The best sandbox games on PC 2023
The best sandbox games are difficult to nail down, as the sandbox style is spread across countless genres with disparate mechanics and settings. But all sandboxes share a common trait: freedom. Whether it’s creating a whole world or building up a gang of criminals across a city, sandbox games leave most of the agency up to the player. They are universes to be experienced at a pace not dictated by developers.
Some of the best PC games of all time are those which allow total player freedom, but there needs to be a bit of clarity when looking at what makes a great sandbox game. They have, since the days of Elite and Ultima, referred to open-world games filled with choice and diversions. But revisionist history would describe them as “games like Minecraft”. For the purposes of this exploration of the best of the bunch, we’re taking a look at them all. We support sandbox egalitarianism. So, from the mean streets of Los Santos through the ruthless missions of Agent 47 and the stunning expanse of Eve’s universe, these are the very best sandbox games on PC.
Here are the best sandbox games on PC in 2023:
Minecraft
Minecraft is synonymous with modern sandbox games. And it deserves to be. It’s one of the purest sandbox titles because it’s more a tool than a game. It’s a figurative sandpit, waiting to be molded into giant fortresses, complex circuits, and gargantuan spaceships suspended in the sky. Yes, you could be the next person to make one of the best Minecraft maps or cool Minecraft houses.
Minecraft captures the essence of playing – and fashion, just check out some of the best Minecraft skins for proof. It’s a tactile experience that evokes days spent building Lego creations in your bedroom. Limitations are few and far between, and usually, the simple installation of some Minecraft mods will smash down any that do exist – it’s more concerned with giving players the tools to curate their own experience than telling them what to do.
It’s bridged the gap between different generations of gamers.
Its rudimentary graphics and interface inspire nostalgia, while its simple logic and blocky building appeals to mites (and a fair few adults). And it’s easy to describe; or, at least the very basics are. The common sense logic that runs through its foundations makes it accessible and less daunting for the uninitiated, making it an experience that can be shared by kids and their parents.
And if you aren’t a builder, then there’s the entire survival game aspect of Minecraft, which would can play through from start to finish and beyond without having to worry about how beautiful your base looks, retaining the sandbox experience as you explore procedurally generated caves and infinite biomes. Besides mods, there are countless other ways to improve the experience, from Minecraft shaders and texture packs that make it look like a new release, to maps and servers to play on.
Grand Theft Auto V
A decade old this year, Rockstar’s most recent GTA offering is still a true play pit of opportunities.
At times it feels like every street of the sprawling city is a destination for fun, offering up new types of people to interact with, new terrain to experiment on, and new buildings to explore, whether you’ve been playing for years or are jumping in for the first time.
The simulation offers an exaggeration of urban and rural America, going mental with a few firearms can lead to chaos in the streets – not to mention some exceptionally wild police chases. Pushing the limitations of the world is part of the expected experience: seeing just how many bodies you can pile up, how many hitchhikers you can kidnap, or how long you can go with a five-star wanted level without getting wasted.
The GTA V mods scene is booming right now so it’s the perfect place to experiment with other people’s creations. But, beyond that, the game comes bundled with its own extensive tool kit for creative types: the Rockstar Editor. A seemingly limitless machinima movie creator, it allows you to film whatever you fancy, and cut and shape it into a work of cinematic art.
We can only imagine the thrilling open-world adventures that await when a GTA 6 release date finally rolls around, but knowing it’s a good year or so away at least, there’s still plenty of reasons – and regular updates – keeping us coming back to Los Santos.
Hitman
Before sandboxes were synonymous with games like GTA or low-res block building, the term was inescapably linked to the freeform murder of Hitman. After a heavy misstep with Absolution, Agent 47 retrieved his sandbox crown with 2016’s Hitman. A set of six locations provides you with uncountable opportunities to dispatch a target, from a simple sniper rifle shot to an some of Hitman’s craziest kills.
Despite the immersive sim being huge this generation, with the likes of Dishonored and Deus Ex, many simply can’t compare to the dense detail of a Hitman level. They provide the freedom to approach the situation in almost every manner you can imagine. And, should your imagination fail you, there are dozens of suggestions thanks to the brilliant Opportunities system.
What’s more, each level is being constantly added to over time, with brand new Escalation missions and Elusive Target contracts. Hitman is a sandbox that won’t stop evolving.
The emergent fun continues in the two sequels released since, as we found in our Hitman 2 review and Hitman 3 review respectively. There’s plenty there for returning assassins, such as Hitman 2’s Ghost Mode and an inventive AI that wants you to murder in the coolest possible ways, while the Hitman 3 keypad safe codes leave you something to come back to after completing this trilogy of stealth sandbox games.
