#Exploration Games

[mellonhead58]

If you can put up with some periods of luck-based frustration, Blue Prince is a fuckin sweet mystery puzzle exploration game

[bastionofbibliophiles]

You Should Play Outer Wilds (With No Spoilers)

Outer Wilds (2019) is an open-world exploration/mystery game set in a beautifully-designed, dynamic, miniature solar system. You play as the newest member of your species's space program, setting off on your first journey into space.

Your character carries the first-ever translator tool that will allow you to read the writings of an ancient alien species that lived in your solar system thousands of years ago. As you explore the ruins they left behind throughout the solar system and talk with your fellow travelers on other planets, you will discover questions and piece together the answers in a compelling and moving story accompanied by a beautiful soundtrack (and hints of cosmic horror — space is big and dangerous and you are small and fragile).

This is not a "puzzle game" in the common use of the term. It's more like a jigsaw puzzle, where you have to find the pieces and see how they fit together before you know what picture you're building up.

The game is available on Steam, Epic, Nintendo Switch, PS4/PS5, and Xbox.

Some Notes About the Gameplay

There is no combat and no need for super-fast reflexes. Your biggest nemeses will be inertia and gravity, as both are simulated continuously in real-time — and much more accurately than in most games: gravity is always acting on you (even in space; "zero-g" is really just freefall, after all), there is effectively no maximum speed in space aside from the limit imposed by how long you can accelerate, and you can only slow down by accelerating in the opposing direction (your ship's autopilot is very helpful and does that for you if you use it). There are no upgrades or progress gates after the tutorial; the only limits to your exploration are physics and knowledge.

Because knowledge is simultaneously the only thing you unlock and the only key needed to progress, spoilers directly detract from the experience of discovering things for yourself. Be careful when looking up anything about the game if you think you might play it!

The solar system is constantly changing as time passes, so you often need to figure out not just where to go, but when to be there to find what you're looking for (if you need to wait for something, you can sleep at any campfire to quickly pass time).

There is a lot of reading, but almost every conversation, record, or journal (including in the tutorial!) contains useful hints and clues, so don't skim past them thinking they're just set-dressing! If you want even more worldbuilding, many side-characters have additional dialogue if you talk to them again after finishing your first conversation with them, and you can talk about your discoveries with the travelers who are camped on other planets!

[lostplay]

Game 39: Terraria Apr2025 Terraria is not my kind of game. It's incredibly massive, has a ton of mods to play with, the notable one I played was Calamity MOD, and supports multiplayer. Ascetically, it's akin to a 2D Minecraft, and doesn't really have much of a story to work with outside of exploration. From my understanding there is a lot of lore and various things you can do in terms of side quests, but they boil down to exploration. In more ways than I like to count, I don't factually like this game on paper, I kinda don't even like the game on a personal level, but I would be wrong to say it's a bad game because it's just not my game.

Randomly generated map designs can be pretty awful, but I would be lying if I didn't think Terraria was one of the better games to utilize that mechanic. On top of each game being particularly unique, sometimes with lame features, you often get a ton of different biomes to explore and different map sizes to play with each individual game. In a lot of ways, Terraria is the game that keeps on giving in terms of exploration, and on an aesthetic level I kinda dig it more than Minecraft. Don't worry, that's just the old lady in me that likes 2D worlds, but at the least I will say the game feels easier to explore and interact with than Minecraft appears to be. In truth, a lot of this comes down to personal preference, but if I were to choose one of the two games, it be Terraria.

Minecraft might be able to beat Terraria in terms of exploration, but it's combat is certainly on a different level. The game is 1littered with a ton of bosses, and equipment to craft and acquire that really emphasizes it's more RPG roots that it has going for it. Acquiring various villagers and shop owners means that you also have quicker access to items you normally wouldn't have either. So while Minecraft is more about expression in my eyes, Terraria is more about combat. There is just too many unique abilities, builds, weapons, and bosses to not shy away from that aspect. It's also one that makes the game more appealing to me in terms of gameplay loops. If you're not trying to decorate your area, you got a whole other task list of upgrades to get, buffs to snatch, and crafts to get crafting.

Which to choose? Minecraft or Terraria? I think that depends on how much guidance you want and how much you value combat. If Minecraft is an ultimate creative outlet for a generation, Terraria is the ultimate smithing simulation. Perhaps, what's best about this dilemma is there isn't much of a reason to choose just one, but rather gauging how much you might like one if you like the other. They are counterparts and companion games in my eyes, and while I understand Terraria doesn't have the same name recognition it certainly got my eye far more. Even if this game isn't your type, like it was for me, playing it with friends still offers quite a lot like helping out with bosses or trying to make the world prettier for them. A great exploration game, and fun bonding experience with friends to be sure!

