open world

Definitions

A gameworld that the player may traverse freely, rather than being restricted to certain predefined areas and quests.

also, attributive

Equivalents

6 more languages

العربيةعالم مفتوح

Italianomondo aperto

日本語オープンワールド

한국어오픈 월드

Polskiotwarty światpiaskownica

Русскийоткры́тый мир

Examples

“Role-play games […] they use⟳ a closed visual world of walls or grids or open⟳ worlds across computer systems”

“Open⟳ world games (sometimes referred to as "sandbox games") are one of the most popular genres of video games. They typically feature non-linear gameplay, the ability to roam the game world freely any way the player chooses, unscripted interaction with non-player characters (NPCs), and a living, breathing city, countryside, or fantasy environment to explore⟳.”

“Liberty City, the virtual space of Grand Theft Auto III, can be interpreted as the spatial universe that qualitatively changes and combines the limited character attributes of the inhabiting non-player characters. Because they all seem to live⟳ and act in such a huge open⟳ world, they appear⟳ to be more complex themselves.”

“The Saints Row games are open⟳ worlds, and many consider⟳ the Grand Theft Auto series to also be open⟳ worlds.”

“The second category of storytelling that coexists in GTA [Grand Theft Auto]’s open⟳ world takes the form⟳ of player-driven stories.”

“What Guy doesn’t know⟳, but the audience surely will (it's all over the trailers), is that he's not a real person at all but rather an NPC—or non-player character—in a popular and extremely violent open-world video game.”

CEFR level