Scrap Mechanic
Despite being in Early Access, Scrap Mechanic already has all the makings of a true sandbox hit. Like Minecraft, it’s fuelled entirely by your creativity, and how your mind manages to extrapolate the basic features into a mini (or not-so-mini) masterpiece.
What makes Scrap Mechanic different from other building games is how it encourages momentum with components that move.
It sets it apart from most other games which tend to stick to creating fortresses and other stationary objects. Even your static castle can come to life with elaborate unlocking mechanisms in Scrap Mechanic. But it’s the cars, tanks, and hover machines that really demonstrate the depths of its potential.
For a quick overview of what makes it special take a look at our Scrap Mechanic beginner’s guide and then see the best Scrap Mechanic creations from the community. What’s surprising is that most are built with only a handful of basic components. Imagine what could be built when the game eventually expands its inventory.
Elite Dangerous
The original Elite was one of the first sandboxes, setting the standard for future sandboxes and simulation games alike. It’s still pretty impressive, almost 40 years on, with over 200 worlds to visit and trade with. Elite Dangerous, though, is a galaxy in size, a scale that is both bewildering and extremely intimidating. Just the scope of the thing is astounding.
No wonder it’s one of the best space games on PC.
Making your way through the galaxy is familiar: trading with stations, fulfilling requests for goods and assistance, chasing down bounties. But this is all taking place in our own simulated galaxy, where everything is to scale. When you leave supercruise and are faced with a gargantuan glowing sun, it feels like you’re facing a real sun, something so massive that it’s almost inconceivable.
Even simple trips feel like significant undertakings. With every jump to supercruise, there’s the risk of interdiction, leading to a lot of flailing around as you attempt to align with the escape vector, which plonks you right in the middle of deep space. Fail, and you’ve got a dogfight on your hands. Don’t worry if that danger is too much for you, though: our Elite Dangerous guide will help out any beginners.
Kerbal Space Program
Kerbal Space Program is the only sandbox in this list where having a solid grasp of maths and physics will be a boon.
It’s an ambitious simulator that tasks players with sending rockets into space, colonising planets, mining asteroids, and fooling around with moon buggies. How you go about all of this is pretty much up to you.
One of the best indie games around, thankfully KSP is getting as sequel, so there’s even more reason to familiarise yourself with the original before the Kerbal Space Program 2 release date. With its full feature set of missions and free-form sandbox mode, the first game provides practically endless opportunities to fiddle with big-budget science. It’s a game where your experiments and successes have extra weight, as they aren’t taking place in a fantasy realm, but one grounded in real-life science.
ARMA 3
Military simulator Arma 3 is, like Minecraft, as much a tool for game creation as a game itself – one where much of the heavy lifting has already been done. It looks great, making the fictional Greek islands it takes place on eerily real, and the combat has benefited from this eye for detail too.
It’s a combined arms war game, where you can dabble in commanding tanks, try to play it like one of the best plane games, or take advantage of the detail of this sniper game to skulk and take your foes out from the shadows.
While it comes with a three-part campaign and multiplayer, the meat is the huge editor that gives creators countless tools and assets with which they can craft their own worlds. As it allows for anything from persistent multiplayer campaigns to military operations to be created it has birthed some of the best games ever, including DayZ and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
Just Cause 3
Just Cause 3 is ridiculous. Sure, it has the trappings of the modern open-world shooter – killing dudes, driving around, ploughing through hundreds of missions – but that’s not what makes Just Cause 3 sparkle.
The whole point of the game is to sow chaos throughout the island of Medici. How you go about that is up to you. Most of the joy comes from attaching the grapple hook to things.
Attach it to a car and then to a statue and you’ve got a simple means of toppling this symbol of tyranny. Create an attachment between oxygen canisters and soldiers and you can watch as they’re dragged off before exploding. Then there are the rocket mines, which can be attached to anything and everything for high-velocity, explosive violence. The game really could just be about doing silly things with the grapple. But a gorgeous island and flexible missions mean there’s more to Just Cause 3 than silly chaos (well, not too much).
It’s like a Pepsi Max ad from the ‘90s but with a much higher body count. No wonder we voted it one of the best games of 2015. We got more of an iterative update with the sequel, however, but we found in our Just Cause 4 review that it didn’t stop it from being just as bombastic and fun.
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord
After eight years in development, the sequel to the first Mount & Blade game is finally out on Steam’s Early Access program.
Despite it being about as buggy as Warband was back in 2010, it’s – ironically – a much more polished experience that expands on pretty much everything that made the first game such a standout for the sandbox games genre.
