Some open-world games sprinkle in collectibles and call it a day. Others turn exploration into a full-blown obsession, hiding puzzles, riddles, and secrets in every corner. This list is about those worlds, the ones packed with hidden content so dense, players form communities just to solve it all. From ancient myths scribbled in caves to mechanics buried beneath the map, these games reward curiosity like no other.
But this isn’t a vibes-based list. We’re ranking by sheer quantity, density, and impact, how many secrets there are, how hidden they are, and how much they matter. Whether narrative, mechanical, or environmental, these discoveries aren’t just cool; they’re unforgettable. Let’s start at the bottom and work up to the most secret-stuffed world of them all.
8 Outer Wilds
The World Ended, But Not The Curiosity
Outer Wilds
- Released
- May 28, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
There’s not a single traditional waypoint in Outer Wilds, and yet, somehow, every direction leads to discovery. The entire solar system is a 22-minute looping escape room built around piecing together an ancient mystery across fractured planets, orbiting ruins, and time-sensitive events. Instead of “collectibles,” players are chasing knowledge, what happened to the Nomai, what’s with the sun exploding, and why is that anglerfish nest so unsettlingly quiet?
It’s hard to quantify Outer Wilds like other games, but there are over 160 entries in the ship’s log, and each one connects like a jigsaw puzzle to unveil deeper secrets. From secret black hole warps on Brittle Hollow to translating hidden Nomai scrolls behind quantum puzzles, nothing is handed over easily. Even seemingly decorative structures like the Hourglass Twins’ sand towers turn out to be part of elaborate, interlinked systems. No single secret exists in a vacuum, and the game never tells players when they’ve uncovered something massive, they just feel it.
7 Tunic
The Manual’s Lying To You
Tunic
- Released
- March 16, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- e
- Developer(s)
- Andrew Shouldice
- Genre(s)
- Adventure
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
At first glance, Tunic looks like someone threw The Legend of Zelda into a diorama. But give it an hour, and it becomes clear that this is a game where even the pause screen hides secrets. The heart of Tunic's open world is its in-game instruction manual, which players collect page by page, often hidden behind late-game puzzles or near-invisible fake walls. And the twist? It's written in a fictional language that players gradually decode.
With over 56 pages of the manual to find, many of them requiring specific late-game tools or deciphered glyphs, Tunic starts layering secrets on top of secrets. There are entire mechanics, like the Holy Cross input system, that players can miss entirely if they don't dig deep. The Golden Path puzzle is the game’s final exam, and most players don’t even realize they’ve been studying for it the entire time. This is a game that hides world-changing answers in plain sight, then smiles while players realize what they’ve missed.
6 Hollow Knight
Hallownest Doesn’t Want To Be Found
Hollow Knight
- Released
- February 24, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ for Everyone 10+: Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood
- Developer(s)
- Team Cherry
- Genre(s)
- Metroidvania
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, macOS, Linux
Hollow Knight's secret count doesn’t play fair, it’s less “how many are there” and more “how many layers deep do you want to go?” With 45 charms, 112 total percent completion, and a stack of optional bosses, dream battles, and lore tablets scattered across Hallownest, this is a game where the real ending feels like it was buried beneath an archaeological dig site.
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Entire regions like the White Palace and the Path of Pain are locked behind specific dream upgrades, while others are tied to NPC questlines that evolve across dozens of hours. Finding the Grimm Troupe or triggering the hidden Godhome content isn't just about wandering, players have to listen to what the world is whispering. There are cryptic symbols etched into walls, platforming challenges that lead to nothing until much later, and even an entire alternate ending for those who dig deep enough into the lore of the Void. Hallownest was once a kingdom, but now, it’s a riddle.
5 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
There’s A Treasure Map In The Bottom Of A Well
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Released
- May 19, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Use of Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content
- Developer(s)
- CD Projekt Red
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
It’s easy to get lost in The Witcher 3, and not just because of its vast map. The world is bursting with over 250 question mark locations, many of which lead to sunken ruins, monster lairs, or buried treasure. But it’s the stories tied to these locations that elevate the secrets. A random journal might point to an abandoned cabin. That cabin could hold a key. That key opens a crypt tied to a side quest that loops back into the main narrative. That’s just how things go in Velen.
