[munificent]

There is a large component of that, but it's not just that for me.

Minecraft evokes much of that sense of magic and wonder for me and I didn't start playing it until my later 30s.

Other key components are:

* A world that is interactive enough to feel like a place where you are and not just imagery that you're skimming over.

* Art that is detailed enough to be evocative but not so detailed that it reaches the uncanny valley of looking real-ish but not actually real.

Minecraft does both in spades.

[wtetzner]

I think this is a big part of why I still enjoy playing Morrowind more than pretty much all newer open world games.

It felt like you were really in a place, and the lack of HUD directing you to "points of interest" made it that much more exciting and interesting when you discovered something new.

[Mawr]

> It felt like you were really in a place, and the lack of HUD [...]

In a word - immersion. The vast majority of RPG games suck at it. In-your-face tutorial pop-ups, GPS quest trackers, complex HUDs, full-screen menus, etc.

For a taste of what properly immersive RPGs are play the Gothic series.

"Other games of this era, and even a lot of modern games, are content to resort to more video-gamey designs that remind you you're playing a video game. Gothic 1 and 2 took the extra steps to ensure that everything was as immersive as they could possibly be." [1]

Videos that give a good overview of the immersive design of the games: [2], [3].

Guide on what exactly to play:

1. Gothic 1

2. Gothic 2 Gold Edition

3. The chronicles of Myrtana Archolos - a fan-made total conversion mod for Gothic 2 that follows in the spirit of the past two games. It's as high in quality as a professional production would be. Seriously. See [4] for a preliminary review.

All are available on Steam.

[1]: https://youtu.be/_V6tdH6YRy8

[2]: https://youtu.be/qvyzjFfxiXo?t=194 (this part refers directly to immersion, for more context you can start from the beginning)

[3]: https://youtu.be/_V6tdH6YRy8?t=597 (whole video is good, but the most relevant parts start here)

[4]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2F4-2i9gGY

(not associated with the particular youtuber in any way, his content just happens to be good)