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A sandbox game is a
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
with a gameplay element that provides players a great degree of
creativity
Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible (such as an idea, a scientific theory, a musical composition, or a joke) or a physical object (such as an invention, a printed literary w ...
to interact with, usually without any predetermined goal, or alternatively with a goal that the players set for themselves. Such games may lack any objective, and are sometimes referred to as
non-games or software toys. More often, sandbox games result from these creative elements being incorporated into other genres and allowing for
emergent gameplay
Emergent gameplay refers to complex situations in video games, board games, or table top role-playing games that emerge from the interaction of relatively simple game mechanics.
Designers have attempted to encourage emergent play by providing to ...
. Sandbox games are often associated with an
open world concept which gives the players freedom of movement and progression in the game's world. The term "sandbox" derives from the nature of a
sandbox
A sandbox is a sandpit, a wide, shallow playground construction to hold sand, often made of wood or plastic.
Sandbox or Sand box may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Sandbox (band), a Canadian rock music group
* Sandbox ( ...
that lets children create nearly anything they want within it.
Early sandbox games came out of
space trading and combat games like ''
Elite
In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...
'' (1984) and
city-building simulations and
tycoon games
Business simulation games, also known as economic simulation games
like ''
SimCity
''SimCity'' is an open-ended city-building video game series originally designed by Will Wright. The first game in the series, ''SimCity'', was published by Maxis in 1989 and were followed by several sequels and many other spin-off "''Sim' ...
'' (1989). The releases of ''
The Sims
''The Sims'' is a series of life simulation video games developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The franchise has sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide, and it is one of the best-selling video game series of all time.
The games ...
'' and ''
Grand Theft Auto III
''Grand Theft Auto III'' is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 1999's ''Grand Theft Auto 2'', and the fifth instalment o ...
'' in 2000 and 2001, respectively, demonstrated that games with highly detailed interacting systems that encouraged player experimentation could also be seen as sandbox games. Sandbox games also found ground with the ability to interact socially and share
user-generated content
User-generated content (UGC), alternatively known as user-created content (UCC), is any form of content, such as images, videos, text, testimonials, and audio, that has been posted by users on online platforms such as social media, discussion f ...
across the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
like ''
Second Life
''Second Life'' is an online multimedia platform that allows people to create an avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user created content within a multi player online virtual world. Developed and owned by the San Fra ...
'' (2003). More notable Sandbox games include ''
Garry's Mod
''Garry's Mod'' is a 2006 sandbox game developed by Facepunch Studios and published by Valve. The base game mode of ''Garry's Mod'' has no set objectives and provides the player with a world in which to freely manipulate objects. Other game ...
'' (2006), ''
No Man's Sky
''No Man's Sky'' is an action-adventure survival game developed and published by Hello Games. It was released worldwide for the PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows in August 2016, for Xbox One in July 2018, for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Se ...
'' (2016) and ''
Dreams
A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, alth ...
'' (2020), where players use the game's systems to create environments and modes to play with. ''
Minecraft
''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made public in May 2009 before being ...
'' (2009) is one of the most successful examples of a sandbox game, with players able to enjoy both creative modes and more goal-driven
survival
Survival, or the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things (or, hypotheti ...
modes. ''
Roblox
''Roblox'' () is an online game platform and game creation system developed by Roblox Corporation that allows users to program games and play games created by other users. Created by David Baszucki and Erik Cassel in 2004 and released in 20 ...
'' (2006) offers a chance for everyone to create their own game by using Roblox Lua programming language. It allows adding effects, setting up functions, testing your games, etc. ''
Fortnite
''Fortnite'' is an online video game developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. It is available in three distinct game mode versions that otherwise share the same general gameplay and game engine: ''Fortnite Battle Royale'', a free-to-p ...
'' (2017) has gamemodes which allow players to either fight one another, fight off monsters or create their own battle arenas.
Terminology
From a video game development standpoint, a sandbox game is one that incorporates elements of sandbox design, a range of game systems that encourage free play.
Sandbox design can either describe a game or a
game mode
In tabletop games and video games, game mechanics are the rules or ludemes that govern and guide the player's actions, as well as the game's response to them. A rule is an instruction on how to play, a ludeme is an element of play like the L-shap ...
