What better way to celebrate the great outdoors than to sit in front of the TV, controller in hand? Jokes aside, you don’t need to climb a tree to appreciate the majesty of a forest (especially when the weather is crap).
You can visit pretty much any natural environment you want in a video game. Even though it’s no substitute for the real thing, what’s a bit of harmless escapism every now and then? Here are some great starting points.
Terra Nil
Terra Nil isn’t a game about nature, it’s a game about the impact that humans have on nature. Released in 2023 as a mobile-first game, Terra Nil is a strategy game that tasks you with terraforming a lifeless wasteland into a thriving ecosystem. This is accomplished using a variety of contraptions like wind turbines and water pumps, with each level increasing in difficulty.
The game has several stages you need to navigate, starting with repairing the soil and laying down water sources. Now build a variety of ecosystems like wetlands and meadows by triggering certain actions. If you succeed you’ll attract different forms of wildlife, and the effect will be amplified. From here, all that’s left is to remove all of your tech and leave behind a pristine environment before moving on to the next level.
Terra Nil is available free of charge with a Netflix subscription, or you can buy it on Nintendo Switch and PC.
For a game released in 2011, Bethesda’s Skyrim holds up pretty well, but what makes the game so easy to go back to (for me) is its beautiful alpine wilderness. You can spend hours exploring the natural environment while getting eaten by bears, bothered by spriggans, and taking countless arrows to the knee.
There’s a real variety to Skyrim’s unspoiled world, and the whole thing feels alive with insects, wildlife, and crafting materials you can gather. Villages like Riverwood (which you’ll encounter early on) are rural idylls with salmon jumping upstream in the nearby river, and even gloomy settlements like Riften (where it always seems to rain) are nestled in dramatic landscapes framed perfectly by majestic mountains.
Skyrim is available on pretty much everything, including the Switch and Game Pass (which means mobile play over Xbox cloud gaming is possible), and the game also happens to be one of the most moddable titles out there so you can make it look even better.
Tchia
If you’d rather escape to a tropical island, give Tchia a shot. This is a game that’s heavily inspired by New Caledonia, some 750 miles east of Australia in the Pacific Ocean. It’s an open-world island simulator in which you can freely explore the tropics, meet locals, and befriend the native wildlife.
Tchia opts for a vibrant, stylized, and cartoony look—one that perfectly complements the game’s nature-heavy themes. You can explore on foot or by sailboat, and you can shapeshift into different creatures and objects. This allows you to explore from a height by flying as a bird, or “possess” a coconut and roll around on the floor.
Tchia is available on PS4, PS5, PC, Switch and Xbox Series consoles. If you need to trick your brain into thinking you’ve escaped to a warmer climate then you can do a lot worse.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
Arguably one of the most visually stunning games of 2024, Senua’s Saga is the ambitious follow-up to Ninja Theory’s 2017 breakout hit Hellblade. The game sees Senua taken aboard a slaver ship and transported from the island of Orkney to Iceland, where she attempts to free her people (all the while being taunted by visual and auditory hallucinations).
This is the closest thing in video games to an “Iceland simulator.” The landscape is breathtaking, and the game’s photo-realistic art style makes everything feel grounded in reality. This is a harsh and unforgiving environment, illuminated sparsely by overcast skies, stunning sunsets, and flame. Gameplay consists of exploration, simple puzzles, and one-on-one combat; with the whole thing taking around eight hours to complete.
The game is currently only available on Windows and Xbox Series consoles.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Rockstar’s follow-up to 2010’s epic Western, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a prequel that takes advantage of more than a decade of hardware improvements to deliver a truly breathtaking open world. This game has it all, from the snow-capped peaks of the game’s opening hours to the dusty and barren landscapes that you’re used to seeing in Western movies.