Bannerlord, like its predecessor, is all about letting you roleplay in a systems-heavy medieval sandbox. Perhaps the showman in you will inspire you to become a master jouster and champion of many tourneys. Maybe your eye for a good deal will let you make money fast in Bannerlord, using your mountain of gold to fund a mercenary army to protect you and bring you glory. Or perhaps you’re just a good for nothing crook, and if so, then it’s the bandit’s life for you.
The blend of macro-scale management and being able to directly control your character and party gives you an unrivalled level of control the gameplay, to the extent where you can either lead an army of hundreds from above, or command them from the over-the-shoulder perspective of your medieval hero/warlord/dastardly baron.
If you get stuck, there are always Bannerlord cheats to consider.
Eve Online
If you’ve never played EVE Online you’ll have heard its many stories. Thousands of players and fleets of ships fighting out in space, alliances toppled by traitors, spies murdering CEOs, and lots of theft. All of this is without developer involvement, and led by incredibly talented EVE fleet commanders from the comfort of their home PCs.
It’s a living galaxy with a complex player-run economy, filled with corporations and alliances that rise and fall, and opportunistic pirates, soldiers and businessmen waiting to fleece or destroy you. EVE fights the good fight by making its world a true sandbox – helping it become one of the best MMOs on PC.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed check out our EVE Online beginner’s guide. It’s in the corporations, though, that EVE’s heart really lies. The intrigue and wars that arise from them would fit neatly in the pages of The Twelve Caesars.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Four years old, RDR2 is still the latest game from Rockstar, and it received glowing praise in our Red Dead Redemption 2 review and still stands up to it today.
After a somewhat sluggish start in the snow, it soon opens out into a glorious representation of the Wild West, with beautiful views of snow-tipped mountains and verdant woodlands. You can wander through the wilderness hunting animals or picking flowers for camp recipes, as well as complete missions for the locals and uncover many RDR2 easter eggs hidden throughout.
RDR2 really hits its stride during some of the key set pieces, including chaotic showdowns and contemplative aftermaths leading to a dizzying finale. After all, you play as an outlaw, and as such are more than capable of pulling off bank jobs, train heists, and duels. If your PC can handle the Red Dead Redemption 2 system requirements, then there’s a lot to discover in one of the best western games on PC. And that’s not including the countless hours of multiplayer action in Red Dead Online, or even joining the RDR2 roleplay with like-minded gunslingers.
The Sims 4
Creepy dollhouse and terrifying social experiment, The Sims is one of EA’s big cash cows, squeezing out expansion after expansion.
It’s difficult to reconcile the game with the business model, but it’s better to simply put the latter to the back of your mind and not go crazy with the expansion purchases.
The creation tools are simple and tactile but you can do a lot with them, and the crazy Sims 4 mods and DLC mean the toolset keeps expanding the potential of one of the best management games. But it is the emergent stories that happen to and within your creations that makes The Sims so damn compelling even after you’d expect the well to run dry.
You could follow the route of the creepy, sociopathic puppet masters by creating dungeons and then setting fire to Sims once they’re inside. Yes, you could, but we’re not going to encourage that kind of behaviour. Instead, why not help your Sims follow their dreams, be that hooking up with the hot person from the bar down the street, or building their own Sims space rocket and blasting into the universe?
Garry’s Mod
Garry Newman’s physics sandbox is really just a giant toy box.
Absent of objectives and rules, it furnishes players with props, character models, and a whole load of tools from which can spring all manner of oddities and crimes against nature.
Everything can be stuck together and fiddled with to the point that it’s often used to make hugely creative videos and bizarre shows. And it’s a game design tool, giving birth to single-player adventures, multiplayer worlds, and a heap of player-created content.
It can be an introduction to game design, countless games, or just something you can mess around with when you’re pissed. But, most importantly, you can give NPCs very silly faces. Intrigued? Discover the origin story of the game with the making of Garry’s Mod.
Don’t Starve
Don’t Starve starts with one goal: staying alive. That’s easier said than done in a hellish purgatory, however. Foraging for berries and carrots is easy enough, but as they grow scarce and the hunt takes survivors further afield, the risk of death intensifies.
Wild pig men, monstrous arachnids, and unspeakable horrors abound at night.
Don’t Starve is a great survival game, but its no slouch as a sandbox, either. The world might be cruel and deadly, but it can be somewhat tamed and moulded into something a bit more comfortable. A simple fire and tent can flourish into farm, fortress, or laboratory. Erstwhile nightmares can be transformed into allies that can protect you from the worst the world has to offer.