, with an emphasis on free-form
gameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and pla ...
, relaxed rules, and minimal goals. Sandbox design can also describe a type of game development, where a designer slowly adds features to a minimal game experience, experimenting with each element one at a time. There are "a lot of varieties" of sandbox design, based on "a wide range of dynamic interactive elements".
Thus, the term is used often, without a strict definition. Game designers sometimes define a sandbox as what it is not, where a game can "subtract the missions, the main campaign, the narrative or whatever formatively binds the game's progression, and you have a sandbox."
In game design, a sandbox is a
metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...
for playing in a literal
sandbox
A sandbox is a sandpit, a wide, shallow playground construction to hold sand, often made of wood or plastic.
Sandbox or Sand box may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Sandbox (band), a Canadian rock music group
* Sandbox ( ...
. Game historian Steve Breslin describes "the metaphor
sa child playing in a sandbox ... produc
nga world from sand", compared to games with more fully formed content.
This metaphor between the virtual and literal sandbox is noted by
architectural
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...
scholar
Alexandra Lange, with a sandbox describing any bounded environment that offers freedom to explore and construct. This can distinguish it from conventional ideas of a game, where the metaphorical sandbox is a "play space in which people can try on different roles and imaginary quests ... rather than a '
game
A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...
' to play."
In describing video games, sandbox design is often associated with the
open world gameplay mechanic and vice versa, but these are two disparate concepts. Open worlds are those where the player's movement in the virtual world is typically not limited by the game allowing the player to roam freely through it. ''
Adventure
An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...
'' on the Atari 2600 is considered an open world game as the player can explore the entire game world save for through locked gates from the start, but it is not considered to have sandbox design as the player's actions are generally restricted.
Similarly, games like ''
Microsoft Flight Simulator
''Microsoft Flight Simulator'' is a series of amateur flight simulator programs for Microsoft Windows operating systems, and earlier for MS-DOS and Classic Mac OS. It was an early product in the Microsoft application portfolio and differed sig ...
'' are also open world since the player can take their plane anywhere in the game's virtual world, but as there is no creative aspects to the game, would not be considered a sandbox.
Gameplay
Sandbox design can incorporate several different
game mechanics
In tabletop games and video games, game mechanics are the rules or ludemes that govern and guide the player's actions, as well as the game's response to them. A rule is an instruction on how to play, a ludeme is an element of play like the L-shap ...
and structures, including
open worlds,
nonlinear storytelling,
emergent behaviors, and
automation
Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...
of
believable agents.
It represents a shift
away from linear gameplay.
This freedom is always a question of degree, as a sandbox design "engenders a sense of player control, without actually handing over the reins entirely".
Player creativity is often included in sandbox design. When a player is allowed to use a game as a sandbox, they gain the freedom to be creative with their gameplay. A sandbox will have a combination of game mechanics and player freedom that can lead to emergent gameplay, where a player discovers solutions to challenges that may not be intended by the developers.
A sandbox sometimes gives the player "transformative" power over the game world, where "the free movement of play alters the more rigid structure in which it takes shape." Will Wright describes this generative aspect of sandbox designs, leading to a measurable increase in player possibilities.
John Smedley describes this type of emergent gameplay more succinctly, having seen in
EverQuest
''EverQuest'' is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) originally developed by Verant Interactive and 989 Studios for Windows PCs. It was released by Sony Online Entertainment in March 1999 in North Americ ...
"how hungry people are for sandboxes -- for building stuff". ''GameDeveloper.com'' notes the growth of player-generated content as a "particular brand of sandbox design: that game design is so fun in itself that, if properly packaged, it can well be reinterpreted as gameplay itself".
Some games offer a separate sandbox mode, where the player can use a game's creative systems with fewer constraints.
"This mode has few restrictions on what he may do and offers no guidance on what he should do." For example, a sandbox mode might unlock unlimited resources, or disable enemy threats. A sandbox mode is separate from the campaign mode, without a main narrative progression.
In one sense, an approach to this design is to "enable the player to continue after the main storyline has been 'won'."
