Sandbox (video games)

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GTA: San Andreas is a "sandbox-style" game with a huge free-roaming map.
GTA: San Andreas is a "sandbox-style" game with a huge free-roaming map.

A sandbox-style video game (or a video game with an optional sandbox mode) is a video game with an open-ended and non-linear style of gameplay, or a mode of gameplay within a game that is more often played in a goal-directed manner. The sandbox analogy is used to describe this style of gaming because, as with a physical sandbox, the user is simply allowed to do what he or she wishes (with the available game elements and within the limitations of the game engine - the metaphoric toys within, and boundaries of, the sandbox). This free-form experimentation is either an end unto itself - in contrast to competing models of gaming - or is a variant modality that has no effect on more traditional or usual play of the same game, such as scores, game level advancement milestones, player rankings etc. Just as a real-world sandbox can be smoothed out and resculpted again and again, so the sandbox game or game mode can be played and explored repeatedly without a linear "plot" or a particular set of expectations, nor any lasting game-play consequences.

Most simulation games are sandbox-style video games (though often not open-ended, as the game ends after completion of a campaign). One of the first complex games to feature a sandbox design (and widely considered the most significant[citation needed]) was Elite, a sci-fi trading sim that featured space flight, combat, an economy model and a huge universe open for exploration. In Elite, and subsequent similar games, the ultimate aim is to achieve "elite" status, but the means to that end are entirely up to the player; it can be achieved in various ways following a pre-determined (but typically optional) storyline. The player is generally free to roam the game universe before and after completion of that goal, as in more recent games, like Grand Theft Auto, that are usually classified in completely different genre.

Role-playing games, including MMORPGs, and various other types of games can be sandbox games as well. The best selling PC game of all time, The Sims[1], is a sandbox-style creation.

More "traditional" goal-oriented video games sometimes offer a sandbox mode, usually an option that allows the player more freedom by lifting some of the normal rules of gameplay. For example, the player may no longer have to worry about restricting resource requirements (such as having enough money to complete an action), nor be required to complete storyline goals. The "god mode" and level editors offered by many combat games effectively convert them into sandboxes, allowing the player to explore every cranny of the game map without having to fend off enemies.

Contents

[edit] Common features of sandbox-style video gaming

  • Never-ending gameplay: The user is allowed to play forever, and the game (or mode) is generally designed with this in mind rather than the completion of particular goals or levels in order to reach a grand finale.
  • Freedom to experiment: The player can choose his or her own path in the game, either with no consequences or with consequences that can later be undone (often resulting in a flexible and organic development of the player's character or even of the entire game).
  • Non-linear or nonexistent plot. If there is a plot at all, the player can simply ignore it, or there is a branching plot that evolves based on user choices (resulting in a game that is never the same twice).

[edit] Notable sandbox style video games

[edit] Life simulation games

[edit] Flight simulators

[edit] Space simulators

[edit] System simulation games

[edit] Strategy games

[edit] Role-playing games

[edit] Action/platform games

[edit] Other

[edit] References

  1. ^ EA Press Release (2005-02-07). "The Sims Franchise Celebrates Its Fifth Anniversary and Continues to Break Records". Retrieved on 2006-07-21.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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