4. Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Redemption excelled in having a number of engaging ambient tasks to complete in the large open world. It’s possible to spend hours challenging others to duels, playing card games, and hunting the roving wildlife to sell to town merchants. The latter activity is feasibly a complete internal economy that players could invest hours in. In fact, the game’s entire open world was a practically endless playground in which to hunt and fight, and really did the term “sandbox game” justice. Side tasks in these games usually ended up being tedious, but Red Dead Redemption set itself apart by giving the player something to work for by doing them.