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“Better exploration” depends on what you want from a game: freedom to choose your route, secrets worth finding, satisfying puzzles, or a world that reacts to how you move through it. These seven games excel in different ways. They are a preference-led shortlist, not a measured ranking—and several trade Ocarina of Time’s dungeon-focused structure for open-world travel, quieter wandering, or more demanding combat.
How these games compare with Ocarina of Time
Ocarina of Time ties exploration closely to progression: new items open routes, and dungeons reward observation and puzzle-solving. The games below lean into other strengths, including open-ended routes, environmental interaction, secrets, or a more relaxed pace. The right pick depends on which part of exploring Hyrule you most want to expand.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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The Oregon Trail Nintendo Switch | $39.82 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Assassin's Creed: The Rebel Collection - Nintendo Switch | $23.98 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Hello Kitty Island Adventure - Nintendo Switch | $26.00 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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ARK: Survival Evolved - Nintendo Switch | $34.90 | Buy on Amazon |
| Game | Exploration strength | What to expect instead of Ocarina-style exploration |
|---|---|---|
| Elden Ring | Open-world travel, dungeons, and hidden mysteries | Combat-heavy action RPG in a dark-fantasy setting |
| The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild | Freedom to choose routes and discover destinations | A Zelda game that shifts emphasis toward open-ended travel |
| Eternal Strands | Climbing and experimenting with environmental physics and magic | Action-adventure exploration focused on interacting with the environment |
| Sable | Roaming an open world at a contemplative pace | Non-combat adventure rather than combat or dungeon challenge |
| Genshin Impact | Open-world discovery, puzzles, and secrets tied to character powers | Free-to-play structure with gacha elements |
| Tunic | Uncovering secrets and interpreting a cryptic manual | Compact, isometric mystery with deliberately obscure clues |
| Chicory: A Colorful Tale | Exploring towns and dungeons through paintbrush-based puzzles | Top-down, puzzle-led adventure rather than a huge open world |
1. Elden Ring: for dangerous, open-ended discovery
If you want a world where choosing a direction can lead to a new dungeon, landmark, or mystery, Elden Ring is the most combat-focused option here. Bandai Namco describes it as an open-world, single-player action RPG, with exploration across the Lands Between and the Land of Shadow: Bandai Namco’s Elden Ring page.
Its appeal is the sense that travel itself can uncover unexpected places, rather than simply connecting one story objective to the next. The tradeoff is substantial: danger and difficult combat are central to the experience. It is a strong choice for players who want exploration to feel risky, but a poor fit if what you love about Ocarina is primarily its puzzles and approachable adventure structure.
#1 Best Overall
- True to the Original
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- Deluxe Edition Content: Full game, Cowboys & Critters DLC, 3 art cards, Reversible coversheet
2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: for choosing your own route
Breath of the Wild belongs on a list framed around Zelda because it is a Zelda game that deliberately gives exploration a different emphasis. Nintendo says players can “Explore the landscape of Hyrule any way you like.” Its official page describes climbing towers and mountain peaks to find destinations, using the Sheikah Slate to map points of interest, and traveling by horse, raft, shield-surfing, and paraglider: Nintendo’s Breath of the Wild page.
Rather than following a tightly directed sequence of routes, you can spot a distant landmark and work out how to reach it. That makes it a natural recommendation if your favorite part of Ocarina was the promise of discovering what lay beyond the next horizon, even though its approach is less centered on the classic item-gated dungeon progression.
3. Eternal Strands: for experimenting with the environment
Eternal Strands is a fit if you want traversal to feel interactive, not just like moving between points on a map. GamesRadar+ describes it as drawing on Breath of the Wild-style wall-climbing and physics interaction, with magic that affects the environment: GamesRadar+’s Zelda-adjacent recommendations.
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- Includes both Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag and Assassin’s Creed Rogue, plus all single-player DLC.
- Become the most feared pirate in the Caribbean in Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag. Take part in an award-winning naval experience and explore a massive open world.
- Become the ultimate assassin hunter in Assassin’s Creed Rogue, and play as a Templar for the first time in franchise history.
- Additional bonus content: Black Beard: The Lost Journal (pp. 1– 55) and Assassin’s Creed: Awakening Volumes 1 & 2.
- Experience enhanced features like handheld mode, HD Rumble, a touch screen interface, and motion control aiming.
That combination suggests an exploration loop built around trying abilities and seeing how the world responds. It is an action-adventure, not evidence of a universally superior exploration design; choose it for environmental experimentation rather than for a guaranteed match to Ocarina’s dungeon puzzles.
4. Sable: for quiet, non-combat roaming
Sable suits players who want to wander without making combat the reason to explore. GamesRadar+ characterizes it as an open-world, non-combat adventure with a contemplative pace and a world that encourages exploration (GamesRadar+’s Zelda-adjacent recommendations).
