Highlights
- Portable video games have come a long way, allowing gamers to easily enjoy their favorite games anywhere with devices like Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck.
- Some games, like Silver Falls: Ghoul Busters and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, are enhanced when played outdoors, thanks to the immersive environment and natural sounds.
- Calmer games like Stardew Valley and Minecraft are perfect for playing outside, as they provide a tranquil and relaxing experience that complements the fresh air and sunny days.
A time existed when portable video games were largely limited to weaker handhelds with monochromatic graphics and chunky pixels, while their console counterparts were much more powerful. Today, the gap between console and handheld, in terms of specs, is much narrower. Now, thanks to products like Nintendo’s Switch, the Steam Deck, and the Asus ROG Ally, it is easier than ever to take one’s favorite games anywhere.
With this portability, some games can be greatly complemented, if not enhanced, by the environment in which they are played. One can smell the fresh air and feel the sun on their face, or the sounds of nature can complement the sounds of adventure from the chosen game system. Here are some great games to play outdoors.
6 Silver Falls: Ghoul Busters
Silver Falls: Ghoul Busters is a 2D platformer for the 3DS and Nintendo Switch. It was one of the six titles that indie developer Sungrand Studios developed in the final year of the 3DS and Wii U eShop service. They all take place within Sungrand’s Silver Falls, the site of various supernatural phenomena. This title is a throwback to the era of the original Game Boy, with monochromatic visuals and difficult platforming.
Silver Falls: Ghoul Busters is a great game to play on a camping trip, especially in the tent at night. The sounds of the forest at night add to the ambiance of the game’s forest setting. It makes the experience spookier as well, especially when dealing with the grotesque creatures roaming around the levels. The cute aesthetic covers what is actually a dark game.
5 The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
After the reception that The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword received, Nintendo reinvigorated the franchise with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on the Nintendo Wii U and the Switch. The game boasts a massive world with nearly innumerable secrets to explore, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom provides Hyrule with even more to see and do.
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The environment in Breath of the Wild is heavily immersive. The game's landscape and designs convey hidden meanings players will have to discover.
Given the open, exploratory nature of its gameplay, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is ideal to play in the actual wild. The game features numerous forests, grassy plains, and tall mountains to explore. The fresh air of the outdoors would greatly complement Hyrule’s open-air world, making an already timeless experience even more immersive.
4 Stardew Valley
Alongside more traditional platforming and action-heavy entries, the games market is seeing calmer titles about enjoying life moment by moment. Stardew Valley, by solo developer Eric Barone, also known as ConcernedApe, is one of the most successful titles in the surge of cozy gaming.
The game’s player protagonist lives a simple life farming off the land. Sitting out in the fresh air with the sun on one’s face is a great way to complement this experience. The in-game world also goes through the four seasons, so the outdoors can complement any one of them. Playing video games outside in winter, however, might not be the most pleasant experience.
3 Minecraft
The deceptively simple-lookingMinecraft is just as ubiquitous now as it ever was. This is thanks to it being as dynamic and potential-filled as it is. Anyone can go on grand adventures in procedurally generated worlds, fight monsters, explore new places, or simply create whatever is in one’s imagination.
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For more casual players, these video games allow for simultaneous socialization and relaxation.
Minecraft’s laid-back approach to gameplay creates a tranquil mindset perfect for the outdoors. The music is soothing, and gameplay cultivates being in the present moment. A calm, sunny day fits the good vibes that this game provides.
2 Walden, A Game
Henry David Thoreau famously wrote in his famous work, Walden, that he went into the woods “to live deliberately. . . and see if [he] could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when [he] came to die, discover that [he] had not lived.” Walden, a game, adapts Thoreau’s writing into what is essentially a stripped-down version of Stardew Valley. As Thoreau himself, one maintains their cabin on Walden Pond, tends to their garden, fishes in the pond, and visits town for supplies and odd jobs.
Thoreau probably would not have liked the idea of playing video games outside, as they may serve as a distraction from the small wonders of life. However, playing Walden, a game, reminds one to slow down and pay attention to the small things, and not get so caught up in the day-to-day frenzy of living daily life. It is a great title for playing if one needs a break from hiking in the woods.
1 The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim may be a hot contender against Doom for games ported to just about everything. It made waves with its detailed open world, interactive characters, and fantastical creatures, as well as all the glitches and bugs that gave the game its charm.
Skyrim’s fantastical setting is perfect to give one that sense of adventure that comes with exploring the outside world or venturing through the forest. Surrounded by woods at a campsite, smelling the scent of the pines, one can be even more immersed in the title’s wild, Nordic setting. Once the dragon slaying is done, then the real-world Dragonborn can sit outside the campfire with a flagon of Nord mead.