Exploration might be the oldest kind of fun mankind has. It’s pretty much written into our DNA to want to see what’s over the next hill, the next horizon, or even the next planet. It’s only natural that games have included more and more exploration as time has gone on. Since the very first games came about, little Easter eggs were hidden, and secret areas secreted away for the hardworking player. Over time, games were developed with exploration in mind. There’s little else to do in Myst but solve puzzles and explore a magical island, for instance. Exploration is everywhere, but sometimes it’s plodding and annoying, and sometimes it’s great.

If you're telling me you don't want to see where this path goes, I'm callin' you a liar.

So then, we need to ask. What makes good for good exploration?

Fallout 4, and the Fallout series in general, are exploration heavy games. In the most recent game, there is a slew of post-apocalypse Boston locations to explore. From the second you start the game, exploration is shoved in your face. You’re supposed to go looking for loot, people, and enemies from the minute you can. This never-specified quest has several connections to your gameplay, which is good. Weapon and gear modification, settlements, and companions are built and found by exploring ruins, vaults, and tiny hamlets.

I'm gonna turn all of this into a really sweet gun.

Boredom sets in a little faster than you’d think, though. As you continue on, your map fills up with fast-travel icons, but they never end up being anything else than quest points on a map. Rooting through ruins for duct tape and wonderglue becomes boring and annoying. All of these fast travel points become little instances, rather than part of a larger place. What changed? Well, you only spend a small amount of time in each place, and most of them look very similar. Exploration is rewarding because you feel like you’re making progress, finding new places, and you feel like you know more about your world. In Fallout 4, you never feel like you’re finding anything interesting, with a few key exceptions.

Oh so memorable. This what hundreds of thousands of man-hours are reduced to; just little points on a map.

Every once in a while, Fallout 4’s environmental storytelling shines. For those who aren’t familiar, environmental storytelling is the notion that you can tell a narrative with an environment, and you can let a player piece things together as they move forward. Fallout 4’s vaults are great examples of storytelling, with a few enemy-occupied exceptions. One vault was comprised of addicts who all worked together to overcome addition with group meetings until a plant revealed a secret cache of contraband that caused the occupants to fall apart.

Here, in the members-only Boylston club, the members committed mass suicide with poisoned wine when the bombs fell. — Here, in the members-only Boylston club, the members committed mass suicide with poisoned wine when the bombs fell.

Another vault was designed to create a superior human being through genetic experimentation and education, with the older children folding into the vault staff. Little notes and carefully arranged skeletons can tell much more of a story than all the cut scenes in the world.

Ratchet & Clank might not be the game you think of when somebody talks about exploration, but it might surprise you. Ratchet & Clank is a platformer with light 3rd person shooting elements, based in a futuristic and alien galaxy. You travel from planet to planet and head through the mostly linear levels, progressing through the story.

Future! Robots! Weird cat thing with robot backpack! These games are full of fun nonsense.

Through the game, you acquire items that make revisiting levels enjoyable, as you unlock new areas. Every level has a number of hidden areas that are filled with secrets, items, and even the coveted gold bolts, used to unlock golden versions of all the weapons. All of the levels are colorfully designed, and sprawling, so that exploration doesn’t get dull often. Each new area you unlock is a testament to how well you pay attention to the level and how well you use your arsenal.

There's probably all kind of stuff hidden in that city. All we've got to do is figure out how to get there...

Though exploration is by no means required to beat the game, it definitely improves the experience and the replay value. Ratchet & Clank is one of the only games I’ve ever 100%-ed, just because it was fun. A lot of fun hinged on the rewards I got for exploration, though. There are definitely times when your reward for the work you do is a little lackluster, which can hurt the natural fun of exploration.

The Grand Theft Auto series is also a series that’s big on exploration as well. Each game gives you the reins to a huge city, filled with shops, characters, and weapons. The cities are almost universally well designed to have distinctive areas, radio stations, and people. GTA IV is no exception, with its famous Liberty City getting a nice update from GTA III.

Such a beautiful city, full of people to run over with a dune buggy that I painted neon pink.

Exploration in this game is as natural as driving. You pretty much have to get to know the city, and over time, you get a really good sense for how it all fits together. A lot of games fail to make the various areas of the games cohesive and feel connected. Each area of Liberty City looks very different and has its own kinds of shops, restaurants, and people. Finding new kinds of clothing is really rewarding, and makes you feel like your character is progressing through the game, rather than just being static.

There are things that could be done better, though. Besides clothes, all of the various restaurants and gun stores just offer the same things, rather than having different kinds of inventory. While going around the city is fun and easy, there’s not a huge point to doing it besides finding missions and the plain fun of wreaking havoc.

So, when all is said and done, what makes for good exploration? Well, good use of environmental storytelling, levels with intrigue, good rewards for exploration, and a sense of progress. Not a bad list, all in all. Man that was easier than I thought it would be. Alright developers, get on it. Let me know how it turns out.