You Will Get Lost In These Realistic Video Game Worlds

Sometimes the greatest escape from reality is a video game that does its very best to echo reality, but in a way that lets you experience other places, other sights and sounds, and fresh experiences. While I definitely don't want to be transported back to the wild west of a fledgling United States of America, I don't mind riding a horse and hunting bears in Red Dead Redemption 2.

These games have been selected for their realism and exploration, but also for the sense of feeling and sense of place they inspire when you play them. It's easy to get lost in these realistic worlds, give or take a few zombies here and there.

10 Firewatch

While Firewatch is a linear experience, I still remember the first time exploring the game with very fond memories. Much of the game's realism - which is usually called a 'walking simulator' - comes from interacting with the world and listening to the compelling narrative unfold.

Now I just watch TikToks of fire spotters in real life.

9 The Hunter: Call of the Wild

The Hunter: Call Of The Wild sometimes feels like more than a game. The experience of tracking animals through thick undergrowth through ridiculously-detailed landscapes often leaves you feeling like you've just wandered through a real-life forest. Life is slow in Call Of The Wild. Stalk your prey, take your time, and be patient.

It's quite a relaxing experience, all in all. Not that relaxing for the turkey I've just shot from 500m away with a rifle unnecessarily powerful for shooting turkeys, but that's life.

8 SnowRunner

SnowRunner is the closest I'll ever get to driving a truck laden with logs through a blizzard on the side of a mountain, and you know what? I'm perfectly fine with that.

I played this game with one of my best mates and we both couldn't believe how immersive SnowRunner turned out to be. This is mostly thanks to how visceral the trucks feel to drive, with every scrape of the wheel or every bump in the road carefully simulated via its clever terrain simulation.

7 Green Hell

Green Hell is a miserable experience, but that's what you sign up for when you play an ultra-realistic jungle survival simulator. If you can figure out how to survive, Green Hell becomes a rewarding game about traversing the deepest, darkest depths of some of the most gorgeous environments on earth.

This game is a challenging adventure, but then I suppose surviving in the Amazon jungle all on your own with little-to-no survival experience would probably be pretty difficult.

6 Microsoft Flight Simulator

I flew over my house in Microsoft Flight Simulator and imagined that I was actually sitting at my desk hundreds of feet below. I can't fly a plane (I'm too blind, and colourblind to boot) but I imagine Microsoft Flight Simulator is the closest a layperson can get to experiencing the joys of navigating a twin-plane engine over rolling English countryside.

You're never going to compete with a massive simulation rig with joysticks and rotating cockpit chairs, but MFS is a brilliant experience you can hop into from the comfort of your sofa.

5 The Long Dark

The Long Dark is brutal, but rewarding. Wandering the icy wastes while seeking temporary shelter, crafting warmer clothes as you struggle to hide from hungry wolves, is one of the most thrilling experiences you can have in a game.

If you aren't a fan of realistic survival elements, like having to feed yourself or keep warm, then The Long Dark ultimately feels punishing. But it's worth it for the night's sky, the stolen moments next to a small campfire, and the atmospheric immersion that seems to fill the surrounding room.

4 Project Zomboid

Okay, one second, one second. I know Project Zomboid has zombies in it, but if we could just overlook that for a moment, you'll find that Zomboid has some of the most realistic and immersive exploration of any game out there. This is wild considering it's a fairly dated-looking isometric simulator game, but the new lighting system added in its latest update and a fresh 4K resolution make it unbelievably atmospheric.

1994 rural Kentucky has been painstakingly brought to life by The Indie Stone, with explorable buildings, towns, villages, military bases, and more. And, despite the zombies, it's very realistic. My character ate some burned sausages and died two days later of severe stomach pain.

3 Grand Theft Auto 5

Now I know what you're thinking: Grand Theft Auto 5 is not realistic. Of course, you're right. GTA: Online is more of an absurdist visualisation of what real life would be like if you left it in the hands of a million teenage boys.

However, the base game, without all the nonsense, is actually a pretty atmospheric place. Although it's not quite on the level of Red Dead Redemption 2 for pure simulation, it still offers some of the best city exploration of any modern video game.

2 Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a gorgeous game. It's even more gorgeous than I was expecting when I first loaded it up and spent the first three hours just wandering around delightful European countryside as Henry, completely forgetting there was some sort of large, overarching story I was meant to be paying attention to.

I just remember climbing up a watchtower and looking over some rolling fields and thinking, woah, this is a video game. It looks like a photograph. While KC:D2 does take some liberties with reality here and there, it's largely a grounded and realistic game that can be played almost solely for exploration - if you fancy it.

1 Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the greatest games of all time, and for the vast majority of my gametime I've not paid any attention to the story (great as it is) whatsoever. Most of my time in Red Dead 2 has been spent riding around, hunting animals, going fishing, watching the lives of the NPCs, and generally soaking in the wild west.

This is the sort of game that my flatmates will watch me play even though they have no clue what's going on. Red Dead Redemption 2 is just a beautiful game, the sort of game that encapsulates realistic exploration (if you can forgive your ability to slow down time to snipe pigeons out of the air.)