthas a stern lesson about greed and failure, experienced with potency when the player digs too deep and loses everything, prompting a miniature existential crisis that any seasoned player will have experienced.
As Courier Mix makes their way through the scorched wastes of New Vegas, they’re confronted with a remarkable spectrum of political ideologies and social structures. Though each is filtered throughFallout’s trademark brand of dark satire,New Vegasexplores everything from corporate oligarchy and militarised fascism to scientific anarchism and status-quoist (for this timeline, at least) democratic federalism. The questions it poses about war, loyalty, colonialism, democracy, and personal responsibility are rarely answered cleanly.
Rather than caricaturing therealpolitikof today’s world,NVoften presents convincing, steelmanned arguments for even the most extreme worldviews. A conversation with one of Caesar’s lieutenants is unlikely to change the player’s mind about slavery or the divine right of power. However, it offers a glimpse into the internal logic and seductive promises of authoritarianism and those who adopt it as a worldview.
