Little goals, lots of freedom! Here you will find the best sandbox games that will still give you new experiences even after months!
Sandbox games, with their freedom of play and their own objectives, want to make the dream of an eternally varied game that never gets boring come true! Sometimes this works better, sometimes worse. But above all, there is more than just Minecraft!
That’s why in this list we present you with a colourful mix of eight particularly noteworthy sandbox games that come together from all kinds of genres: From action to survival to strategy, there are numerous titles whose freedom means that every playthrough is unique and can thus provide you with endless fun, even without constant updates!
What are sandbox games exactly?
First we will clarify the most important question of definition: Open-world and sandbox games are often equated with each other, but they differ from each other. Because the latter are characterised above all by their freedom! And not only in the context of pathfinding, but especially in the area of gameplay. They give you only a few rules and there is, if at all, only a vague goal.
If you’re interested in open world games, we also have the right list for you:
What are no(!) sandbox games? Accordingly, titles such as GTA 5, Assassin’s Creed or Horizon: Zero Dawn count as open-world titles, but not necessarily as sandbox games. Because in them you always follow a predefined storyline and tasks, whereby the possible solutions are always very manageable and you also reach the end at some point.
However, this is about those games that either have no game goal at all, or only one that is so much in the background that it is hardly relevant.
These eight sandbox games you shouldn’t miss
Eve Online
(Genre: MMORPG – Developer: CCP Games – Platforms: macOS, Windows – Where to get the game? (Official Website), (Steam)
What is it about? In Eve Online, you are simply thrown into the universe of New Eden in a spaceship. Here, not only numerous enemy nations fight against each other, but the history of the world itself is also constantly advanced with updates.
Eve Online only works thanks to its players. Because they have a huge influence on the universe. In a certain area, numerous large corporations – the guilds of Eve Online – hold territories and determine politics. In addition, they clash again and again in massive battles.
What do the sandbox aspects offer? You determine your own path in Eve Online. You can not only fight, but also make a name for yourself as a trader or take over the production of weapons, spaceships and other goods. It is also possible to discover new areas and rare artefacts as a scout. Here you simply become a wheel in a vast, interconnected world.
It is even possible to become politically active with other players! Because as an MMORPG, Eve Online also has a very strong social component. If you have an appropriate rank in one of the player corporations, you can engage in real diplomacy. There are also quests for the various factions. However, there is no real game objective. Eve Online is all about what you experience in the game.
Crusader Kings 3
(Genre: Strategy – Developer: Paradox Interactive – Platforms: Linux, macOS, Windows – Where to get the game? (Steam)
What’s it about? Crusader Kings 3 is a strategy game, but you play as a specific individual with rank. Here you are thrown into the Dark Ages and must lead your dynasty for hundreds of years. How do you do that? That’s up to you.
What do the sandbox aspects offer? There is no game objective. This means that Crusader Kings 3 can best be described as a story generator. It only ends when you either have no successor for your dynasty and your current ruler dies, or when you reach the year 1453.
Until then, you can wage war just as you can demonstrate your diplomatic skills. In the Middle Ages, this also means that you arrange marriages and the like in order to expand your power, but also to expand your dynasty at the same time. This also gives the game a certain role-playing aspect.
If you still want to lead your empire into the future after the end of the game, you can make use of a savegame converter. With this, you can transfer it to chronologically later games by the same developer, such as Hearts of Iron 4 and Stellaris.
Test: Royal Court is the best reason to start with Crusader Kings 3
No Man’s Sky
(Genre: Action – Developer: Hello Games – Platforms: Windows – Where to get the game? (GOG), (Steam)
What’s it about? No Man’s Sky throws you into a massive procedurally generated universe. Starting with the planets themselves to the creatures and plants on them, everything is generated. While it starts off relatively linear, with a small quest line to repair your spaceship, the game world opens up very early on and you’re on your own.
What do the sandbox aspects offer? Over the course of time, No Man’s Sky has become increasingly similar to Minecraft. Accordingly, you can not only explore the universe and discover new life forms, but also complete randomly generated quests in which you uncover the fate of abandoned spaceships. Or you try to find out about the past of the universe.
There is also a strong creative component. You can construct huge buildings and bases. If necessary, you can do this together with other players. Elements such as terraforming or the crafting system, with which you can screw together all kinds of tools, will help.
Rimworld
(Genre: Strategy – Developer: Ludeon Studios – Platforms: Linux, macOS, Windows – Where to get the game? (GOG), (Steam)
What’s it about? RimWorld sends you to an uncivilised planet where you have to survive with your colonists. This is not only made difficult by the harsh environmental conditions, but also by robbers or ancient machines that want to attack you and drive you off the planet.