Many games
tutorials
A tutorial, in education, is a method of transferring knowledge and may be used as a part of a learning process. More interactive and specific than a book or a lecture, a tutorial seeks to teach by example and supply the information to complete ...
utilize this type of design, since "sandboxes are game play much like the real game, but where things cannot go too wrong too quickly or, perhaps, even at all. Good games offer players, either as tutorials or as their first level or two, sandboxes." The game designers allows players to experiment in a safe environment, as "the point about open ended/sandbox design and when they work best in teaching the player is through learning by doing".
Cohesive narratives in sandbox design can be difficult since the player can progress through the game in a non-linear manner. Some sandbox designs empower players to create their own stories, which is described as sandbox storytelling.
Sandbox stories can either replace or enhance a main plot.
Some games give players "pure agency by giving them tools and a sandbox", sacrificing the story in favor of player creativity.
Where the game systems are reactive enough, this "does not remove the narrative, but rather transforms predetermined narrative into dynamic, responsive narrative".
According to
Ernest Adams, "in sandbox storytelling, the idea is to give the player a big open world populated with opportunities for interesting interactions ... in any order".
Sandbox stories can also be told through shorter quests, conversations, collectibles, and encounters, all of which reward players for engaging with the world.
This side-content becomes an "extremely common and an excellent format for sandbox gameplay: one central campaign (itself perhaps multi-threaded), plus a large number of side-missions".
In general, sandbox storytelling occurs when the player can move through the story independently of their movement through the game space.
Designers also refer to sandbox worlds and sandbox game spaces, which create the feeling of a large
open world.
The concept of an open world is much older than the term sandbox.
Overall, "a sandbox design usually means that the game space is not divided into discrete units", which emphasizes continuity and exploration.
This can sometimes overwhelm the player, which is why successful game designers draw on "urban design principles that can be used to build successful sandbox spaces".
As a best practice "when creating these sandbox worlds,
esignersshould divide them up into distinct areas to aid the player's navigation and orientation." Overall, a sandbox world should "provide the player with a large open set of spaces in which to play, and give him or her things to do".
"The more a game's design tends towards a sandbox style, the less a player will feel obliged to follow the main quest."
Game designers often need to create more dynamic game systems to support sandbox-style gameplay. Physics systems are part of the sandbox experience of several games. The popularity of
voxel
In 3D computer graphics, a voxel represents a value on a regular grid in three-dimensional space. As with pixels in a 2D bitmap, voxels themselves do not typically have their position (i.e. coordinates) explicitly encoded with their values. Ins ...
s has also shown another system that can create "colorful sandboxes to dismantle and reconstruct."
There is also the value of more robust artificial intelligence. ''GameDeveloper.com'' notes how "a sandbox means that the whole game becomes more of a simulation where AI plays an important role."
This means that "believable and self-motivated characters have become key to sandbox play, because they produce a rich space for interactivity and greatly help establish the open-world aesthetic."
Game designer
John Krajewski observes for "a game that features sandbox-style play, the AI needs to provide enough different and interesting characters to interact with in the world, and the size of the world doesn't have to get very big before it becomes unfeasible to hard code them all."
An open-ended sandbox experience is sometimes contrasted with goal-oriented gameplay. Sandbox design usually minimizes the importance of goals. Rather than 'winning' a game, a sandbox design allows player to 'complete' a game by exploring and actualizing all of its options.
This lack of victory condition may define sandbox as
not a game at all. "For many, a game needs rules and a goal to be a game, which excludes sandbox/simulators."
In sandbox mode, "the game resembles a tool more than a conventional video game".
Criticism
Sandbox design has been criticized for providing a lack of satisfying goals for players. According to
Ernest Adams, "plunking the player down in a sandbox and saying, 'have fun' isn't good enough. Especially at the beginning of a game, the player should have a clear sense of what to do next and, in particular, why." Christopher Totten observes that "sandbox elements can be mistakenly taken as fair replacements of narrative content; indeed, many games have missed their potential because they imagined that free-play would compensate for a lack of narrative. But even for our idealized child, playing around in a physical sandbox gets old pretty quick."
Critics point to repetitive in-game tasks, arguing that an "overabundance of mundane events can get in the way of enjoying the sandbox." ''GameDeveloper.com'' notes that the quality of sandbox gameplay varies because "the great risk of the sandbox is that it can be boring." This is because "sand by itself is not much fun. Automated, complex, and perhaps most of all, ''directed'' responsiveness is essential to sandbox play, and the more complex and responsive the world, the more interesting the sandbox."
