When The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launched, many players called it one of the greatest open world games ever made. Few games could match its size, freedom and creativity. Exploring the skies, depths, and villages of Hyrule can easily take over 249 hours to complete. Still, there are open-world games out there that go even further, according to HowLongToBeat. With worlds this large and time-consuming, Tears of the Kingdom begins to look almost compact in comparison.
Open-World game with a ridiculous amount of depth
Some open-world games stand out for their depth and complexity, making it difficult for fans to find similar experiences elsewhere.
Some of these open-world games keep players hooked through long-term objectives, hidden discoveries, and evolving systems that take dozens of hours to understand. And then there are those that never really end at all. There's always a new corner to explore, a new skill to master, or a new challenge waiting somewhere out there.
ARK: Survival Evolved
Solo 243 hours / Co-Op 295 hours / Vs. 301 hours
ARK: Survival Evolved is basically about surviving on hostile islands. Players should be able to complete the main objectives in 60 to 70 hours, but it requires learning to build a base, tame some creatures, and defeat some tough bosses. Completionist runs push times in the high hundreds. Completeness allows players to master breeding programs, acquire ideal creature stats, fully build advanced bases across maps, and defeat content on the highest difficulties.
When the game is played with friends or on PvP servers, social dynamics and warfare extend the timeline. Players who focus on a perfect collection of creatures, max tech and multiple production domes will easily reach 300 hours.
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Completionist: 251 hours
When people talk about big open worlds, few realize how huge Xenoblade Chronicles X really is. Its planet is wild, layered and full of secrets that can take hundreds of hours to uncover. The game was built to make players feel small in a world that never stops stretching out before them.
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Completionists will spend approximately 251 hours finishing everything. This huge runtime comes from the depth of exploration, the detailed side quests, and the constant need to upgrade character and gear. Unlocking the flight for the Skell (a giant mech suit) is one of the game's most rewarding moments, opening up the world in a way few RPGs ever manage. But before that happens, players will spend dozens of hours building strength, resources, and skills just to survive what Mira throws at them.
Kenshi
Completionist: 273 hours
Kenshi
- Released
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December 6, 2018
Even if Kenshi is quite difficult, it's easy to fall in love with because it gives players an open space and only a few rules. Players begin as an unknown wanderer, hungry and weak, in a wasteland filled with slaves, starving bandits and cannibals. There's no main story driving them forward, so their only job is to stay alive and build something that lasts.
Kenshi is good for players who like long arcs and slow growth. And for those who want to see almost everything in Kenshi must find multiple outposts, research full tech trees, max out characters across various buildings, and control or destroy key factions. That kind of long game will require about 273 hours to complete.
Completionist Time: 298 hours
Before Skyrim made the Elder Scrolls series a global name, Morrowind already showed what true freedom in an RPG could look like. Almost every house hides a story, and each faction offers unique paths and endings. Players can become a wizard, a thief, a noble, or even a god-like figure, and each path changes how people treat them. There is so much optional content, from books to read, to relics to hunt and side quests to solve, that it's easy to lose track of time.
What does Morrowind so long is how much it respects curiosity. It doesn't propel players toward goals; rather, it rewards those who take the time to understand its world. And for those willing to go all the way, they can spend around 300 hours.
Genshin Impact
Solo 298 hours / Co-Op 531 hours
A player who only follows the main plot and the key Archon does quests Genshin Impact can expect around 60 – 70 hours of gameplay. That path provides a clear narrative arc and a satisfying sense of progress without deep investment in character building or collecting.
For players who want to fully commit, they will spend 298 – 531 hours owning and fully equipping many characters, ascending weapons, farming rare boss materials and hunting all collectibles. And as many know, completing in a live service game means chasing both permanent content and limited-time events. For someone who wants a huge roster of characters and to max out a lot of them, that completion estimate of over 500 hours makes sense.
Project Zomboid
Completionist: 433 hours
IN Project Zomboidsurvival does not mean beating the game. It means holding on for another day. And that's why Project Zomboid is one of the hardest open world survival games out there. There is no final mission, no rescue team, and no cure waiting at the end. So players must scavenge for supplies, fortify safehouses, and stay alive as the world decays around them. The open world of the game is huge and constantly changing, and survival is not measured in missions, but in days lived.
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A player can survive for weeks only to be bitten during a routine delivery run, forcing them to start over. But it's part of the loop that keeps people playing for hundreds of hours. So players don't just have to think about better strategies. They must know when to fight, when to flee, and how to turn a boarded-up gas station into a fortress. And while there is no set goal, players can sink 433 hours by trying everything.
Elite: Dangerous
Complementary: 677 hours
This is an amazing space sim where players decide what kind of pilot they want to be, be it a trader, bounty hunter, explorer, miner or outlaw. The galaxy reacts to their choices, as prices shift, factions rise and fall, and entire systems change hands depending on what the players do. The scope is overwhelming at first, but that vastness is what makes the experience so much fun.
The main story alone can take most people more than 100 hours, while completionists can spend six times more. Length depends not only on grinding, but also on distance and detection. Traveling from one side of the galaxy to the other can take literally days of flight time. Players spend hundreds of hours mapping planets, upgrading ships, and learning how to survive in space.
World of Warcraft
Solo 1390 hours / Co-Op 2154 hours / Vs. 1769 hours
There is a reason World of Warcraft still has players logging in twenty years after launch: it never runs out of things to do. Some players just start “trying it out” and realize months later that they're still chasing quests, gear, and stories that never stop evolving. Players will need to spend somewhere between 1390 and 2154 hours, depending on whether they play solo or with friends.
Leveling a character can take weeks, but many continue to build armies of alters in various classes and roles. There's always another target to hunt, another raid boss, another reputation, another legendary item. The game just doesn't seem to end.
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