Theoretically, you can win RimWorld by escaping from the planet in one way or another. However, the focus is not really on the goal. The developer himself sees RimWorld more as a story generator. And the community has already developed mods with which the game continues in space after the escape from the planet.
What do the sandbox aspects offer? The construction and the entire culture of your colony is free. And just the last DLC Ideology expanded your possibilities. You can have an underground group of cannibals as well as a pacifist village full of farmers who only eat vegan food.
Each game start and each biome also presents you with new challenges. In the jungle, for example, it’s eternal summer, but you have to deal with tropical diseases. In the icy north, on the other hand, there is nothing but cold and the occasional raid. How will you survive in such places? The game uses its freedom to tell a new, unique story each time.
Since RimWorld officially lacks a multiplayer mode, fans have since addressed the problem by releasing numerous mods that integrate multiplayer features. From joint base building to PvP, there are projects for everything!
Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord
(Genre: Action Role Playing Game – Developer: TaleWorlds Entertainment – Platforms: Windows – Where to get the game? (GOG), (Steam)
What is it about? Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord throws you into a fictional medieval world inspired by the Dark Ages in Europe and set 210 years before the events of its predecessor Warband. You will experience the fall of the Calradia Empire and the conflicts between the eight major factions.
What do the sandbox aspects offer? You start the game as a simple inhabitant of the land and find your own way. For example, you can trade, roam the countryside as a lone mercenary or join an army and go on campaigns.
If you have great ambitions, you can rise to the rank of nobleman, obtain territories and take part in the politics of the countries. It is also possible to found your very own faction and rise to the rank of king. This gives Mount Blade even aspects of a real-time strategy game.
Dwarf Fortress
(Genre: Strategy – Developer: Bay 12 Games – Platforms: Linux, macOS, Windows – Where to get the game? (Official website)
What is it about? In Dwarf Fortress, you lead a small group of dwarves who want to build a new settlement but ultimately fail. There are no ifs and buts about it. At some point, your empire will inevitably fall. Not for nothing did the game coin the motto Losing is fun! Here, too, the main focus is on the story you experience.
Your dwarves are simulated here right down to their limbs and experiences. Accordingly, they also make works of art that then reflect the story of your fortress. And this is always unique. Because so much can happen. Dwarf Fortress gained its reputation mainly because its players shared their own stories. Boatmurdered’s is particularly famous.
What do the sandbox aspects offer? And that’s just a glimpse. Because every round of Dwarf Fortress can offer you new experiences. From a kitchen infested with undead chickens to insane immortal vampires and demon invasions from the underworld.
How you deal with them is up to you. As a rule, however, this will end in the spectacular demise of your fortress. A lava lake may sound impressive as a defence, but it can also quickly drown your entire fortress in magma.
Stellaris
(Genre: Strategy – Developer: Paradox Interactive – Platforms: Linux, macOS, Windows – Where to get the game? (Steam)
What is it about? Stellaris follows a similar path to Crusader Kings 3, but moves the setting into the universe. Instead of a dynasty, however, you follow the rise and fall of a civilisation that has just discovered faster-than-light travel and now sets out to colonise the universe.
What do the sandbox aspects offer? Sci-fi fans in particular will get their money’s worth here. Because you can already create numerous alien races before the game starts and not only determine which one you want to play as, but also which ones should appear in your universe. From diplomatic humans to robots and rock creatures to parasitic life forms, everything is possible.
How exactly you run your empire is entirely up to you. You can found a kind of space UN and pursue diplomatic paths just as you can subjugate all foreign nations as a plague of the universe. You even determine the design of your ships and their equipment down to the last detail.
Minecraft
(Genre: Survival – Developer: Mohjang Studios – Platforms: Linux, macOS, Windows – Where to get the game? (Official website)
What is it about? Minecraft is probably the most popular sandbox game in the world. It offers you a procedurally generated world with different biomes in which you can collect materials, process them and build your own base. In addition, there are enemies against whom you must defend yourself.
What do the sandbox aspects offer? How exactly you use this core gameplay is up to you. You can see it as a survival game, for example, or simply get creative and build impressive structures. There are even extremely imposing works with a real benefit for the world. For example, a library that brings freedom of the press to all countries of the world.
Or you can make it your task to collect the numerous achievements, advance into increasingly dangerous areas and finally defeat the final dragon. If you take a closer look at the game, you can even create complex circuits and build a PC that runs Minecraft itself.
Playing Minecraft may be a little overwhelming at first. Because there are many different versions. You can find out exactly what they are all about in the following article:
Minecraft: Old Java accounts will soon be blocked – what you have to do now
What special sandbox games do you think no one else should miss? What exactly makes these titles so exciting? Share your recommendations and tips with us in the comments!
