Open-world games usually follow similar formats, either with a clear end goal or by bombarding players with objectives and waypoints. Other games in the genre have the player following a clear storyline, but what about games that stray from the norm and leave it up to the player to create their own goals?
These games often stand out not only by offering endless freedom, but through their unique mechanics and open-world settings. Players will also find not having to follow objectives refreshing, with the freedom to create stories of their own in unique settings.
Players Have To Decide Who To Become in Kenshi
Kenshi stands out as one of the best open-world RPG sandboxes on PC, but also as an open-world game that gives players complete freedom to craft their own goals and stories. The game throws players into a hostile world with a host of gameplay systems that make nearly any goal or story possible. However, it is up to the player to decide what they want to accomplish using the tools Kenshi gives them.
Kenshi’s open-world sandbox approach also ties into the player crafting their own goals, as there are several ways to progress and survive. Players can trade, live off the land, get better at combat and hunt bounties, build faction relationships that can change the game through faction conflicts and scenarios, and even construct thriving trade settlements.
This opens the door to any playthrough revolving around whatever goal the player chooses to invest their time into. Things can even go wrong and lead to rewarding situations and events, such as getting captured, thus turning the player’s original goal into one of escaping and further opening the door to new goals as they try to survive Kenshi’s brutal open world.
Surviving Requires Making Goals in Project Zomboid
Players do not have major objectives or a storyline to follow in Project Zomboid, so goals are created based on what needs to be done to survive as long as possible. A fresh run in Project Zomboid usually creates the first goals based on the player’s health and hunger needs. A new survivor will most likely need food, a safe place to sleep, and a weapon to defend themselves.
The player can then create a new goal of finding a safe location to stay while they gather supplies and plan their next move. The next goal players create could be to find a working vehicle to reach more places to loot for supplies, which leads to further goals of finding the key to said vehicle, getting gas from a gas station if needed, etc. This process of moving on to the next goal after one is achieved keeps the gameplay moving, all while being driven by the player’s needs.
Eventually, once the player’s immediate needs are met, they can get a bit more ambitious and move on to locating a permanent base, setting up farms, and securing a generator for power to support long-term survival. This further pushes the player to create new goals based on the need to survive another life in Project Zomboid.
X4: Foundations Lets Players Build a Space Empire How They Want
X4: Foundations gives players a large open-world sandbox set in space where it is entirely up to the player to build their own space empire and set the goals for doing so. For example, players can start by completing simple missions and trading with the goal of earning enough credits for a new and better ship.
This new ship could be a mining ship, which can lead them down the profitable career of space mining. Eventually, after enough credits are made, players can hire NPCs and slowly set up trade routes for them, laying down the foundation of a profitable trade empire. The process transforms a simple, original goal of just earning enough credits for a better ship into one of building something much larger.
Further goals can form from this, such as supporting their trade empire by building fleets to fight pirates and protect their trade empire. Players can also pursue completely different goals that turn into new ones, such as becoming bounty hunters, going to war with other factions, and eventually carving out a slice of the galaxy for themselves.
Players Forge Their Own Destiny in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is a large open-world sandbox RPG that blends grand strategy with open-world roleplaying. Players start as the head of a clan of little renown and are given the tools to forge their own destiny. This destiny can lead them to the highest peaks of ambition, such as forming their own kingdom, serving as a mercenary lord for the highest bidder, or reuniting a fractured empire.
Players can lay the stones for whatever goal they forge, as they are not required to follow the main storyline. This allows one to go off and complete quests, win battles against bandits, and earn enough money from selling loot to build up their forces. Building a sizable party opens up options to participate in faction conflicts, which can lead to further wealth and more loot to sell. Once they build up a sizable amount of wealth, they can invest their money into workshops or start their own trade empire through caravans.
After gathering enough wealth through trade, players can later reinvest it into building their forces and preparing to forge their own kingdom. But this is only one method for forging one’s own destiny and goals. The player can focus on being a raider or pirate, looting everything in sight, or serving strictly as a mercenary lord. Whatever path they choose, it is entirely up to the player to forge their own destiny.
No Man’s Sky Turns Exploration Into an Endless Well of Goals
No Man’s Sky is an ambitious open-world space exploration game that focuses on providing an endless expanse for players to dive into and craft their own goals as they play. There are some guided objectives and storylines, but players are free to ignore these at any time and decide what they want to accomplish and the goals they wish to meet. Past the basic survival needs and getting up and running during the early game, players can start creating new goals of their own.
Players may decide they want to build on a planet that has a lot of resources and harvest them, or spend time exploring space to find the perfect planet to call home. Other players could create goals of discovering thousands of new plant and animal life forms, while others could focus on collecting ships and hunting pirates.
Another goal could be building a fleet of frigates or making money by trading cargo between space stations. There are endless goals players can create as they play No Man’s Sky, and the possibilities don’t end there, as there is always something new to work towards.
