I DON’T mean other games that let you build a car from scratch.
I’m looking for other complex open world games that throw you into the deep end without any explanation, and are completely unforgiving when you make mistakes.
Games that even actively hate the player, but give you a deep sense of satisfaction when you finally figure it out.
So no tutorial, no quest markers, no mini-map, no quick-saving, etc.
Bonus points if they also show you a glimpse into a niche culture, like My Summer Car does with rural life in Finland during the 90’s economic depression.
Other examples I can think of are Kingdom Come Deliverance in hardcore mode and Dwarf Fortress. Which ones do you know?
Nethack, a very deep and actively obtous game. If you want to figure it out yourself, its complexity is nearly on a level with dwarf fortress.
Outer Wilds does not fit 100 % your description, as it doesnt hate the player. But it is a game all about exploration and figuring stuff out yourself. And if you do things wrong, you die.
If you don’t do things wrong in Outer Wilds, you also die ;)
Yep. And that is the difference between “not doing wrong” and “doing right”. Because in the latter’s case, you don’t die. Or at least… Its complicated
Honestly Elden Ring kinda fits that description
Edit: And the other souls games, but they’re not open world in the same way. All of them are about learning how the game works, without quest markers or hand holding, and can feel quite punishing until you do.
Stationeers. It’s a game about building and maintaining a station on another planet, with complex and realistic gas/liquid mechanics, properly recreating the refrigeration cycle and everything. You have to grow food and create oxygen and water, and manage the temperature of your station. It has one of the steepest learning cliffs ever, but there are guides for everything online.
(It’s being made by the same company making Kitten Space Agency.)
Mon Bazou
Not really unforgiving, but I feel like Voices of the Void could have other gameplay aspects you’re looking for. If you like ambient horror, it’s still free to download from itch.
I would argue that Tunic and probably most soulslikes would fit your description.
Raft is kind of like this. You’re basically told nothing and you’re out at sea on a raft that you can then build with stuff you find.
It was not for me, but almost entirely for the reasons you want a game like this, from what I’m reading.
Noita may be close. It nails the no directions and unforgiving part.
Also made by Finnish people!
1000%
Morrowind kinda does this. Unlike the other Elder Scrolls games that came later, you don’t have any quest markers, or anything really to help you find where you’re looking for. Most of the quests give directions like, “follow the road south till you get to the fork in the road with a big tree. Go on the eastern branch till you find a cave entrance. If you get attacked by cliff racers you’re either on the right path or you went too far. Good luck.”
You might dig The Forest.
I died a LOT in the fucking forest.
“Don’t Starve”? Checks all your boxes and has a ton of dlcs. I’ve yet to find the will to play it again.
Rain World. Fucking struggling with this one. Animal Well, little easier than rain world. Tunic.
Project Zomboid has a tutorial, but it’s strictly optional to play. You can absolutely just dive straight in to it.
Knox County, Kentucky, 1993. The zombie apocalypse hits. As far as you know, you’re the last person alive on earth. It’s all up to you, and you alone, to keep going.
The game’s default settings are plenty brutal, but you can tweak them to an insane degree, and anything the settings don’t cover, someone’s probably made a mod for that. I highly recommend the Bandits mod, which adds hostile human NPCs in to the mix of all the things that will kill you.
One setting I recommend, though maybe not for the first time, is turning the infection timer, or whatever it’s called, to 0. In vanilla default settings you may be infected when bitten, but not always. There’s no cure, so you’re just waiting to find out if you’re infected, and it takes a while. At first it just looks like it could be a normal infected wound, but things keep getting worse. The standard “solution” at this point is to drink some bleach to die and start over. I prefer to skip all the waiting and have it instantly kill me if I get infected.
I’m looking for other complex open world games that throw you into the deep end without any explanation, and are completely unforgiving when you make mistakes.
Games that even actively hate the player, but give you a deep sense of satisfaction when you finally figure it out.So no tutorial, no quest markers, no mini-map, no quick-saving, etc.
Boy have I got a game for you. I’m playing Darkwood right now and this should tick most of your boxes. It’s not a huge open world, more like several open zones as you progress through the story, but otherwise should do what you want. It’s also not just deeply unsettling but also genuinely terrifying despite being a top-down game.
I’m looking for other complex open world games that throw you into the deep end without any explanation, and are completely unforgiving when you make mistakes.
UnReal World? It’s never really grabbed me when I’ve tried it, personally, but it might be up your alley.
Kenshi has a pretty difficult start, though it gets easier later in the game. I don’t think that it’s as complex.
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is quite complex and has a very steep learning curve, with a lot of hidden stats and the like and limited documentation.
All good games and I would think those are good suggestions too.
