Defining Sandbox – Some thoughts

I found this video on YouTube recently that made me think about how we define what a Sandbox Game is. Sometimes we get critiscm that our website features games that aren’t proper sandboxes. Our answer is that despite our name, we focused on games that have some element of freedom in them or are just games that we love! Often these are RPG’s, simulations or economic games and the idea of creating our own experiences rather than following an on-rails adventure is something that we enjoy.

When I was at University, I wrote a 10,000 word dissertation that attempted to define “what is a sandbox game”. My conclusions were vague. A definition is difficult. Loosely put, a sandbox game is one in which the developers design a game structure that allow non-designed experiences to occur. Wordy huh?

Check out the video below for some interesting thoughts on “what is a sandbox MMO” and as always – comments welcome!