This rundown isn’t aiming to highlight the 16 best open world games of all time. No, instead we’re taking a more nuanced look at these worlds with the aim being to highlight what keeps you going back once the main story is all wrapped up.

The open world games on this rundown might excel in wonderful side quests that add more meat to the game world’s bones, they might incorporate player choice in fascinating ways so as to affect the game world in realistic ways, or they might continually throw up surprises, or something new, that no matter the hours spent exploring you’re always likely to encounter something unique. Of course, some might be so extremely beautiful that they’re simply a joy to exist in – how an open world looks has value too.