Open world games where you set your own goals

There are roughly two camps in the gaming world: those who want to be told what to do and guided along a fairly linear path to a conclusion, and those who loathe the idea of ​​being given goals and prefer the complete freedom to define their own destiny. Both camps are perfectly valid in my opinion, and I think there's a time and place for both approaches depending on the genre. Sometimes a tighter, more linear story can have the greatest benefit. Other times, it's much nicer to be able to customize your gaming experience from top to bottom and go whichever way you want.

If you fall into the latter category and like to formulate your own plans in open-world games, then I have a few recommendations for you. All of these games feature nice, explorable worlds, but they also aren't a major liability in the long run. Sure, they might have tasks and quests here and there, but you can pretty much safely ignore them or just quickly complete them before you get to the very essence of the game, which is the freedom to do whatever you want.

Palworld

There are a lot of missions, but your goals are more important

If you've ever wanted to experience the joy of collecting creatures à la Pokémon mixed with some open world crafting and base building, Palworld is the way to go. The game is still in early access, but it throws you into a huge open world that is full of unique creatures. Many of them are biome specific, so it's really recommended to explore as many as you can and capture the ones with specific skills that can help you automate the processes in your base.

There's a little bit of everything, from mining to growing crops and even cooking food, all of which are necessary to progress through the game and unlock better items. There are also plenty of missions to complete, but the game doesn't end there. When you're done, the game expects you to figure out the best way to thrive and survive—or do whatever else you want in the buddy world. However, the order in which you do all of this is up to you, and what buddies you capture and when you decide to challenge the next boss are entirely up to you.

Project Zomboid

The only certainty is that one day you will die

Zomboid's Project the tutorial teaches you the basics, but once you actually enter the huge open world, you're on your own and have to figure everything out blindly. That is, if you play the game as intended in default mode, as you can also tweak the experience to be more or less forgiving if you're looking for a post-apocalyptic building and farming game or intense zombie survival.

As the game tells you, it's the story of how you died and how long you managed to survive. How you set yourself up or what you focus on is entirely up to you. In fact, you could even keep the electricity and water on forever and just happily farm animals in a zombie-free world until the end of time. Alternatively, you can try to build the safest haven in the world, arm yourself with weapons and start shooting to attract the horde for an epic final battle. You choose which path sounds the most appealing, as there are no quests to direct you anywhere.

Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord

There is no set path after the main story

Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord is probably the only game here that will have the most direction in terms of objectives, at least in the beginning. And that's saying a lot considering this game is basically a medieval combat sandbox. Yes, you can and should continue with the main campaign and resolve it as you see fit, but other than that there isn't really an end goal imposed on you.

Do you want to create your own empire? Do you want to have just a few settlements and live well? Or perhaps you'd like to be constantly on the move with your own group of recruits, exploring and dispensing justice as and when you see fit? All of this is possible and completely valid. It all depends on you.

RimWorld

Go for one of the ends or not

RimWorld is one game that doesn't exactly inspire you to reach its end. Its simulation part is just too fun and addictive. You start with a small colony on a randomly selected planet, and from there it's entirely up to you how the game looks.

You can actually try to help the colony strive for success and achieve one of the game's endings, or you can go all out and create the most constant group of survivors engaging in all sorts of shady activities (cannibalism and slavery to name a few classics). It's all very sandbox-y, so there's plenty of room for you to decide which path to take, and the game definitely doesn't hold your hand or force you to do anything.

Factorio

Build what you like

Fans of automation games may already know Factorio. It's a charming indie sim game about building factories on alien planets and maybe even launching a rocket into the sky and exploring other frontiers. I say “maybe” because it's really your choice and at no point does the game explicitly tell you or force you to do so.

You spawn and from that point on it's up to you what you want to do in the hostile, alien environment. There seems to be a general consensus among players that “the factory needs to grow”, but other than that, build what you want, how you want.

Kenshi

It's your story, not Kenshi's

Kenshi it's known for having one of the most brutal experiences for new players, but once you learn the game and how the world works, it's one of the most complete and rewarding sandbox experiences. There's survival, RPG and open world environments all mixed together with complete freedom to define your path.

And this is what you will need to do: Kenshi he will not hold your hand and tell you where to go so that you can fulfill your duty as the chosen one. Because guess what? You're not special, and the game likes to remind you by attacking you with enemies.

No Man's Sky

The universe favors you to do what you desire

That's true No Man's Sky it offers some guidance and direction when you first emerge, but the ultimate long-term goal in this sci-fi survival game is entirely up to the player.

No one is going to hold your hand or block your progress – except perhaps for a lack of certain resources or technology, but if there is something you want to do, you can pursue it and eventually do it. Settle in and build a base on the first planet you come across, or perhaps search the universe for something better and more interesting. The game won't get in your way or sway you in any particular way one way or the other.

Minecraft

A game that just gets you

Something special is on the way Minecraft it just drops you into the survival world and leaves it at that. You have no quests, no tasks, no goals. Just an endless, procedurally generated world with resources, mobs and structures waiting to be explored and interacted with. This is why this game looks so very different depending on who gets their hands on it.

Some dive into modded hours Minecraftothers will really get into redstone building, and others will still only engage in creative mode, spending hours building elaborate houses and castles. That's just scratching the surface. You also have adventure maps, PvP minigames, servers… It's a whole ecosystem that is completely dictated by the player.

The Sims 3

There is no right or wrong Simmer

The Sims 3 it's showing its age now, true, but it's a timeless classic in its franchise. For one thing, it's the only game to feature an open-world environment in every neighborhood, and the game actually felt alive, despite the performance issues it later faced. The essence of any The Sims the game is captured well here, where you can create whoever you want and make them do pretty much anything you want in a world that can be built and modified to your liking.

The options are very wide, especially when you throw mods into the mix. Of course, the world will occasionally throw you some curves and events, but overall the player will have to forge his own path and set his own goals.