[fogaminghub]

🌌✨ Hey, RPG fans! We’re thrilled to introduce the amazing cast of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33! Featuring voices from talents like Charlie Cox and Andy Serkis, our characters are ready to leap into your hearts. 💖 

Check out our blog for all the juicy details about the cast, characters, and the immersive world we've created!

[arconinternet]

Noctis IV (DOS, Alessandro Ghignola, 2000 onward)

You can play it in your browser here.

You can get the fan-made CE version for use in DOSBox here (the website is currently down; it's backed up on the Wayback Machine here). As per the Readme file, you'll want to run 'Normal Go!' or 'Alternate Go!'

[analogplaysgamessometimes]

Yume Nikki (2004)

Publisher: Kikiyama (pre-2018), PLAYISM (post-2018)

Developer: Kikiyama

Genres: Exploration, adventure

Platform: PC (Steam)

Medium: Digital

4 Hours 54 Minutes

7.8/10

Yume Nikki is a game that until recently I assumed required no further introduction. However, after talking to some folks in my personal life, I've learned that this is apparently not the case. In the years since my youth it would appear that Yume Nikki and its legacy have faded into obscurity. I by no means think I have a platform sufficient for hoisting it back into the lime light. I do, however, have this little pen light here and I'm gonna let it shine and do my small part in telling people about this unique and important title.

If you were a terminally online weirdo who hung out in gaming circles back in the 2010s (like me), you may remember that there was something of an RPG Maker game renaissance. Titles like Mad Father, Ao Oni, To The Moon, The Witch's House, Ib, Corpse Party, and OFF were everywhere. Among them, standing towards the top of the pile, was Yume Nikki. Considered to be one of the first of, if not the inspiration for, this wave of indie games, Yume Nikki saw an initial release in 2004 and a final, finished release in 2011. It rapidly gained a cult classic status, it's surreal imagery and off putting, twisting settings set it apart as something special and drew players in. In Yume Nikki, you play as a young girl, Madotsuki, and explore through her surreal and often unnerving dreamscapes.

There is little point to the game beyond exploring. While there is an end goal, a way to "beat" the game, the point is the journey.

Honestly? What a journey it is. I will Firstly admit that I don't always love games this open. I don't want my hand being held but at least being pointed in the right direction is helpful sometimes. Yume Nikki was one such game where perhaps a little direction would have been nice, but I recognize that it fundamentally goes against everything the game is built on. The praise I have to give is the same praise people have been giving this game since 2004: the visuals are striking, unnerving, and make for a game world unlike any other I've seen. The way the game builds on and uses dream logic to set its rules, boundaries, and layouts makes it feel like there's always something more to find and like you never fully have a grasp on the situation. This lends itself to the atmosphere strongly, creating a well curated air of disorientation. The music is beautiful, haunting and serves as amazing backing for the visuals as well as wonderful homage to the games that inspired Kikiyama.

I would additionally like to add that the ending, while not the point of the game, may very well be my favorite part of it. It suddenly takes the strange, surreal, and occasionally light hearted things you've been seeing throughout your playthrough and juxtaposes them against grim, harsh reality. Everything the game had showed me up until that point became so much more meaningful when painted in such a serious light. I was forced to confront that none of it was actually real, and the things that maybe did represent reality were bleak and scary. It was a somber, bitter, and brutal ending but it truly made the game for me.

With that being said, Yume Nikki falls a tad short in terms of the modern games market. While it's a classic, the origin of a whole boom of indie games, and an important cultural touch stone in the history of modern games, I'm unsure how well it holds up. I think if you should want games where the ending isn't the point, where exploring and doing things in the world are the primary focus, there are now more options for that than ever across a myriad genres. While it's true there's only one Yume Nikki, and I will maintain it is unique, I simply don't believe there is enough readily accessible content to keep the attention of a modern player for very long. While there is a vast and expansive dreamscape to explore, after a while it can begin to feel samey. I felt like I'd seen all some worlds really had to offer after only a few minutes and was ready to just move on to the next thing. While I concede that perhaps this says more about me than it does the game, I feel it is still valid criticism.

Yume Nikki deserves its spot in the gaming pantheon as a cornerstone of independent game development and a truly unique piece of art. It masterfully creates and maintains its atmosphere while providing genuinely unique visuals and a beautiful, albeit short, soundtrack. However, it can't coast off these and these alone. It may be best to leave Yume Nikke in the past, a historical art piece to be visited by those like myself with a reverence for said history, lending instead our collective attention to the games it pathed the way for.

[dailyrandomwriter]

Day 662

Exploration games are a fascinating genre to me, because they are games that are different from video games that have exploration in them. Most games, especially if they’re ‘open world’ games tend to have exploration in them, but they’re different from games that are designed specifically to be explored.

And I haven’t run into a lot of exploration games, but that is more likely due to it being a very difficult genre to search for. As stated previously, any game that has an open world, will be considered as having exploration as part of the gameplay. So searching for exploration games often will get me every role play game under the sun.

That however, is not what I’m looking for. 

