It’s always a delight to jump around in video games, which is why platformers are so appealing to the mass video game audience. But typically, platforming tends to be rather structured, whether in level-by-level progression or smaller zones that are a bit more open but are still just a section of the game.
In fact, open-world platformers are far and few between. Many try to emulate the gameplay while still having separate levels, but there aren’t many out there that are a single open world where one of the main challenges is platforming around. Luckily, the open-world platformers that have come out over the years are worth playing.
There have been quite a fewdelightfully cozy3D platformers in recent years. One game that fits in with these vibes is the cottagecore adventureMail Time. While training to be a Mail Scout, the player is tasked with exploring a beautiful forest trying to deliver a piece of mail.
Along the way, players will run into various characters who will also need help with delivering mail and completing tasks. The platforming comes in with navigating the forest, as players can climb tall trees and hover across long stretches of land collecting objects and finding individuals that are harder to reach than others.
Great movement is key to a great platformer, and very few games feel as good to traverse asThe Pathless. APlayStation 5 launch gamedeveloped by Giant Squid, The Pathless is about the Hunter as they explore a vast world that has been consumed by darkness.
Reach great heights by flying with the help of the eagle companion. Using the bow, players can hit diamonds in across the land to pick up speed and run to different points of the land. Solve puzzles to collect objects and reclaim towers that have given in to the ominous curse that plagues the land.
The best open-world games can sometimes be ones that are just big sandboxes to hang out in. A great version of this isSludge Life, anabsurd 3D platformerfrom Terri Vellmann and Doseone published by Devolver Digital. The game revolves around being a vandal on an island in a very polluted world.
The primary objective of Sludge Life is to interact with characters while navigating the various structures on the island and tagging various surfaces. There are many difficult places where players can tag, which can be reached through either basic platforming or various tools such as a glider.
A lot of open-world platformers revolve around the idea of exploration, and there is no game that makes exploration as worthwhile asSable. The plot revolves around a girl named Sable who is on a journey through many different landscapes learning about the people who came before her.
With a uniquecel-shaded art style, Sable takes players through a large open world filled with ruins that players will be able to use any of their abilities to explore, from gliding across gaps to climbing to the tallest points of any structure. Players can also enjoy being able to ride around with a hoverbike from point to point.
Very rarely do you get 3D platformers that aren’t presented in either a first-person point-of-view or third-person behind-the-player. ButA Short Hikeisa 3D platformer wherethe perspective comes from high up as players move a little bird named Claire around an island called Hawk Peak Provincial Park.
As Claire, the main goal is to reach the very top of Hawk Peak as Claire is trying to get phone reception. Along the way, she will need to collect golden feathers to get higher on the mountain. She can do this by either exploring the island as well as helping the various people that are hanging out in the park as well.
Exploring an open-world game can make some feel like being a kid on a playground. Fitting in perfectly with this mindset isLil Gator Game, an experience all about being a kid trying to set up a game where other kids would come and play along.
Lil Gator is trying to convince their older sister to stop doing school work to come play games. When she gets distracted, Lil Gator goes on adventure around the island to recruit as many people to make the best game possible that their sister has to play. The game features manycollect-a-thon elements, such as finding all the other kids on the island and defeating cardboard monsters.
While the Nintendo Switch generation saw one major 3DMariotitle to kick things off, there hasn’t been another title of that size since 2017. However, an expansion toSuper Mario 3D Worldsaw the release ofBowser’s Fury, the franchise’s first step into a fully open-world 3D experience, in 2021.
After entering a portal into Lake Lapcat, Mario is tasked by Bowser Jr tohelp Bowserturn back to normal after he has turned into a large, inky entity called Fury Bowser. The cat-filled world is filled with various platforming challenges that earn Mario Cat Shines, which can help Mario gain the Giga Bell power to fight Bowser directly.
MORE:Every Mario Platformer Ranked By How Long They Take To Beat