That slower, quieter focus is the point: it favors atmosphere and roaming over fighting through threats. If you want exploration to be restful rather than tense, Sable offers a clear contrast with both Ocarina’s dungeon challenges and Elden Ring’s combat-heavy world.
Rank #3
- Explore a Massive World: Meet Hello Kitty and Friends across distinct biomes with more than 100 hours of adventure and affecting stories to experience. Brave Kuromi’s haunted mansion in the Spooky Swamp, unearth ancient secrets with Retsuko in fiery Mount Hothead, grow rare flowers with Wish me mell in the Merry Meadows, discover new treasures underwater in Rainbow Reef, and so much more.
- Be Who You Want: Express yourself as an original, Sanrio-style avatar with a wide range of adorable character customization options. Select from dozens of faces, features, and body shapes, then collect hundreds of clothing items. Change your appearance at any time.
- Craft, Create, Collect: Bake delicious recipes with Hello Kitty, brew magic potions with Kuromi, collect critters with Keroppi, learn to fish from Badtz-maru, and so much more. Share gifts and complete quests to deepen your friendship with even more beloved characters.
- Team Up in Multiplayer: Everything is better with friends. Invite other players to your island and complete multiplayer challenges to boost each other’s stamina, solve the island’s trickiest puzzles, chase new high scores, or build beautiful vacation homes together. Multiplayer guests can even decorate their own Friendship Cabins on your island.
5. Genshin Impact: for a broad world of puzzles and secrets
Genshin Impact combines open-world adventure with puzzles and secrets that can be discovered using character powers. GamesRadar+ compares its open-world feel to Breath of the Wild and highlights that ability-based discovery (GamesRadar+’s Zelda-adjacent recommendations).
It is free-to-play and has a gacha structure. That is worth knowing before you start, but it does not mean all content is paid. The appeal here is roaming and figuring out how characters’ powers relate to the world; choose another game if you prefer a conventional, self-contained adventure structure.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.6. Tunic: for secrets you have to learn how to read
Tunic is an isometric, Zelda-inspired mystery for players who enjoy interpreting clues rather than having every route spelled out. A cryptic instruction manual is part of the discovery: learning what it means can change how you understand the world. GamesRadar+ highlights its secret hunting and reports an optional invincibility mode for players who want to focus on exploration; it also lists Nintendo Switch among its platforms (GamesRadar+’s Zelda-adjacent recommendations).
Rank #4
- Capture and Tame Dinosaurs: Discover over 100 different dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures on the island, finding ways to tame them into useful additions for your tribe's dyno herd
- Survive Above All: Hunger, thirst, basic safety, and protecting yourself from the weather are all part of the game
- Harvest, Hunt and Build: Cut down trees and turn them into a basic home, which you can quickly expand into a Jurassic estate. Hunt for meat, scavenge for plants (or start your own garden!)
- Customize Everything: An extensive crafting system invites you to mix and match materials scavenged from the island, while also modifying the colors, textures, shapes, and styles
- Explore the Island: Solve the mystery of The ARK as you explore this massive island, discovering Explorer's Notebooks (filled with clues!) throughout
Its clues can be deliberately obscure, so the satisfaction depends on enjoying inference and experimentation. If combat gets in the way, the reported optional mode may help you concentrate on discovery; if you want clear guidance and obvious objectives, Tunic may frustrate more than it delights.
7. Chicory: A Colorful Tale: for compact, puzzle-led exploration
Chicory: A Colorful Tale is the pick for readers who want a smaller-scale adventure with places to explore and puzzles to solve, not a vast open world. GamesRadar+ describes a top-down journey through towns and dungeons, with puzzles that use paintbrush abilities, and lists Nintendo Switch among its platforms (GamesRadar+’s Zelda-adjacent recommendations).
Its exploration is closely connected to those abilities and the puzzles they make possible. That makes it a better match for someone drawn to Ocarina’s problem-solving than for someone whose priority is an enormous landscape to roam.
Which game should you try first?
- For maximum route freedom: start with Breath of the Wild.
- For dangerous discovery and dungeons: choose Elden Ring, if you want demanding combat.
- For environmental experimentation: try Eternal Strands.
- For peaceful open-world wandering: choose Sable.
- For ability-based puzzles in an open world: consider Genshin Impact and its free-to-play, gacha structure.
- For secrets and cryptic clues: choose Tunic.
- For a compact adventure centered on puzzles: try Chicory: A Colorful Tale.
If none of these fits, Nintendo Life also discusses Hyper Light Drifter, Elliot Quest, Ittle Dew 2+, and Crystalis as alternatives for Zelda fans: Nintendo Life’s games like Zelda guide. Its coverage notes that Elliot Quest can be unclear in direction, while Ittle Dew 2+ channels 2D Zelda exploration. Check platform and edition availability for the version you want before buying; the cited recommendations do not establish current availability across every platform or region.
Quick Recap
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