History
Multi-user dungeon
A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, usually text-based or storyboarded. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash ...
s (MUDs) are early examples of the principles of sandbox games; users of MUDs would generally be able to gain the ability to create their own content within the MUD's framework, creating opportunities to collaborate with other users. However, MUDs never gained commercial release; while they inspired the first
massively multiplayer online
A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players, often hundreds or thousands, on the same server. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent open world, although there are ...
(MMO) games like
EVE Online
''Eve Online'' (stylised ''EVE Online'') is a space-based, persistent world massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by CCP Games. Players of ''Eve Online'' can participate in a number of in-game profess ...
, the creation aspects of MUDs did not carry into commercial games.
Prior to 2000, the bulk of what were considered sandbox games in commercial software came from two genres:
*
Space trading and combat games: ''
Elite
In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...
'' (1984) is considered one of the first sandbox games: the player as a space pilot traveled across a randomly-generated galaxy, engaging in combat with enemies (one of the first games to use simulated 3D combat through wireframe graphics) and trading resources at various planets to improve their ship towards the best class possible, but otherwise the player has freedom towards completing this goal. ''Elite'' led to a number of similar trading and combat games, including ''
The Seven Cities of Gold'' (1984), ''
Sid Meier's Pirates!
''Sid Meier's Pirates!'' is a video game created by Sid Meier for the Commodore 64 and published by MicroProse in 1987. It was the first game to include the name "Sid Meier" in its title as an effort by MicroProse to attract fans of Meier's ear ...
'' (1987), ''
Star Control'' (1990), and ''
Freelancer
''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
'' (2003).
*
City-building and
tycoon games
Business simulation games, also known as economic simulation games
: Early city-building games like ''
Utopia
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...
'' (1981) were more focused on arranging city features for achieving high scores, but with ''
SimCity
''SimCity'' is an open-ended city-building video game series originally designed by Will Wright. The first game in the series, ''SimCity'', was published by Maxis in 1989 and were followed by several sequels and many other spin-off "''Sim' ...
'' (1989),
Will Wright wanted to give players more freedom to create a city and see how it operates while challenging the player to manage the growth of the city against its finances. ''SimCity'' success led to a number of similar city-building and other tycoon games including ''
Railroad Tycoon
''Railroad Tycoon'' is a business simulation game series. There are five games in the series; the original ''Railroad Tycoon'' (1990), ''Railroad Tycoon Deluxe'' (1993), ''Railroad Tycoon II'' (1998), ''Railroad Tycoon 3'' (2003), and ''Sid Mei ...
'' (1995), ''
SimIsle'' (1995), and ''
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...
'' (1995).
Two games at the turn of the 21st century redefine the notion of what a sandbox game is.
* ''
The Sims
''The Sims'' is a series of life simulation video games developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The franchise has sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide, and it is one of the best-selling video game series of all time.
The games ...
'' (2000) is a
life simulation game
Life simulation games form a subgenre of simulation video games in which the player lives or controls one or more virtual characters (human or otherwise). Such a game can revolve around "individuals and relationships, or it could be a simulation ...
where the player interactions with simulated humans in a house as they go about their daily lives. Life simulation games were not a new genre, but prior games such as ''
Little Computer People
''Little Computer People'', also called ''House-on-a-Disk'', is a social simulation game released in 1985 by Activision for the
Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST and Apple II. An Amiga version was released in 1987. Two Japanese ve ...
'' (1985) had very limited
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...
beyond the simulated humans, limiting the amount of interactions that a player had with the simulation and making such games more curiosities. With ''The Sims'', the simulated humans were given more detailed and believable behavior based on studies in
artificial life
Artificial life (often abbreviated ALife or A-Life) is a field of study wherein researchers examine systems related to natural life, its processes, and its evolution, through the use of simulations with computer models, robotics, and biochemistry ...
, which led to players experimenting more with the simulated humans and exploring the simulations.
In terms of defining the sandbox, ''The Sims'' was considered a freeform game, but added sets of minimal goals through the game to guide the player and encourage progression. ''The Sims'' became a best-selling title in the United States in 2000 and a long-running franchise for
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
. Further life simulation games would follow, such as ''
Spore
In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...
'' (2008).
