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Simulation

Sandbox

You get a world and a set of tools to build, alter and experiment with, without a mandatory goal. The game does not tell you what to achieve: you set the goal, and what you build is usually the point.

Also known as: sandbox game

This is a basic entry: it has the definition and the classification. Full entries add history, games and a demo.

History

  1. 1984
    Origin

    Elite (1984) is considered one of the first sandbox games. MUDs, from 1980, already let their users create content.

    Sandbox game (Wikipedia)
  2. 2009

    Minecraft appears in beta (the full release follows in 2011) and becomes the great example of free-form building.

    Sandbox game (Wikipedia)

Reference games

2009

Minecraft

Mojang Studios (Markus Persson). Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS

A randomly generated world of blocks. In survival mode you gather wood and stone to craft tools, eat so as not to starve and take shelter at night, when monsters come out; in creative mode you just build.

2015

Kerbal Space Program

Squad. Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

You run the Kerbals' space programme: designing rockets part by part and flying them with near-realistic orbital physics that allows real manoeuvres such as Hohmann transfers. Its first public version came out in 2011.