Open World Games are vast and expansive. Many of them have players traversing across a varying range of environments, battling enemies, entering towns, and exploring every nook and cranny.
RELATED:The Best Open-World Games Of All Time, Ranked
In some of the best open world games, players can divert their attention away from the main task at hand. You can take a moment to relax, to engage in activities on the side, often to earn extra in-game money or credit, to boost your XP, or merely to pass the time. These minigames can be the best part of open world games, and sometimes they can feel shoehorned in, coming across as an unwanted distraction.
9Fishing - The Legend Of Zelda (Series)
Fishing is one of those activities you either love or hate. In video games, fishing is often presented as a side activity that offers you the chance to sit back and relax a little bit. Some might find that boring though. InThe Legend of Zelda series, you’re able to catch a large array of fish.
The goal of this minigame is to catch the biggest fish possible. Doing so will give you a health increase. Fishing in the Zelda games does have its perks, it’s not just something to do on the side, and while it may not be the most exciting thing to do in these games, it has itsfunny moments.
8Pazaak - Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic
In the semi-open world ofStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, a card game called Pazaak served as an excursion from the main campaign. Pazaak operates similarly to the real world game, Blackjack. The goal is to play cards and reach a score of 20, or near enough, hoping your opponent does not have a closer number than you do.
RELATED:Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic – The Best Pazaak Cards, Ranked
Throughout the game, you can collect Pazaak cards. Some of the cards allow for greater strategy, while others apply modifiers to the game, forcing you to play smart. In many ways, Pazaak was one of the first truly successful card games within a larger game. Many people divulged large amounts of time just playing Pazaak.
7Orlog - Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
There are plenty of things to do inAssassin’s Creed: Valhalla. Too much, in fact. One of those things is a dice-focused game called Orlog, all about battling your dice with those of your opponent. You can use dice to defend your position and steal tokens, and you can call upon the gods to offer you a buff.
The winner of the game is the one who eliminates all of their opponents' stones, standing in as health indicators. Orlog might not be theeasiest game to play or learn, but it is detailed and layered, with a lot of thought put into it.
6Journey Of The Prairie King - Stardew Valley
Stardew Valleyis a role-playing farming simulator. It’s a game all about resource management and constructing your idealistic farm life. However, if players take the time to explore, there is a minigame within Stardew Valley that allows a very different gaming experience. Journey of the Prairie King is a top-down shooter within the farming simulator.
RELATED:Stardew Valley: How To Beat Journey Of The Prairie King
In it, you battle varying creatures that increase in challenge and difficulty the longer you last. You can purchase upgrades for your guns and health, and you can spend hours battling wave after wave of enemies if you grow bored with the farming life.
5Disco Dancing - Yakuza 0
The Yakuza series offersmany divergencesfrom its main narrative. Some of them are weird and wacky, focusing on humor and high jinks; others allow you to gather resources and extra cash. Dancing, introduced inYakuza 0, is a rhythm game all about moving to the beat of the music.
You can watch as your tough-as-nails criminal battles it out on the dance floor instead of using fists and kicks and bicycles. It offers a fun, energetic escape from the darker crime story, as do many of the side activities in the series.
4Insurance Fraud - Saints Row (Series)
Saints Rowis an open world action game where you play as a criminal. As the series progressed things got zanier and crazier, until the 2022 game brought things a little back down to reality. Outside the main missions, one of the many activities you can engage in is something called Insurance Fraud.
RELATED:The Best Side Quests In Saints Row
In the real world, Insurance Fraud is pretty boring, and dangerous. In Saints Row, you must dive in front of traffic, cause accidents and accumulate as much damage as you may. The more damage, the more you earn. It’s simple, but fun.
InRed Dead Redemptionyou play as John Marston, a former gang member who is now tracking down his once upon a time accomplices in exchange for freedom for himself and his family. If, however, you want to spend a little extra time in the wild west, there are numerous side activities you can partake in, including Poker.
you may play a fully realized game of Poker within Red Dead Redemption. In the single player campaign, you can play against AI competitors of varying difficulties, while in the online mode, you can compete against your friends or strangers. The degree to which you’ll enjoy it depends entirely on your enthusiasm for the game of Poker.
2Golf - Grand Theft Auto V
Grand Theft Auto Vis an open world playground. In it, you play as three people (Michael, Trevor, and/or Franklin) living out their crime-orientated lives. There are a plethora of things to do in Grand Theft Auto V outside the main campaign. One of those activities is golf.
RELATED:Awesome Things You Didn’t Know You Can Do In GTA Online
Golf in Grand Theft Auto V is not so much a minigame, but a fully featured golf simulator. you may play a full game of golf, with its own mechanics and systems. While not as featured as a game solely focused on golf, Grand Theft Auto V’s take on the popular sport is a good time.
1Gwent - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
When you’re not hunting monsters or tracking down Ciri or Yennifer inThe Witcher 3, you can battle the locals in a card game called Gwent. Gwent is a fully realized collectible card game that has you battling your foes to claim their cards as your own.
Gwent proved to be so popular and addictive that CD Projekt Red created a standalone spinoff solely focused on Gwent. Only this time you could play against your friends and/or strangers. They then made a story-driven RPG game calledThronebreaker, where Gwent was the primary form of gameplay. This was a card game minigame that, for some, was better than the main game it originated in.
