Best Games That Reward Exploration & Curiosity

Key Takeaways

• Deep exploration in these games offers rewarding hidden items, lore, and backstories.
• Curiosity leads to uncovering secrets, side quests, and new areas for an immersive experience.
• Approaching gameplay with enthusiasm and a sense of exploration unveils valuable rewards in vast open worlds.

One of the most exciting moments in playing a game is discovering something new. Whether players have already logged hundreds of hours, or they’re relatively new to the world and its rules, uncovering a secret passageway or a new piece of lore keeps the game fun and encourages even deeper investment in the story.

This list aims to highlight both well-known picks and some indie titles that encourage curiosity throughout gameplay. These games contain hidden items, secret areas, special rewards, and revealed backstories that make grinding away rewarding — and implore players to look at the world in greater detail. All of them approach exploration in different ways, with some leaning on hidden text as a storytelling medium , while others encourage broad open-world travel in maps with hidden places.

8 Kentucky Route Zero

Curious Exploration Enriches The Story

Kentucky Route Zero is a surreal story told in five acts. It is set beside a rural highway in America, following a truck driver who gets lost and the adventure that ensues. The art style is striking and immersive, with beautiful renderings of both day and night.

Playing Kentucky Route Zero with curiosity is surely the best approach. Investigating side paths and engaging in optional dialogue reveals extra information that enriches the gameplay experience, telling hidden stories and increasing the surrealism of the player’s world.

7 Red Dead Redemption 2

NPC Interaction Triggers Side Quests

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a game with a fiercely loyal following, it’s and certainly one of the more popular choices on this list. Nonetheless, its depth and stunning world-building ensure that even the most seasoned players are often learning something new. The western open-world map is vast, with various settlements to explore across the dozens of missions laid out in the main story, as well as all the side quests too.

Continued exploration in Red Dead Redemption 2 rewards players in a few ways: random encounters with dynamic NPCs add to the storytelling, many of which trigger fun side quests. There are also lots of unique items hidden in the detailed environments as well, ensuring a wide variety of rewards for the curious cowboy.

6 Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Historical And Mythological Details Are Not To Be Missed

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey‘s ancient Greek setting makes it a game players can’t help but be curious to explore in great depth. The open world is massive and chock-full of historical landmarks and mythological references that make gameplay super immersive, especially for fans of ancient history or who love to work through significant lore.

Within the stunning open-world map, players can explore to find lots of hidden things: various locations unlock historical information, special items, and new abilities that add additional depth to an already exciting and detailed game.

5 No Man’s Sky

Infinite Possibility For New Discoveries In This Sandbox Adventure

This sandbox game offers almost endless possibilities for players who approach it with enthusiasm and curiosity. Gameplay involves procedurally generated space exploration, where each new territory offers unique biomes, species, and sights to enjoy.

The exploration opportunities in No Man’s Sky just keep coming, with no time for boredom when each new planet offers the possibility of entirely new experiences. As players travel, they can increase their knowledge, gather resources, and discover new interstellar information, all of which has been aided by regular updates to the game.

4 Ghost Of Tsushima

Stunning Visual Options Enrich Gameplay

Ghost of Tsushima is a samurai action-adventure game set in feudal Japan in the midst of a Mongol invasion. The game definitely takes its visuals seriously, which adds hugely to the gameplay. There are incredible naturalistic backdrops that draw inspiration from Japanese art, as well as the option to play the game in ‘Kurosawa Mode,’ which throws players into the midst of a classic black-and-white Samurai film.

Deep exploration rewards players with hidden locations, armor upgrades, and the option for Jin Sakai, the game’s protagonist, to compose haikus when visiting certain locations. Additionally, there’s lots of lore to be learned about Japanese culture and the country’s earlier history, providing a wonderful experience for history enthusiasts.

3 Subnautica

New Items And Resources Available Through Deep Exploration

This underwater survival game is all about exploration. Players descend into an alien world filled with all manner of awe-inspiring creatures. The game is full of mysteries that encourage players to interrogate the world around them in the hopes of making new discoveries.

The rewards for playing Subnautica with a sense of curiosity are rather valuable, including crafting blueprints and access to new biomes with useful items that can advance gameplay significantly. Players can also learn much more about the story of the mysterious alien sea as they explore the vast map.

2 The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild

A Famously Rich Open-World Environment Full Of Details To Be Discovered

The latest iteration in The Legend of Zelda franchise, Breath of the Wild presents Hyrule as an expansive, interactive open world full of secrets and stories. On their journey through the world, players must solve puzzles, battle enemies, and uncover useful information found in the environment.

The design of Breath of the Wild certainly encourages exploration, and fans will agree it is one of the best games for constantly uncovering new details that enrich the experience of playing. Curiosity is rewarded with hidden areas, rare items, and fascinating lore that expounds the central story.

1 Outer Wilds

Brilliant Mechanics Encourage Thorough And Curious Exploration

Outer Wilds is all about searching for answers in an unfamiliar environment, making it an ideal game for curious players who love exploring strange landscapes. Players are new recruits to a space program exploring a mysterious solar system full of wonder and weirdness.

The world of Outer Wilds is made even more fascinating using a time loop that retains the player’s knowledge but resets the world in a way that has boggled many players’ minds. This exciting mechanic encourages players to explore without fear of failure, and it means there’s plenty of room for experimentation in beautiful, brilliant environments that change over time.