The Skellige Isles alone are dotted with 22 guarded treasure spots, often reachable only by boat and often guarded by creatures that no early-game player has any business fighting. Even Gwent, the card game that started as a side distraction, holds its own web of hidden quests, rare cards, and tournament chains that reward players who poke around long enough. Between unmarked story arcs like the Towerful of Mice and the shocking events tucked away in Blood and Wine’s land of Toussaint, Witcher 3 never runs out of reasons to keep exploring.
4 Elden Ring
That Bush Might Be A Trap
Elden Ring
- Released
- February 25, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- From Software
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
Elden Ring practically weaponizes curiosity. With over 300 dungeons, 200 boss encounters, and dozens of hidden NPCs scattered across the Lands Between, this is a game that expects players to look under every rock and get smacked for doing it. There’s a man trapped in a bush, an entire underground city beneath the map, and teleporter chests that toss players into endgame zones at level 10 just for touching the wrong sparkle.
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Even something like the Haligtree, one of the most hidden areas in the game, requires players to gather two halves of a medallion from opposite ends of the world. It’s possible to miss major characters like Ranni or entire zones like Nokron if players don't trigger specific story flags. There’s a reason community wikis were flooded with updates for months, because Elden Ring doesn’t hide a few secrets. It is a secret, one gigantic puzzlebox that punishes and rewards exploration in equal measure.
3 The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
Sometimes It’s In The Sky
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Released
- November 11, 2011
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol
- Developer(s)
- Bethesda Game Studios
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
By now, players have Fus Ro Dah’d their way through Skyrim a dozen times. And still, new secrets are being found. There are over 340 marked locations on the map, but that doesn’t even touch the unmarked ones; fishing shacks with personal journals, shrines hidden behind waterfalls, or skeletons mid-chess game in a cave no quest ever sends players to. It’s a game built for the nosy.
Every Daedric quest, from Molag Bal’s sinister house in Markarth to Sheogorath’s cheese-fueled chaos, hides some of the most memorable moments in RPG history. The Black Book quests in Solstheim take players to Apocrypha, a Lovecraftian realm filled with whispering books and tentacle gods, while the Thieves Guild has secret entrances and hidden caches all across Riften. Even 12 years later, modders are still finding unused dialogue and cut questlines buried in the code. Skyrim isn’t just a fantasy playground. It’s a conspiracy theory with a compass.
2 Red Dead Redemption 2
That Cabin Has A Story, And It’s Not A Happy One
Red Dead Redemption 2
- Released
- October 26, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
The sheer density of Red Dead Redemption 2’s world is staggering. Beyond its over 230 animals to track, 60 weapons to unlock, and 16 legendary animals to hunt, there are dozens of unmarked locations that hide entire stories told through setpieces. A crashed flying machine, a haunted swamp shack with an actual ghost, and the remains of a cult ritual all exist for no reason other than to creep out or surprise curious cowboys.
There are 144 cigarette cards to collect, 30 dinosaur bones, 10 rock carvings, and even a serial killer storyline players have to assemble from dismembered corpses and bloody notes. The most iconic secret, though, might be the UFO encounter, where players can witness an alien ship by camping out in a specific cabin at 2 AM. Rockstar didn’t just build a Western, they built a folklore simulator. And the secrets aren’t just Easter eggs. They’re character studies, bits of dark humor, and windows into a cruel and fascinating world.
1 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The Answer Is Still Just Offscreen
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Released
- March 3, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E for Everyone: Fantasy Violence, Use of Alcohol, Mild Suggestive Themes
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo EPD
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Wii U, Switch
If there’s a gold standard for open-world secrets, Breath of the Wild holds the crown. It’s not even close. With 900 Korok seeds hidden across forests, cliffsides, mountaintops, and inside literal puzzles disguised as the environment, this is a game that turns every piece of geography into a scavenger hunt. And no, finding all 900 doesn’t give players a reward worth the effort, it gives them a golden poop. That’s the joke, and it’s glorious.
But it’s not just the seeds. There are 120 main shrines, many tucked into cliffside mazes or behind riddles spoken by dragons. Then there are the 42 labyrinth shrine quests, the hidden memories from Zelda’s diary, the blood moon mechanics that reset enemy placements, and the Lomei Labyrinth Island that looks like it came straight out of a conspiracy theorist’s sketchbook. Even after hundreds of hours, players stumble onto brand new interactions, like how certain recipes only unlock during thunderstorms or how shield surfing behaves differently on snow. Every rock has potential. Every shadow might be hiding something. And most of the time, it is.
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