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Immersive sims aren’t about ing a checklist or racing to the next objective. They’re about asking “What if I tried this?” and getting an actual answer. These games blur the line between genres, often throwing players into systemic sandboxes where everything interacts with everything else. Shoot a lock or pick it. Climb through the window or possess a rat. Craft a distraction or punch through the wall. That’s the appeal.
The freedom in these games isn’t about big maps or branching stories; it’s about having a problem and being trusted to solve it however the player wants, no matter how chaotic or creative that path becomes. The entries here aren’t just immersive sims, they’re blueprints for how to do player freedom right.
7 Arx Fatalis
Sometimes the Best Spell Is Just Drawing A Rune In The Air
Arx Fatalis is what happens when a studio wants to make Ultima Underworld but decides to add edible rats, dynamic NPC schedules, and actual spellcasting gestures. Arkane’s first title was far from flawless, but it was wildly ambitious for its time, especially on the original Xbox. The underground world wasn’t just a setting, it was a living ecosystem with factions that reacted to player actions, food that rotted, and a magic system that required players to memorize gestures and draw them mid-fight.
There was no class system, no quest markers, and no hand-holding. Players could poison food, sneak through goblin territories, or just brute-force problems with swords and spells. The entire world was one seamless dungeon, filled with secrets that rewarded clever thinking over raw stats. It may not have aged as gracefully as Arkane’s later works, but Arx Fatalis was the prototype that would eventually lead to Dishonored and Prey, and it still deserves credit for how far it pushed freedom in a dark fantasy world.
6 Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
Big Boss, Big Sandbox, Bigger Bag Of Tricks
Few games trust players with as many tools and as little direction as Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. It’s a stealth-action game where knocking on a wall is just as valid a strategy as calling in an airstrike. Missions take place in massive open environments that respond to player behavior. Spam headshots and the enemy will start wearing helmets. Attack at night too often and they’ll bring night vision. Try to go loud and players will find themselves outnumbered fast unless they’ve planned ahead.
Between the buddy system, customizable loadouts, weather dynamics, and Fulton balloons that let players steal tanks mid-combat, The Phantom Pain turns improvisation into an art form. It’s also a rare example of a franchise known for its linear storytelling suddenly embracing systems-driven gameplay without sacrificing identity. Kojima gave players a giant toybox and let them go wild, and the result was chaotic, hilarious, and occasionally brilliant.
5 System Shock
Where There’s One Wrench, There’s Always A Way
1994’s System Shock walked so every other immersive sim could run while hiding in vents and hacking turrets. It threw players into Citadel Station with nothing but a pipe and a brain full of bad decisions, and it expected them to learn by doing. There were no cutscenes, no quest markers, and barely any tutorials. What it had instead was SHODAN, the genre’s most iconic villain, and a philosophy that the world should never break immersion, even if that made things harder to parse.
The original combined first-person exploration, hacking, audio logs, environmental puzzles, and RPG mechanics in a way no one had quite done before. It was brutal, but it was also shockingly ahead of its time. Even the 2023 remake stayed true to its core principles, preserving its nonlinear structure, physics-driven world, and atmosphere of creeping dread. System Shock is a cornerstone for a reason, and every wrench-toting protagonist since owes it a nod.
4 Prey
On Talos 1, Even The Coffee Cups Can Kill You
What made Prey so impressive wasn’t its combat or even its story; it was how densely packed and reactive the space station of Talos 1 felt. There were rooms locked behind security systems, safes hidden behind paintings, and ductwork that led to entire new areas if players were curious enough to climb through. Instead of gating progression with artificial locks, Prey used knowledge, skill, and sheer creativity as keys.
Want to reach a balcony before getting the jump boost? Stack foam blocks. Out of ammo? Possess a coffee cup and roll past enemies. Every ability had multiple uses, and everything from vending machines to security turrets could be exploited with enough brainpower. Unlike most sci-fi shooters, Prey made failure feel interesting. Running out of resources just meant it was time to get clever. It’s one of the most mechanically layered games Arkane has ever made, and arguably the purest immersive sim of the modern era.
3 Dishonored 2
Every Kill Is Optional, Every Consequence Is Permanent
Dishonored 2 wasn’t content with just expanding on the first game. It cranked everything up and still found time to experiment. Whether players chose Corvo or Emily, the game gave them new powers, new movement mechanics, and some of the most intricate levels ever built in the genre. There’s a reason The Clockwork Mansion and A Crack in the Slab are frequently studied by level designers; they’re basically puzzles masquerading as environments.
What really made Dishonored 2 shine, though, was how it responded to the player’s choices. Chaos levels affected NPC behavior, environmental storytelling, and even the final ending. Kill everyone and Karnaca rots. Go full ghost and the city breathes. Players could chain Blink jumps to cross entire rooftops, possess rats to sneak through holes, or stop time and walk enemies into their own bullets. Every decision had consequences, but more importantly, every decision felt like it was truly theirs.
2 The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
The Game That Let Everyone Be The Main Character
There’s a reason The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim still gets modded over a decade since its release and played on more platforms than Doom. It handed players a fantasy world and then asked, “What do you want to do?” Join the Dark Brotherhood? Sure. Ignore the main quest and hunt deer? Also fine. Punch a dragon to death wearing only iron gauntlets while screaming at it in Dragonborn? Go right ahead.
Skyrim didn’t just offer freedom in dialogue or exploration, it built entire systems to support player whim. Alchemy, enchanting, stealth, smithing, and shouts all fed into each other, allowing players to shape wildly different characters without ever feeling boxed in. And while the immersive sim elements were lighter than others on this list, the game’s modular approach to quests and its physics-driven interactions helped it earn a spot among the genre’s best. If freedom is measured by how long a player can wander without a plan, Skyrim might be the gold standard.
1 Deus Ex
Augment First, Ask Questions Later
Deus Ex didn’t invent immersive sims, but it refined the formula and then taught every other game how to wear sunglasses at night while talking about conspiracy theories. It dropped players into a cyberpunk world full of locked doors, corrupt governments, and mysterious organizations, and then stepped back. Stealth, hacking, social manipulation, brute force, it all worked. What mattered was how players built their character and which paths they decided to explore.
Every level was a small sandbox of interconnected systems. Blow through a wall or find a hidden tunnel. Hack into a terminal or bribe someone for the password. Even conversations had multiple outcomes depending on stats, tone, or timing. And the best part was how all of it fed into a larger narrative that never felt like it was on rails. Deus Ex didn’t just give players freedom. It gave them a world that respected their intelligence and a toolkit that rewarded curiosity. No wonder it’s still the blueprint.
