The Greatest Sandbox Games Ever
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The 20 Best Sandbox Games
The sandbox genre covers dozens of different games. Here's our list of the best titles you can enjoy in 2021, on console and PC. Determining the greatest sandbox games is no easy feat as it's an enormous genre that covers dozens, if not more, of the most popular games available right now. From the blocky creative goodness of Minecraft to the ever-expanding ways to play Grand Theft Auto Online, a sandbox game is any game that puts most of the control in the player's hands. Play how you want. Find your own path. Here are the best ones that are available to play right now, on both PC and console. Updated July 19, 2022 By Ben Jessey: As sandbox games have no clear goal and typically no end, you can play them for years upon years. This is why titles like Minecraft and GTA Online, for instance, still have large player bases that don't seem to be dwindling. However, it has to be a really great game to keep your attention long after release. The entries on this list certainly have the potential to keep you hooked. But just in case the original 17 weren't to your liking, we've added a few more that may pique your interest. THEGAMER VIDEO OF THE DAY Astroneer
In Astroneer, you're dumped on a planet with a spacesuit and a deform tool. The rest is pretty much up to you. But you're encouraged to dig and explore the mysterious planet to gather resources. With the materials you find, you can build different things to improve your new life in space. You can even craft a rocket and travel to other planets to check them out. And you don't have to do it all alone as you can bring some buddies along for the ride. Garry s Mod
Garry's Mod (aka GMod) has been around for a long time. In fact, it's one of the most iconic sandbox experiences in gaming history. The game gives you access to all sorts of assets, and you can do what you want with them. The most creative players have managed to make some extremely cool things, such as popular games like Trouble In Terrorist Town and Prop Hunt. What you can make from it depends on your level of creativity and the amount of free time you have. But the game gives you all the tools you require to do great things. The Sims 4
The Sims is one of the most famous video game series of all time. And they're a perfect example of enjoyable sandbox titles. In Sims 4, you are allowed to live the life you want. You get to fully customize your family and house - as long as you have enough in-game money in the latter's case. Then you get to decide how your Sims live the lives you've given them. To add to the fun, there is a litany of wonderful DLC and mods for you to install. Core Keeper
Core Keeper is one of 2022's breakout indie hits. The aim of the game is to dig, dig, and dig some more. A cooperative exploration, survival, and mining game for up to eight players, Core Keeper is inspired by games like Stardew Valley, Terraria, and Minecraft. There are unique monsters to battle, farms to build, and bits of gear to upgrade. It's a title that has continuously improved since its early access release. So, it's a great time to jump in and see what all the hype is about. Dyson Sphere Program
One of the sleeper indie hits from the start of 2021, Dyson Sphere Program is a wonderfully complex factory-builder in the likes of Factorio. The planet is your sandbox. There are conveyor belts, item-feeders, aerial transportation...this a game you can easily sink hundreds of hours into if it gets your hooks in you. If you love games like Factorio or building item-sorters in Minecraft, you should check out Dyson Sphere Program. Minecraft
is undoubtedly one of the greatest sandbox games of this generation. Its development has spanned a decade, seen its ups and downs, to be sure, and provided a platform for thousands of creators to experiment, play, and entertain. It has changed a lot over the years, as the developers have made many additions to the game, like the amazing Caves and Cliffs update. Throughout it all, the title has never strived away from its core concept: to give you almost unlimited freedom to create whatever you want in its blocky world. Terraria
Much like Minecraft, is a classic. One of the best-value deals in gaming. Ever. It could cost you just a couple of dollars and for that, you'd get easily over a thousand hours of content, painstakingly added by a dedicated development team over the course of a decade. For free. Terraria is the ultimate sandbox. There are thousands of items, monsters, bosses, and a complex modding scene that will keep the game alive for many years to come. Grand Theft Auto Online
While the constant re-releases of GTA 5 and have received plenty of criticism, it's hard to deny the quality of either. GTA Online, in particular, is an outstanding sandbox experience. Being able to freely roam around Los Santos remains a delight. Not to mention, the almost endless amount of content Rockstar has provided for the multiplayer game means it's easy to keep playing this title for years. There's still no other multiplayer game quite like this, which is likely why it continues to maintain its immense popularity. Elite Dangerous