* ''
Grand Theft Auto III
''Grand Theft Auto III'' is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 1999's ''Grand Theft Auto 2'', and the fifth instalment o ...
'' (2001) is an
action-adventure game
The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres.
Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a story ...
in which the player takes the role of a small-time crook in a large city, completing various missions for bosses over the course of the game. This was the first game in the
open world ''
Grand Theft Auto
''Grand Theft Auto'' (''GTA'') is a series of action-adventure games created by David Jones (video game developer), David Jones and Mike Dailly (game designer), Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan Hous ...
'' series to be set in a three-dimension world, prior games having been played from a top-down perspective, and the first game to include a detailed
physics engine
A physics engine is computer software that provides an approximate simulation of certain physical systems, such as rigid body dynamics (including collision detection), soft body dynamics, and fluid dynamics, of use in the domains of computer gr ...
for the various interaction of objects in the world. The combination of the game's open world and physics system gave players the opportunity to explore how they could cause havoc within the game, making the game a virtual sandbox with players to toy with.
In this manner, ''Grand Theft Auto III'' added the idea of emergent gameplay as a feature of sandbox games. ''Grand Theft Auto III'' succeeded ''The Sims'' as the best-selling game in the United States in 2001; In addition to its highly-successful sequels, ''Grand Theft Auto III'' led to a genre of derivative
''Grand Theft Auto'' clones focused on criminal activities such as the ''
Saints Row
''Saints Row'' is a series of action-adventure video games created by Volition and published by THQ and Deep Silver. The series follows the 3rd Street Saints, a fictional street gang originally operating out of the Saints Row district, hence ...
'' series, as well as a broad range of open world, action-adventure games such as the ''
Assassin's Creed
''Assassin's Creed'' is an open-world, action-adventure, and stealth game franchise published by Ubisoft and developed mainly by its studio Ubisoft Montreal using the game engine Anvil and its more advanced derivatives. Created by Patrice D ...
'' and ''
Far Cry
''Far Cry'' is an anthology franchise of first-person shooter games, all of which have been published by Ubisoft. The first game, ''Far Cry'', was developed by Crytek to premiere their CryEngine software, and released in March 2004. Subsequent ...
'' series.
This action game broadened expectations of a sandbox, a concept that was previously reserved for experiences like ''SimCity''.
These two games would become a major influence on many different games and genres to come. In 2007, game designer
Warren Spector
Warren Evan Spector (born October 2, 1955) is an American role-playing and video game designer, director, writer, producer and production designer. He is known for creating immersive sim games, which give players a wide variety of choices in how ...
noted the influence of Will Wright on numerous designers, but was surprised that there weren't more who "mimic Wright's games or his sandbox-style, saying titles in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' look-alike genre are about the closest most developers have come to doing so." This influence led to a trend, and by 2010 critics were noting that "almost every blockbuster game now contains a considerable 'sandbox' element."
This trend was linked to the rise of dynamic storytelling in sandbox worlds, as well as AI that is dynamic enough to supplement scripted content.
Another major shift in sandbox games came with the release of ''
Minecraft
''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made public in May 2009 before being ...
'', which was first introduced in 2009 in beta form and its first full release in 2011. At its core, ''Minecraft'' is a
voxel
In 3D computer graphics, a voxel represents a value on a regular grid in three-dimensional space. As with pixels in a 2D bitmap, voxels themselves do not typically have their position (i.e. coordinates) explicitly encoded with their values. Ins ...
-based
survival game
Survival games are a sub-genre of action video games, which are usually set in hostile, intense, open-world environments. Players generally start with minimal equipment and are required to survive as long as possible by crafting tools, weapons, ...
, where players collect resources to built tools that help them to collect better resources, and to construct shelters to protect them from hostile creatures. However, there are no limits on how players can build these structures, and using the vast array of resources available in the game, players can build nearly anything they could imagine; the game has been compared to digital
Lego
Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocking ...
bricks.
Players' use of ''Minecraft'' in this way led to the developers to add a dedicated "Creative Mode" that stripped the survival elements from the game so that players could build without any hazards or other artificial limits. ''Minecraft'' became a massive success, having sold more than 180 million copies by May 2019 and being the best selling
personal computer
A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...
game of all time.
