Common name for open world games

[Trojan_generic]

Playing currently Watch Dogs and I'm wondering what would be the common name for this type of games. I'm talking about games like GTA, Sleeping Dogs (WTF do the dogs have to do with these games?), Mafia (atleast 2). Batman games would almost fit in the category but I would not include them because everyone is an enemy. Just Cause 2: yes, and never Far Cry games: perhaps.

So, what would you call them? Open world grinds? Roaming games? Break-all-and-it's-fixed-in-a-minute games? You name it.

 

[DDZ]

Free roam games
Sandbox games
GTA clones

 

[Castanova]

Errand simulators

 

[Telengard]

Thug Life Simulators*. -Kind of like the Sims, but with guns.




* Buy and decorate your crib. Buy new clothes to wear. Play games wit yer homies. Drive around town and do stupid stuff. Get collectables.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Open-world game.

 

[muds_animal_friend]

"Free-roaming" always seemed the most appropriate to me. That's all a GTA game really is outside the missions: just wandering around for the sake of wandering around. "Sandbox", in contrast, just feels wrong as you can't really (permanently) change the environment. "Sandbox" is more appropriate for city-builders and g0d games.

 

[Lemming42]

I call them "Freeride games", named after Mafia 1's freeride mode. When nobody knows what I'm talking about, I just say "GTA-like game".

 

[G.O.D]

Boring shovelware. Lots of those look and play like re-skins of similar titles.

 

[racofer]

Shit.

 

[chestburster]

Theme parks on a big map.


In the MMO genre, there is a dichotomy between "theme park" and "sandbox".

In the "singleplayer with big maps" subgenre, there is a dichotomy between "theme park" (AssCreed, WashDogs, Mafia II) and true "sandbox" (STALKER). And there is everything else in between (FarCry 2, 3, Skyrim, GTA4, etc.).

The difference being, in a theme park game, your localized action only affects that location, never has any repercussion across the map as a whole. For example, in AssCreed 3, you liberate a fort, other than the enemies you confront in that particular camp, no other enemies or friendly NPCs is affected by your action. Your action and its consequences are perfectly limited in a localized "action bubble."

Compare that with, say, STALKER Clear Sky. You kill bandits in a certain camp. Bandits lose resources on a global scale. Loner stalkers gain upper hand against bandits. The whole map possibly is taken over by Loner stalkers.