Pick your poison: space simulators are still massively popular, and provides one of the more intoxicating sandbox experiences if you can look past the endless grind. Any game that allows players to kidnap new players and blast them off to the other side of space, then force them to mine resources until they're allowed back to the tutorial section, grabs attention. Those kidnappers were deservedly banned, but the story proves what sort of experience Elite Dangerous is. It's a fantastic space sandbox where you can do just about whatever you want. No Man' s Sky
After a truly terrible launch, maybe one of the worst game launches in the history of game launches, has been redeemed by a series of free updates that are usually well thought out and of very high quality. Hello Games didn't give up on their project. Didn't jet off to some Pleasant planet and build a base there. Nope. They knuckled down and turned No Man' s Sky into one of the largest and most intricate sandbox games out there. Not bad. Cities Skylines
After the iconic fall of Sim City, took up the mantle of and delivered. It's the ultimate city-building sandbox, especially if you splash out on its dozens of DLC packs. Want to build a city where you create an enormous dam of sewage water and then flood your city with it? Well, you can, if you want to. Alternatively, you can mod the game to a state that is almost unrecognizable from the base game. Crusader Kings 3
It's not difficult imagining putting several thousand hours into . After the long support of Crusader Kings 2, the predecessor is more new-player friendly (yes, really, the UI is terrifying but easier to learn than ever before) and very enjoyable. The game is a complete medieval sandbox, where you can start as the count of a tiny French province and eventually rule the world, leading your nation on crusades and establishing your own religion. Factorio
A game that spent four years in early access, is probably one of the most polished and complete construction management games ever released. It is complicated but in all the best ways. You can spend hours and hours arranging your conveyor belts, feeding factories and engines, and manufacturing materials to expand your factory. It's a never-ending cycle, and wow, does it feel good to be efficient. Scrap Mechanic
Scrap Mechanic is self-described as a "creative paradise." And it's hard to come up with a better phrase to describe one of the best sandbox games out there. The main aim is to design fantastical vehicles and other machines, but there's more to the title than that. The game also has its fair share of monster battling, discovery, and exploration. Plus, in 2020, a full-fledged survival mode was added to the title to make things even more interesting. Going Medieval
An early-access indie breakout in 2021, is a colony simulator that has some of the best building mechanics we've seen in a game like this, sort of becoming a 3D Dwarf Fortress with multiple building layers. Huge towers, deep cellars, that sort of thing. It's not just about building, though. You also have to look after your settlers. So, you must keep them happy and, more importantly, keep them alive. If the elements or starvation don't get them, then raiders might. RimWorld
When discussing great sandbox games, should always come up. There is no other game that lets you run an organ-harvesting operation from a base on a distant planet, surrounded by ice and angry raiders. The premise alone makes this title stand out in a crowded genre. But the sheer amount of freedom you're given to tailor the experience you want is another reason why RimWorld is a classic. It has and DLC, too. Rust
Oh, . Beset with problems pretty much all the time (the performance on consoles is still pretty awful), it makes very little difference to the popularity of this game. This sandbox survival game is best played with friends or a rogue solo mission into the chaos of a busy server. Build, survive, and interact with potentially over a hundred different players, the weekly server resets always make the game feel fresh, even if grinding out every week becomes, well, a bit of a grind. Valheim
An indie superstar from early in 2021, arrived with a bang. As you may be able to gather from the game's title, this sandbox experience is set in a Viking world. The thing that will instantly catch your eye in this game is the unique and beautiful art style. But there is plenty of substance to go with that style. From a gameplay standpoint, it fuses the survival elements of Minecraft with the boss progression of Terraria. And it's a combination that works brilliantly. Mount And Blade 2 Bannerlord
There is nothing quite as satisfying as transforming your base character into a lord with several hundred soldiers under their command. is the long-awaited successor to Warband, though the game has a long way to go before it cements its cult status like its predecessor. The game is currently still in Early Access. However, even in its current state, there are potentially hundreds of hours of sandbox goodness, as you try to conquer the world of Calradia. Red Dead Redemption 2
, and , are both visually and mechanically one of the most complex games Rockstar has ever released. The world is gorgeous. You can just go fishing if you want and waste away the hours as the seasons change around you. Red Dead Online is nowhere near as popular as Grand Theft Auto Online, but riding around in a posse with a bunch of your friends is still a lot of fun. A sandbox in every sense of the world, the Wild West is your oyster.