Open-world gameslove to brag about their size, but have you ever wondered how long it would actually take to walk across one of them? No fast travel, no mounts, just your character’s feet and a lot of spare time.
I decided to find out. After testing some myself and digging through player experiments and developer data, I’ve put together a list of game worlds and how long they really take to cross on foot. Some were shorter than expected. Others? Let’s just say it took me a while.
Compared to sprawling fantasy lands, Kamurocho and Sotenbori are tiny. But that’s part of the charm. You can walk across each district in about five minutes, even if you get distracted by a fight or two.
I tested this one myself, dodging only the most aggressive thugs. You really feel like you’re exploring a dense city block instead of an open world, and sometimes that smaller scale feels way more immersive.
Each planet in The Outer Worlds is its own enclosed map, so I picked Monarch, the largest of the bunch. Walking from edge to edge takes about 25 minutes if you’re committed and don’t stop to loot or shoot anything.
It sounds short, but the vertical layout and winding paths make it feel longer than it is. I used to think these planets were huge, but walking them without sprinting really puts things into perspective.
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Night City is deceptively compact. The map looks huge, but thanks to tight clustering and dense layout, you can cross it in under an hour at a steady walking pace.
I followed the road from North Oak all the way down to Pacifica. Between traffic jams and the occasional shootout, I had a lot to look at but not much distance to cover. Honestly, I expected this one to take longer.
Skyrim feels massive when you’re climbing every hill and dodging sabre cats. But when you stick to a straight walking path from Riften to Solitude, it takes just over an hour.
No sprinting, no fast travel, just a slow walk through forests, snowy peaks, and mudcrab ambushes. I had flashbacks to my first playthrough when every marker felt miles away. Turns out, they weren’t. Skyrim just hides its size with clever world design.
Arthur Morgan walks with intention, and that makes crossing the entire map a time-consuming task. From the snowy mountains in the northwest to the swamps near Saint Denis, it takes about two and a half hours of pure walking.
No horse, no cinematic shortcuts. The terrain changes, and it starts to feel more like a hike than a gameplay session. I did it once for this article and immediately went back to using my horse.
If you start in White Orchard and walk all the way to Skellige (by boat where needed), it’ll take you about three hours. I tried it once and almost bailed halfway through Velen, but stubbornness won.
Geralt walks at a slow, brooding pace, and every time you think you’re getting close, the map zooms out and shows another chunk of land. Beautiful? Yes. Long? Absolutely. I love this world, but next time I’m taking Roach.
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Walking across the Lands Between is like a sightseeing tour with enemies who want you dead. From the shores of Limgrave to the far end of the Consecrated Snowfield, it takes about four and a half hours.
I followed a peaceful route (as much as possible) and still had to detour around dragons, giants, and a guy who invaded me just to be rude. It’s a massive world, and the walk really makes you appreciate how far you usually sprint between graces.
This one might feel like cheating, because Death Stranding isliterally about walking. Still, trekking from the eastern distribution center to the far west on foot, without shortcuts or ziplines, took me just under six hours.
I took it slow, avoided fast travel, and fought the urge to build anything helpful. It was exhausting in a strangely satisfying way. Kojima really did build the ultimate hiking simulator, and my legs hurt just thinking about it.
Yes, someonemade a modthat lets you walk in Flight Simulator. And yes, someone actually tested it. At normal walking speed, it takes over 18 hours to cross from one end of a major city like New York to the other.
Since the game simulates the real Earth, you’re basically walking in real time. I didn’t try this one myself, but I watched a guy stream part of it, and honestly, he looked like he was losing his mind.
Alright, this one is theoretical, but it’s backed by math. The Minecraft overworld is 60 million blocks wide. If you walked in a straight line without stopping, you’d need around 30 million minutes, or nearly 60 years in real time.
Of course, no one’s done this, and most players get distracted by caves or fall into lava after ten minutes. But technically, this is the biggest walkable game world ever created. Just bring snacks. And maybe a new mouse.
