Exploration games?

[animorte]

Abzu
Adr1ft*
A Short Hike
Astroneer*
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Eidolon
Journey
Knytt
Last Guardian
Mirror’s Edge*
No Man’s Sky
Outer Wilds
Portal*
Sable
Shadow of the Colossus
Soul Axiom
Subnautica
Superliminal*
Turing Test*
Within a Deep Forest


*Similar minimalist design, except puzzles or time constraints can alter the experience.


My favorite type of game is typically something about exploration. It's like... not even really a genre.

I enjoy moving around the world and watching things happening with nature and its inhabitants. I appreciate the detail the designers take the time to apply. I guess you could really play just about any game in this way, exploring. That's how we find Easter Eggs and acquire those secret achievements and trophies. I've never been much of a completionist myself, but I can see the appeal.

My favorite examples are actually Shadow of the Colossus and Journey. There's not really a lot going on at first glance, but just stopping to look around for a moment grants its own feeling of appreciation for game design in general. These two games aren't crowded with tons of creatures and people. You don't really have that much to interact with, but you can still observe the detail.

This differs drastically from something like Grand Theft Auto, Elder Scrolls, Assassin's Creed, and many other games like them. There's a lot going on and you can interact with a great deal of it. We have a lot of games that feel like this these days. Sometimes you're limited to what you can play based on how much time you have. Naturally you might look into the sequel of a familiar game or try something new from your favorite developer. Perhaps you're just into the concept of horror/thriller games or anything FPS. Some people don't branch out a lot while others are likely to try anything new.

I guess my point is that we have a great deal of saturation with many similar games. A lot of those games can have an overwhelming amount of stuff to do, making it easy to stay busy. Not that this doesn't take a lot of effort, but it seems to me the more activity there is to look at, the harder it can be to see the world within. I know you can really explore any game, but the more open spaces sometimes are just a lot more calming and satisfying. There's also the idea of adding a ton of space between really busy areas that often feels out of place, but other times it can make the world seem more real.

I wonder if many other people slow down to appreciate the details within a game. I really enjoy my competitive and fast-paced games, but nothing really beats the relaxation of exploration.

[Yora]

Subnautica is really mostly about looking around and seeing what's beyond the next rise or corner.The gameplay revolves around collecting resources and building new tools, but the tech tree is really quite simple and the amount of resources needed to build everything is usually not very high. The stuff that you need the most is also really easy to find in large quantities. There are plenty of big scary creatures, but the main way to deal with them is to keep your distance and not let them notice you. Which again is much simpler than a stealth game.

I guess The Outer Wilds also is really about flying around the solar system and marveling about the things you find. It's also an investigation game, but you barely talk with other people and don't have to collect a lot of items. It mostly is about trying to understand the environmental phenomenons by observing them and connecting what you see with inscriptions you find. It's all about discovering new things in the environment and getting an understanding of what you're looking at.

[Mechalich]

Along these lines I would recommend (actually I'd just recommend it generally), Abzu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abz%C3%BB). Which is a game where you wander around various lovingly crafted underwater environments. There are so low-key puzzles to solve to advance, but mostly you just swim (and occasionally walk) through the space. You can also more the camera to panoramic or to follow individual animals.

[animorte]

I did play Abzu and I agree, it does fall smoothly in that area. It was a pleasure. I also got a similar feel from Portal (both), Turing Test, Adr1ft, and Soul Axiom. But those have a way of making you feel trapped. They are each some sort of puzzle game, to be fair.

You mention Outer Wilds and that made me think of No Man's Sky. Even though I've been interested, I haven't really played any space exploration games, but it brings up a very good point. The things that are easiest to design in this kind of "exploring" fashion are the things we, as people and game designers, can spawn from imagination. All the types of games I was mentioning that don't suit this are instead trying to get a similar feel of the world we are familiar with.

[Yora]

I did play Abzu and I agree, it does fall smoothly in that area. It was a pleasure. I also got a similar feel from Portal (both), Turing Test, Adr1ft, and Soul Axiom. But those have a way of making you feel trapped. They are each some sort of puzzle game, to be fair.

