sandbox

A sandbox game is a video game with a gameplay element that provides players a great degree of creativity to interact with, usually without any predetermined goal, or 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. Very often, sandbox games result from these creative elements being incorporated into other genres and allowing for emergent gameplay. 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 that lets people create nearly anything they want within it.
Early sandbox games came out of space trading and combat games like Elite (1984) and city-building simulations and tycoon games like SimCity (1989). The releases of The Sims and Grand Theft Auto III 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 across the Internet like Second Life (2003). More notable sandbox games include Garry's Mod (2006) and Dreams (2020), where players use the game's systems to create environments and modes to play with. Minecraft (2011) is the most successful example of a sandbox game, with players able to enjoy both creative modes and more goal-driven survival modes. Roblox (2006) offers a chance for everyone to create their own game by using the Luau programming language (Roblox's open-source derivative of Lua). It allows adding effects, setting up functions, testing games, etc. Fortnite (2017) has game modes which allow players to either fight one another, fight off monsters, create their own battle arenas, race their friends, or jam out to popular songs with instruments.

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