I’m looking for games like A Short Hike, where the game goal is just a set dressing to explore the area, interact with the world and discover its secrets. These types of games tend to be full of secrets, both from an interactive standpoint and from a visual standpoint. A very good example of this would be Journey, a game released in 2012, during the height of, “games are art” movement that had been happening at the time, and by extension the sequel, Sky.

What strikes me most about these types of games is that by design, they keep wanting to push you forward. To explore more of what the world has to offer, look down that one area and think… I haven’t gone there yet, let’s go see what’s there. What will I see? Who will I meet?

And once you’re there, there should be something there for you to react to. Either in finding a sight, meeting a character or having an interaction that incites a reaction out of you. A game focused on exploration should be filled with these moments both big and small.

As a result, when I talk about exploration games, I am talking about games where one of their primary feedback loops is the act of exploration. The need to see what else is there and what else you’ll find.

[theindiemaniac]

Today’s video is for a silly indie RPG that pokes fun at games in the Elder Scrolls series especially Skyrim.

NOW GO WATCH IT!!! (LINKS BELOW)👇

https://t.co/Kl9cC439j5

[iheartvelma]

Beta playthrough of Blackshard, a massive-geometric-structure puzzle-platformer exploration game from French studio Redlock Games, inspired by the classic horror novel The King In Yellow and 2014’s NaissanceE.

It’s like…if Manifold Garden was a haunted multidimensional castle.

[calvincell]

After months on months of eager anticipation, I’ve finally purchased & put a few hours into Empire of the Ants on my Steam Deck and been hooked.

The game is an exploration RTS blend that honestly reminds me of a mix of Pikmin & Brutal Legend with their shared active strategy mechanics infused with a gorgeous nature documentary aesthetic that seeps into the art style, graphics and gameplay at a foundational level which genuinely make you feel like you’re playing through the insect kingdom segments you’d see in nature docs like Planet Earth or Monster Bug Wars. All that’s missing is the running commentary of David Attenborough, Morgan Freeman or Werner Herzog; an inclusion that honestly I’d happily pay for DLC of 😄

The Xenofictional perspective of the ants does do a terrific job at immersing you in the mindset of an ant whose personal & colonial survival depends on clashing with a massive world where insects and bugs barely the size of a human thumb, rainstorms & hungry birds are all daunting threats for you & your Sister ants.

And speaking of Brutal Legend & Pikmin, the exploration aspect like them is similarly fun but to play the game means also earnestly engaging with the real-time strategy gameplay all share. Like those games, getting through EotA means getting adept with the plate-spinning style gameplay of building & strengthening units and bases while getting your Warriors or Gunners to battle encroaching hoards of enemies and using your personal skills to bolster said units & keep them alive lest you have to call for reinforcements and possibly fail altogether.

If you feel that sort of RTS gameplay is the type you love like I personally do or at least tolerate/feel you can comfortably handle, then I earnestly recommend giving Empire of the Ants of shot; particularly since the devs also put out a Roadmap outlining a deluge of major content additions in the near future, much of which is aimed towards expanding the strategic side of the game.

And Side Note: Though a lot of the early marketing pushed the angle of the game’s graphical fidelity heavily, the game IMO has been beautiful & still runs easily and fluidly on my Steam Deck assuaging my previous fears that it’d be extremely taxing for my system.

[gg-ghostie]

Any of you guys heard of this game? It’s a mobile game called Utopia: Origins. A pretty cool survival MMO RPG in my opinion.

Just logged back in after a year and there were a lot of updates! Everyone out there flying dragons and i’m still on my trusty Molten Parrot 😂

[spoonyliger]

Cyndaquil and Riolu at Fogbound Lake.

[niidsch]

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky (2009)

[wario-land]

I used to enjoy Pokemon games a lot, but lately some of the newer entries have been kinda controversial due a variety of issues.

But instead of focusing on that, i'm here to bring you back to the past to the Nintendo DS era of Pokemon, where many (myself included) would say that the quality and care of the series was at it's peak!

Games included in this collection:

EVERYONE IS HERE!! Every single Pokemon game released for the Nintendo DS is featured in this pack. Two emulators are included in the set, just download and play

Download here!! (1.25 GB): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jGy0GHSDwSLIuGnUrdmsD3WY_AJiq5ws/view?usp=sharing

Mirror download: https://www.mediafire.com/file/8qw75h4ij9asbte/Pogeymon_DS_Collection.rar/file

Hooray for 65k notes!!!

[fogaminghub]

🎇✨ Hey fellow Infinity Nikki fans! Are you eager to explore the enchanting Firework Isles? 🔥💨 Our latest blog post has everything you need to know to unlock the "Go to the Firework Isles!" quest! 

Join Nikki on an adventure filled with gifts, mysterious explosions, and new friends. Don’t miss out on the rewards waiting for you! 🌟💖

Read the full guide here!