EXPANSION PACK: CALCULATING THE SPRAWL OF IN-GAME WORLDS

EVER SINCE Grand Theft Auto 3 pioneered the open-world genre in 2001, it seems like sprawling realms have become prerequisites for would-be blockbuster games.

- JAMES O MALLEY

Our consoles are now packed with enormous, richly detailed 3D worlds to explore-and they just keep getting more expansive. By one calculation, GTA 5 is over six times larger than GTA 3; another estimate puts Elden Ring's map at a massive 79 playable square kilometers. That got us wondering, which game is the biggest?

Turns out, there's no clear answer. Publishers generally won't talk specifics, perhaps out of fear their in-game worlds will seem small in comparison to others. Of course, it isn't the size that matters, it's what you do with it that counts-diminutive maps often offer a more realistic and compelling experience. But that hasn't stopped fans from speculating, so we trawled the gamers here for the most credible calculations and authoritative claims to create this visualization of virtual real estate.

I USED TO WORRY about using too much electricity.

If a family member forgot to turn off the AC, I'd snap at them: "What, you want the planet to cook extra fast?" If I found lights left on overnight, I'd fume.

I was insufferable. In my defense, I'd been worrying about climate change ever since Jim Hansen's 1988 landmark congressional testimony. With every blast of AC, I knew more carbon was being pumped into the atmosphere. So I turned into an energy miser. I'd go around the house turning off lights; if no one else was home, I'd leave the AC off, even on blazing days.

Then something fundamentally shifted my psychology around electricity: I installed solar panels on my house.

I quickly found myself awash in energy. The installers had predicted the panels would produce 100 percent of what my Brooklyn, New York, a household needed. They underestimated: I generate a lot of net surpluses. In a 24-hour period, my panels produce as much as 50 percent more juice than I need. I'm saving about $2,000 a year, so I'll amortize the cost of the array in seven years; then the electricity is damn near free.