I'm a bit under the weather and I just want to explore and escape for a bit. Are there any games that can be recommended that can be pretty basic "wander and explore" 3D environments? Something like Minecraft in survival mode or The Legend of Zelda or something?

Vanishing of Ethan Carter, though I've only played for a few minutes seems to fit your requirement.

...until you get to that one part. Which I still can't finish because I'm a wuss.

OP: Gone Home?

If you want a super-quick, 30 minute game, 4PM is pretty good. It's not on GOG but I think it's free elsewhere.

I've played Gone Home. I enjoyed it, though it didn't quite live up to the hype. Ethan Carter sounds good. I'll give it a shot. Thanks! :)

I think scariness of that part was fixed in redux edition, at least that's what I recall reading in the changelog of redux. THough I have no idea what it is due to not playing it.

La-Mulana is centered on exploring ruins and solving the puzzles within them. It is very much in the spirit of Metroid and Zelda. I heartily recommend it.

There is Eidolon, it's a "wander around and survive" type of game. I've yet to encounter any enemies (I'm about 2 hours in but haven't played it recently) but you do have to deal with the elements. You can fish (if you can find a fishing pole), collect berries, build campfires and cook your food and warm up, you can get cold (potentially getting hypothermia I believe) if you swim around or get stuck out in the rain without a campfire, plus you need to sleep occasionally (I think). Stuff like that is what I've encountered so far. Fun game.

It's also brutally difficult, and the riddles and secrets will completely fry your brain cells, so I'm not sure if it's what OP is ( currently ) looking for.

I'll just throw in another "vote" for Ethan Carter. It's the perfect game if you just want to go slow and explore the game world.

If you like the Zelda style gameplay and colorful visuals, you could also try Oceanhorn.

GTA?

Does it have to be a game on GOG? Because Fuel was a great exploration game! It had to be one of the most unique racing games I've ever played! One could easily spend hours just driving around and exploring the large map.

Circling around the map takes about seven hours. :)

It was a great game! I wish there was some way GOG could get it!

If you must have 3D environments, I'd go with an Elder Scrolls game (Morrowind, Oblivion or Skyrim), Two Worlds 2 or Gothic 3. Also - it's not 3D, but I'm really digging Sacred Gold right now. The characters, dialogs, story line and all that Baldur's Gate kind of stuff are nothing to write home about but the map is awesome. The graphics have held up well and it is really huge with lots of diverse areas. If you just want to load up, explore and find loot, it really can't be beat. You can just go for miles and get lost in a really nicely detailed and well designed world. In my opinion it's the best Diablo type game out there, even better than Diablo II and Divine Divinity (which is another excellent time-killer). Also, if you don't mind something old and low-res and don't have it already, Ultima VII is the best exploration game ever. Great thread, I love exploration games. Keep it coming!

Fallout 3/New Vegas in godmode.

I'll second Morrowind for exploration; the game can definitely be played that way. There are even fun spells to play with, like Jump, Levitate, and Water Breathing. If the combat is getting annoying or too difficult (or even just too stressful), there are exploits you can use to trivialize it.

I don't recommend any earlier TES games for this. Daggerfall's world is vast but mostly empty. Arena has a more interesting area to explore outside of towns, but it is still procedurally generated.