Open-world video games offer us a promise that is impossible to deliver. They invite us to immerse ourselves in a compelling and interesting world of freedom, but limited, due to the inherent conventions of the game, by a small set of available actions. In such games, our options are much more limited than in the real world. But they still can not bore us.

Despite all the obvious failures and limitations, we have been immersed in open-worlds for more than 30 years. Today, the story of almost every large-scale game takes place in an open world. We enjoy their possibilities and forgive them their oddities.