But what makes this one so special is just how alive the world feels. Not only are there random encounters with other people, but there’s a whole ecosystem of wildlife to experience. This includes interactions like predators catching prey and reacting to your presence. I’ve even been known to spend time in Red Dead Online, the fairly barren multiplayer mode, just exploring the world with my partner.
Red Dead Redemption is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The game also runs on PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, but as of writing it hasn’t been updated to take advantage of the hardware improvements.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Nintendo Switch launch title (and Wii U swan song) The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild marked a turning point for Nintendo’s iconic series. The game emphasized free-form exploration instead of quest markers, and this formula worked so well thanks to the sprawling natural sandbox in which the game was set. The great outdoors is the heart and soul of this game.
From the moment you emerge from your slumber, leave the cave, and gaze out over the Wild that awaits you, Hyrule is utterly captivating. The story and side quests feel secondary to the adventure that you create for yourself as you travel the land, making this a must-play title even following the release of its more mechanically accomplished sequel Tears of the Kingdom.
Grab the game on Switch, or play the Switch 2 Enhanced version on Nintendo’s next-generation hybrid when it releases in June 2025.
Abzu
Abzu is different from the other games on this list because it portrays a world we don’t usually see. This is an underwater adventure where, like Terra Nil, you must help restore life. But this is a wholly 3D affair, where you control a diver as you explore the deep, discover ancient artifacts, solve puzzles, and encounter all manner of underwater creatures.
The game’s beauty is reinforced by a stunning dynamic soundtrack, vibrant art style, and occasional cutscene that adds detail to the wider narrative. You can even grab onto some of the creatures you find to catch a free ride. The game is highly approachable thanks to its simple control scheme and linear design, but the world is captivating and the overarching themes of putting things right will spur you on toward the conclusion.
Abzu came out in 2016 for PS4, Xbox One, and Windows, with a Switch version available (the game also works on modern PS5 and Xbox Series machines).
Firewatch
I have a bit of a problem with Firewatch in that I can’t stop bringing it up. The game lives rent-free in my head for its intriguing narrative and approachable runtime. But the other reason I absolutely adore Campo Santo’s 2016 hit is for its excellent depiction of the great outdoors.
The game puts you in the role of a fire lookout in a remote Wyoming forest with only a walkie-talkie and a few errant park-goers for company. The way the game is lit lends it so much atmosphere, as does the swaying of the grass and the trees, and the sound of the birds and insects that serve as a soundtrack to your adventure.
You can play Firewatch on almost anything these days, including Windows, Linux, Mac, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and modern PS5 and Xbox Series consoles.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
Far from being a dusty simulator for nerds, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is what you make it. Improving on 2020’s release, Asobo Studio has added a variety of game modes to give the game a little more purpose, including careers like crop dusting, search and rescue, and firefighting. The game has also seen some big improvements in efficiency, visuals, and asset quality.
If you’re not aware, Flight Sim lets you fly anywhere on Earth by using a combination of satellite imagery, photogrammetry, and software interpretation to build a 1:1 recreation of the planet. You can fly in iconic natural locations like the Grand Canyon or over African savannas (complete with appropriate wildlife), and take in natural phenomena like animal migrations, wildfires, auroras, and all kinds of weather. Or you can just fly over your house!
It’s a holiday without leaving your house, and basic flight is approachable enough for a complete beginner. Play it on Windows and Xbox Series consoles (with a cloud gaming version available too).
Viva Piñata
Viva Piñata is a cozy gardening game about attracting piñatas to your patch of land. Even though these piñatas are fictional creatures, the game’s themes of building and maintaining a garden and creating the right ecosystem in order to attract others tick the nature box in a way few other games do. It also helps that many of these piñatas are adorable facsimiles of real-world creatures.
This is an old game and one we’d love to see Microsoft bring back for modern systems. Thankfully the game remains playable (and for sale) on modern Xbox consoles (including Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S), the Xbox 360, and Windows PCs.
Has all this talk of nature awakened the outdoors within you? Make sure you grab this free hiking app I never leave home without.