With time, sandbox design had become a mainstay in survival games,
as well as a popular subset of shooters,
and RPGs. Long-time series such as ''
Metal Gear
is a series of techno-thriller stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, ''Metal Gear'', was released in 1987 for MSX home computers. The player often takes control of a special forces operativ ...
'' had made the "shift to an open-world sandbox design," where the game dynamically "adds more missions as the story progresses and players complete the available side-ops". Other long-running series such as ''
Hitman
Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...
'' were celebrated for their sandbox design. The series became influential, creating a new template of games "that echo the same emphasis on sandbox design, open-ended mission structure, and sneaking". In 2020,
PC Gamer
''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games ma ...
noted ''
Mount & Blade'' as "a triumph of sandbox design". They observe that "because of its sandbox nature, ''Mount & Blade''s quests are procedurally generated around a number of set templates," which leads to a game where "the simulation is the story".
One pure sandbox game, aimed to offer no goals but allow players to create works to be shared with others, is ''
Second Life
''Second Life'' is an online multimedia platform that allows people to create an avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user created content within a multi player online virtual world. Developed and owned by the San Fra ...
'' (2003), a large
massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players, often hundreds or thousands, on the same server. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent world, persistent open world, alt ...
set in a
virtual world
A virtual world (also called a virtual space) is a computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many users who can create a personal avatar, and simultaneously and independently explore the virtual world, participate in its activities ...
where users could create various sections of the world as their own. The game was purposely developed as a community-driven world, so while the developers established some of the fundamentals of the in-game economies, much of how the workings and economics of the rest of ''Second Life''s world was set by the players, which created several issues around pricing, gambling, and taxes, among other aspects. The game ultimately drew use by business as well, seeking to create space within it.
More recent sandbox games have been aimed at provided interactive works that can be shared with others. ''
Garry's Mod
''Garry's Mod'' is a 2006 sandbox game developed by Facepunch Studios and published by Valve. The base game mode of ''Garry's Mod'' has no set objectives and provides the player with a world in which to freely manipulate objects. Other game ...
'' allows players to tinker with the
Source engine
Source is a 3D game engine developed by Valve. It debuted as the successor to GoldSrc in 2004 with the release of '' Counter-Strike: Source'' and '' Half-Life 2''. Updates to Source were released in incremental versions, with the engine being su ...
from
Valve
A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...
to make animations and games while games like ''
LittleBigPlanet
''LittleBigPlanet'' (stylized as ''LittleBIGPlanet''; abbreviated ''LBP'') is a puzzle platform video game series created and produced by British developer Media Molecule and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Most games in the series ...
'' and ''
Dreams
A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, alth ...
'' (2019) from
Media Molecule
Media Molecule Ltd. is a British video game developer based in Guildford, Guildford, Surrey. Founded in 2006 by Mark Healey, Alex Evans, David Smith, and Kareem Ettouney, Sony Computer Entertainment acquired the firm in 2010. It became part of S ...
give users assets and primitive programming elements to craft games that can be shared with others.
Use in education
Some sandbox games have gained favorable use in education settings for inspiring studies to use creativity and critical thinking skills.
Part of
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
's rationale for acquiring
Mojang
Mojang Studios is a Swedish video game developer based in Stockholm. The studio is best known for developing the sandbox and survival game ''Minecraft'', the best-selling video game of all time.
Mojang Studios was founded by the independent ...
, the developers of ''Minecraft'', for in 2014 was for its potential application in
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is an umbrella term used to group together the distinct but related technical disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The term is typically used in the context of ...
(STEM) education, according to CEO
Satya Nadella
Satya Narayana Nadella (, ; born 19 August 1967) is an Indian-American business executive. He is the executive chairman and CEO of Microsoft, succeeding Steve Ballmer in 2014 as CEO and John W. Thompson in 2021 as chairman. Before becoming CE ...
on its acquisition in 2014, as the game already helps to pique children's curiosity. Microsoft subsequently enhanced the ''MinecraftEDU'' version of the game into its ''Minecraft: Education Edition'' that gives teachers and students numerous pre-made resources to work from, and the ability for teachers to monitor and assist students in their work, but otherwise allowing students to create and learn following several lesson plans developed by Microsoft.
References
{{Video game genre
Video game genres
Video game gameplay
Emergent gameplay
Video game terminology