I had been thinking for a moment about mentioning Mirror's Edge here, but decided against it because you're almost constantly engaged in 3D platforming gameplay.

But Shadow of the Colossus, Portal, and Mirror's Edge have long been my big hall of fame for artistic games. They all feel incredibly artistic to me. And I guess it's because they make emptiness and silence very striking and memorable because of highly stylized environments.

Aside from basic movement, pretty much all you do in Portal is using the two mouse buttons to open portals. In Mirror's Edge, 95% of all other inputs are jump and slide, with punch and shot being almost completely optional and generally not a good idea.
And in Shadow of the Colossus, pretty much everything you do is jump and grab. None of these games ever have you go into a menu, and the health bar and grab-meter in SotC is all the GUI that I can think of in them.

[animorte]

They all feel incredibly artistic to me. And I guess it's because they make emptiness and silence very striking and memorable because of highly stylized environments.
This part specifically is said very well. It sparked an automatic response for me, remembering all the times where I was just stunned at something within the game. Granted I've had this experience in many wildly different games. But exactly like you said, the overall design of the game makes these moments far more striking and memorable.

You also bring up a good point about the controls. The game is a lot more about experiencing how it plays and what you can accomplish with their clever interaction and command implementation. A lot of other games take pride in how many different options they can fit on your amount of available buttons. It becomes its own learning process, and experiences can often differ depending on your mechanical skills alone. Ah yes, I believe this is where Mirror's Edge has an interesting middle ground. Aside from a consistent sense of urgency, I understand how you might appreciate its artistic value.

I also discovered Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons years ago. It is very railroad and only takes a few hours (much like Journey), but I found it appealing and somewhat powerful as well. It has a mostly simple input method, except for some very clear moments that are literally forcing you to feel a struggle at the same time that the characters within are experiencing it.

[Nepenthe]

I have very fond memories of both Knytt and Within a Deep Forest from my old college days. Both are minimalist and exploration heavy, though I'm not sure how they'd hold up today.

[Cespenar]

A Short Hike and Sable are two pretty good indie exploration games that I don't see much mention of.

[Cygnia]

Eidolon might be something to look at then.

"Narrative exploration game located in a massive, post-human Western Washington. Navigate an open world that has been reclaimed by nature. Use journals, letters, zines, and other documents to learn the interconnected stories of the people who lived here once."

[animorte]

I’m going to update the OP with a list of these types of games. I haven’t even heard of some of them mentioned here, so I really appreciate it. I need more of these games in my life. It’s my legitimate source of relaxation and decompressing. That and being on these here forums.

[Radar]

Eidolon might be something to look at then.

"Narrative exploration game located in a massive, post-human Western Washington. Navigate an open world that has been reclaimed by nature. Use journals, letters, zines, and other documents to learn the interconnected stories of the people who lived here once."
Heh, Eidolon for me will always be this old game (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9cTvuwYi3w) by Lucasfilm. :smallsmile:

[Rakaydos]

If you dont mind an unfinished game...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDlffr7CWfg&list=PLqRU_EL4pwOFvQR5jOebbUI58pCLOGNtP

...if this appeals, there's a free-fly coming up in a few weeks, if you want to try it out without giving them money. My own referral code is STAR-SY9G-755R. It's best played with at least one other person, though.

[animorte]

Thanks for that. I updated the OP with a list of games of this sort, most mentioned by you folks.

[Thane of Fife]

If you're willing to count Portal, maybe Superliminal? It's a pretty chill first-person puzzle game, all about changing and taking advantage of perspective.

[animorte]

I added this little tag to the OP:

*Similar minimalist design, except puzzles or time constraints can alter the experience.

I haven’t played all of the games listed, so if some need that tag that don’t have it (or the other way around), please let me know.

[Wookieetank]

I'd also add Astroneer to the list, think a more condensed No Man's Sky, but without any combat or cataloging. 7 planets/moons to explore, any number of weird/alien objects and structures to try and figure out, and a rather indepth crafting/production management system you can use as much or little as you want. Has a few hazards you have to watch out for (lack of oxygen, gravity, feisty flora), but other wise is rather chill.