The Steam Spring Sale has expansive open-world titles that can be completely explored for only $20 US. 2023

Open-world games have long been popular, but technological advances in the previous decade have made them dominate. The Steam Spring Sale, running until March 23, 2023, has enough for adventurers, survivalists, and FPS fans.

Valheim

Survivalcraft games like Rust, Don’t Starve, and Astroneer have become cult favorites. Valheim encourages players to “Fight, develop, and conquer your way to a narrative worthy of Odin’s patronage!” in a Viking-inspired universe. The terrain and monsters in the randomly created planet are dangerous. Valheim is notoriously challenging, and overcoming the six biome-based enemies demands land and sea skill.

Survival Evolved

ARK: Survival Evolved disproves the Jurassic Park theory that you’d be OK with dinosaurs. The game throws you on an isolated island with prehistoric giants, and you may either control them, get rid of them, or do both. ARK is about survival. Scavenge, construct, hunt, and battle to survive and escape the cursed island.

Borderlands 3—85% off

Borderlands 3 won’t surprise fans of the franchise. This first-person looter-shooter has over-the-top characters, fantastic gunplay, complex open worlds, and profanity-screaming weaponry. In Borderlands 3, you fight the Calypso Twins and their frightening cult, The Children of the Vault.

Players pick one of four vault hunters with various talents and powers and go into the unknown to shoot robbers, hunt strange animals, and listen to slightly archaic jokes and cultural allusions. Borderlands 3 continues the looter shooter genre’s popularity, but it’s not for everyone.

If you missed Borderlands 3’s free Epic Games Store promotion, the Steam Spring Sale’s 85% discount gives you a second opportunity for US$8.99.Horizon: Zero Dawn—67% off

Horizon: Zero Dawn is an open-world game focused on the plot, with side objectives exploring its stunning plains, hills, and valleys. The game’s side tasks are well-implemented, and it’s been praised for avoiding open-world cliches that make side activities feel like chores or XP grinding. Horizon: Zero Dawn follows Aloy as she discovers her past and how enormous, hostile mechanical monsters took over her world.