Open-world games have evolved extensively over the years, becoming bigger in scale and implementing all kinds of systems. Some of these hum in the background while you play the game as intended, and only really come to the forefront when you’re in the mood for some madness. Here are 15 of the craziest things we’ve all done in open-world titles, resulting in hijinks.
Building Crazy Creations
What’s the one common thing between Starfield and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom? The crazy creations that each game allows you to make. A ship without a center of mass, allowing enemy fire to pass through and never hit you, or a drone that lasers enemies from the sky, seems impossible when you first start – the options are many and insane.
Spending Hours and Hours in Character Creation
This applies to any game with an extensive character creation toolset, like Baldur’s Gate 3. However, Skyrim is where it truly got out of control, and Starfield expanded on it further with more options. You could argue that it means nothing, but when role-playing as yourself or your ideal version, it’s important to get every little detail right, even if it takes hours. Then start again after playing for a few minutes because you want to change something (which is thankfully not an issue in modern games with mid-game editing options).
Diving Off Skyscrapers
2023 was the year that Saints Row developer Volition closed down. The series will continue, but it may be impossible to top Saints Row 4. What other open-world game allows for superpowers, weapons that fire black holes, or summoning mechs? However, our favorite thing is diving off a skyscraper and causing a massive explosion. Does it serve much purpose, given how late you get it? No, but it looks incredible. Prototype 1 and 2 did the same thing, causing a massive impact as you landed in the city streets, and was equally satisfying.
Hoarding Items
Whatever the genre, there’s just something about hoarding items and not using them, not even when you reach the final stage. It’s common in Larian Studios’ games, like the recent Baldur’s Gate 3, but arguably occurs more in games like Skyrim and Starfield. Have you ever packed your house with cheese in the former? How about throwing junk left and right in your spaceship for the latter? Some players stuffed their ships with potatoes because why not?
Walk the Entire Map
With how large the maps can be in open-world games, one of the craziest things you can do is walk from one end of the map to the other. Not drive or ride on horseback, but simply walk. It’ll take a while, whether you’re traversing Hyrule in Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom or The Lands Between in Elden Ring, but you can do it. Should you do it? Probably not, but it can be fun.
Attack NPCs and Cause Chaos
How many times have you quick-saved before unleashing Fus-roh-dah on hapless NPCs? How often would you run through markets in Assassin’s Creed, knocking over vendors as you rushed past? How frequently would you punch a random NPC in Los Santos and see how things played out? Attacking NPCs is an old but relevant pastime that still makes for the most extensive chaos.
Fight the Cops
Grand Theft Auto is infamous for the extensive battles you can have with the cops, with Grand Theft Auto 5 being the craziest yet. Other games like Cyberpunk 2077 have since caught up, with vehicular combat and encounters with MaxTac if you’re a big enough nuisance. Call it rebelling against authority or simply seeking a challenge, but battling the cops and surviving for as long as possible as they throw everything at you is fun.
Stalk NPCs
The realism of non-playable characters can vary in open-world games, so it’s always fun to hang around and see what they do. In games like Red Dead Redemption 2, following them and seeing what they do throughout the day is fascinating. One NPC gets up early, tends to his farm, makes food and then hangs out in the evening before sleeping. It sounds simple, but seeing others with schedules and watching them play out is incredible, if creepy.
Watch Random Events and Do Nothing
Conversely, you can just watch some random events in Red Dead Redemption 2 and do nothing. The guy drowning his wife in the trough? Don’t stop him. He’ll go on his way, and in a couple of days, you can walk in on his public execution. There are several such occurrences in open-world titles, and seeing how things play out can be entertaining (if morally dubious).
Break into NPCs’ Houses
After extensively observing an NPC, the next logical course of action, of course, was to try and break into their houses, preferably at night in the case of Skyrim. Maybe you could wake them up and see their reactions. Maybe you could steal everything, with or without their permission. Either way, hilarity ensues.
Stop GTA 5’s Train
The train in Grand Theft Auto 5 is the stuff of legend, running across the map and playing into specific story missions. The question arose then: Could you stop it? Players at the time tried everything, which boiled down to lining up as many buses and objects on the track as possible to stop it. Nothing worked…until eventually, someone discovered that parachuting onto it, going towards the front, throwing several C4s and detonating them could do it. Thus did another great GTA experiment come to an end, but it was a crazy time while it lasted.
FULTON Everything in Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
With how serious the ending to Ground Zeroes was, it’s funny how Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain lightens the tension in some ways. Not necessarily in the story (though there are some light-hearted moments), but in the gameplay, as you slide around in boxes, deploy cardboard cut-out decoys and, well, FULTON everything. FULTON cargo containers. FULTON sheep or soldiers. It never gets old, and the lengths you can go to make everything on the enemy battlefield your own is hilarious.
Destroy Everything
Destruction in video games is impressive and can be especially fun in games like Teardown. In open-world games like Just Cause, it’s enjoyable to let loose on the world and cause widespread destruction. Buildings crumble, chains of explosions go off, enemies fly all over the place, the works – and the best part is that the game encourages it.
Dig Straight Down in Minecraft
Minecraft has undergone several changes and new additions since it launched in 2009. Between the Nether Fortresses, Elytra, new biomes and enemy types, one rule has remained prominent – never dig straight down. You have no clue what you’ll find, and it’s just as easy to hit lava that can kill you and destroy your items under most circumstances as it is to find diamonds (probably). Naturally, everyone digs straight down to see what happens and embraces death with gusto.
Throwing Enemies/Players Off Ledges
With all the insane things that open-world games allow for, it’s hilarious how something as simple as knocking someone off of a high place can be invigorating. Drop-kicking zombies off a rooftop in Dying Light, kicking bad guys off cliffs in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and even just hitting another player and watching them plummet to their doom in Minecraft – it never gets old.
