Games with open worlds that you learn over time

When you're first dropped into an open-world environment, not all games will put you through an extensive tutorial. Many do, but many more trust you to just figure things out on your own. It might even be part of the game's mechanics for you to experiment and explore, instead of having every bit of information dished out to you immediately and potentially overwhelming you. It's definitely a matter of preference. Some players prefer not to waste their time figuring out how things work, while others want to test their mental agility by not getting any help.

If you belong to the latter group and get the most fun out of games that let you experiment through trial and error, these open world games will be right up your alley. They have minimal tutorials, and usually just throw you in the deep end. Not all of them are hard all the way through either, so if you're not a fan of challenging games in general, don't worry, there are a couple of games here that, once learned, are pretty easy or at least have difficulty settings that you can tailor to your liking.

Minecraft

Welcome to the Sandbox with Trial And Error

If you have no idea what Minecraft is about and you let yourself into a survival world, you will probably be very lost. The game doesn't tell you how to do anything, although it guides you a bit better now, thanks to the recipe book. With no tools or implements at your disposal, you can just punch different blocks and see what happens. It's also a pretty counter-intuitive sandbox survival game, because who would ever imagine that you could harvest a tree by punching its trunk?

This is just one of those games where, if you play without the wiki at hand, you'll spend a lot of time just learning through trial and error and observing your surroundings. The achievements screen gives you some hints about some of the places you can find, such as the End and the Nether, but actually getting there is a whole other debacle. It's pretty amazing how the game has come this far without even including a tutorial anywhere. If it's too hard to survive, you can also just put yourself in Peaceful mode to explore and experiment.

Kenshi

No direction, no guidance and absolutely no grace

Maybe you are one of those players who are more okay with games that are challenging. In that case, I recommend Kenshi. Many fans describe this open-world RPG as a simulation or a sandbox, and they're absolutely right. Unlike most games in its genre, it doesn't give you a main quest where you are the chosen one. Instead, you are nobody. After that, you can freely choose which path you go down and build any type of character you want.

Just be aware that it won't be easy. Kenshi the world is all about survival, and at first you'll play incredibly safe as you increase your toughness. It means failing, getting knocked down again and again, and healing slowly over time to get back there. Many of the game's features can feel convoluted, so you'll definitely need to approach it with an open and curious mind that isn't afraid to be challenged by a system that can feel overwhelmingly complex.

Project Zomboid

The tutorial only scratches the surface

Project Zomboid is a survival game where you are the only one left in Knox Country, surrounded by hundreds of zombies. It is a huge open world environment experienced from an isometric environment and with an incredibly deep survival game. Although there is a tutorial that explains some of the moves and controls, Project Zomboid has so many intricacies and details in its sandbox that jumping straight into Apocalypse or Survivor mode will make you tear your hair out. It's another game that resembles a simulation: the world continues around you, with bodies decaying, zombies migrating, and eventually the electricity and water shut off.

If you stay long enough, even the buildings, cars and streets begin to decay as the wilderness takes over. With that, you have to apply real logic to many of its situations, which can feel a little strange from a player's perspective. You don't exactly expect to think about boredom in a zombie apocalypse, or to increase your sleep quality by adding a pillow to your bed, from a real world perspective, it makes perfect sense. The game doesn't explain these at all, or teach you them, but through trial and error, and probably many failed runs, you learn not only the blueprint of the massive world, but also the loot and equipment that will help you survive longer each time you jump back in.

Fire Ring

The tutorial is easy to miss, and the game's most important lessons are silent

Naturally, a FromSoftware game would end up here. The studio's games are known for expecting you to just fly with it, letting you into their worlds by showing you what to expect, rather than telling you outright. Fire Ringone of its least punishing games with a massive open world environment, it is too. My first time in this game led to me completely skipping the tutorial and just going out in Limgrave and challenging the Tree Sentinel. This is a silent message: you are not ready, and you need to get stronger. Come back when you're ready.

Very few other games let you enter these impossible situations from the start, though Fire Ring instantly slaps the world in the face and tells you to adapt, or fail, over and over again. Eventually, you'll get the hang of the game's systems, the variety of enemies, and the movement of large bosses that act as your gatekeepers. It's a deeply satisfying but exhausting progression, from which players often emerge much stronger than ever before.

Terraria

A charming sandbox for you to choose apart

Terraria is here for the same reason as Minecraft is. It's the best choice for players who want to test their deductions and wits in games, but don't want to jump into the deep, deep end with Souls games and titles like Kenshi. You're introduced to a charming 2D pixel world that's yours to explore, but don't let the vibrant colors fool you. There are enemies on the surface, below and even above. Meet certain conditions, and you may encounter some incredible bosses as well.

Terraria provides some guidance in the form of his NPCs, such as the guide. Move them into your house to keep them close, and at least you'll start figuring out what to do and where to go. A lot of it is trial and error, trying different things, picking up items and seeing what they do, unless you want to rely on the game's wiki, but it's an incredibly satisfying game to go into completely blind.

STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl

No skill trees, just you as a player getting better

One of the basic design ideas behind it STALKER 2 was the absence of any skill trees. The games have never featured such things, as the idea behind this challenging FPS series has always been that the players themselves have to learn how to cross its difficult and dangerous zone without dying.

It's a grim mix of survival and fairly realistic FPS elements where you take on the role of Skif, a stalker wandering the Zone. While the first part of the game introduces you to basic things like controls and using bandages and medkits, there's a ton more that's never explicitly explained in STALKER 2, and which you only learn through failure and experimentation as you cross the zone.

Outwards

The world is not easy and forces you to learn

Considered one of the hardest open-world fantasy RPGs out there, Outwards delivers a mix of survival gameplay and classic RPG content. It also comes with a tutorial, and while it's incredibly useful to walk through to get the hang of the basics if you're brand new, nothing will fully prepare you for its demanding environment better than just jumping in.

You will likely die many times and struggle to travel too far in the wilderness that has no fast travel or mountains, but each time you learn something new about your movement, the enemies and your abilities. It's also a game that wants you to fail, because death is not the end. You may end up far from where you left off, or you may be lucky and get help from a passerby. The world is alive, but it requires you to learn its ins and outs.

Green hell

One of the hardest survival experiences that forces you to learn

Not afraid of big challenges? Green hell is perfect for you then. Many consider this one of the most harrowing survival experiences because of how little mercy it shows you. Condemned with minimal resources in the open Amazon rainforest, your job as Jake Higgins is to survive, while the world wants you to suffer and die. It's a constant uphill battle against the predators that stalk the wild, as well as bugs, poisonous plants and infections that will start to plague you if you don't take care of yourself.

Green Hell is another game where you will learn, or you will suffer and learn. The world doesn't spell things out for you, and it's more than likely that just like with games like Kenshiyou will die a lot before you can actually figure out how to stand on your own two feet. But over time you hone your skills, you learn what works and what doesn't, and there's no greater reward than that.