There you are, enough of the best sandbox games to get your creative juices flowing for a long time yet. We’ve supplied the bucket and spade and now it’s up to you to use your newfound videogame freedom to make your own fun. If you’re now more in the mood for destruction than inventive creation, check out the best FPS games around. Oh, and of course you’ll never go wrong with our list of the best old games that continue to age better by the day. Now our creative juices have been well and truly depleted, we’re excited to see how you push the boundaries of creative PC gaming.
The Greatest Sandbox Games Ever
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.
RELATED: The Best Open-World Games Of All Time, Ranked
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 December 7, 2022 By Ben Jessey: The average gamer appreciates choice. They like having the ability to decide how or what they do at almost all times. In fact, these days, games that are more restrictive in what you can do are often criticized.
Modern-day gamers like to have a bit of control over their games. This is why the sandbox genre is so popular. These titles give you nothing but options to tailor your own experience.
We put some of the best examples on this list. And now we’ve added a few more.
23 Stardew Valley
At the beginning of Stardew Valley, you acquire a house and a piece of land that belonged to your grandfather. It’s not in a great state, so you’re encouraged to fix it up. Beyond that, there are no true goals or objectives. You are free to live your farmer life how you see fit.
Some of the things you can do include interacting with nearby NPCs, exploring caves, going fishing, completing various quests, or simply continually improving your farm. It’s all a chill and stress-free experience.
22 Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a life simulation game, but it likely doesn’t represent your actual life. That is unless you live on a deserted island with a bunch of anthropomorphic neighbors.
There are plenty of things to do on the island, such as building up your relationships with your animal-like buddies and collecting resources.
You’re also free to decorate your home with items you find or buy, making it feel like home. Plus, you can take part in any seasonal events that crop up. So, there is quite a range of activities, and you can decide which ones you do.
21 Hitman
2016’s Hitman is a unique kind of sandbox game. After all, each mission does have a goal — usually to kill someone. Yet, you’re allowed to complete your objective in any way you desire.
For instance, do you want to disguise yourself as a supermodel and walk the runway to get close enough to your target to poison her before slipping away unnoticed? Or do you just want to shoot her in the head? The decision is up to you, but that’s just two options — there are almost an unlimited number of other ways to take her out. This is because each level is a sandbox filled with so many opportunities.
20 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.
19 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.
18 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.
RELATED: The Best Game Packs For The Sims 4, Ranked
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.
17 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.
16 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.
15 Minecraft
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.
14 Terraria
Much like Minecraft, Terraria 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.
13 Grand Theft Auto Online
While the constant re-releases of GTA 5 and GTA Online have received plenty of criticism, it’s hard to deny the quality of either. GTA Online, in particular, is an outstanding sandbox experience.
RELATED: Best PC Games Of The Early 2000s
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.
12 Elite Dangerous
Pick your poison: space simulators are still massively popular, and Elite Dangerous 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.
11 No Man’s Sky
After a truly terrible launch, maybe one of the worst game launches in the history of game launches, No Man’s Sky 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.
10 Cities: Skylines
After the iconic fall of Sim City, Cities: Skylines took up the mantle of best city builder 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.
9 Crusader Kings 3
It’s not difficult imagining putting several thousand hours into Crusader Kings 3. 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.
RELATED: Open-World Games With The Best Storylines
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.
8 Factorio
A game that spent four years in early access, Factorio 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.
7 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.
6 Going Medieval
An early-access indie breakout in 2021, Going Medieval 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.
5 RimWorld
When discussing great sandbox games, RimWorld 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 some fantastic mods and DLC, too.
4 Rust
Oh, Rust. 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.
RELATED: Best Indie Games Made With Unity
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.
Top 100 sandbox games, ranking of the best sandbox games
GenreMMORPGMOBARPGArcadeVisual NovelSurvivalRacingCardLogicSandboxAdventureSimulationStrategyFightingHorrorShooterAction
PlatformPCPlaystation 3Playstation 4PlayStation 5XboxXbox 360Xbox One Xbox Series X|SWiiNintendo SwitchBrowserMobileStadiaApple Arcade
Year202520242023202220212020201920182017201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005200420032002200120001999199819971996
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Factorio
Release 08/14/2020
Strategy | Sandbox | Survival
PC
Singleplayer, Multiplayer, Co-op
💰 One-time purchase
Kerbal Space Program
Released 04/27/2015
Sandbox | Simulator
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN
Release01.
09.2015
Action | Shooter | Sandbox | Adventure
PC
Singleplayer, Multiplayer
💰 One-time purchase
Cities: Skylines
Released 03/10/2015
Sandbox | Simulator
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Parkitect
Released 11/29/2018
Sandbox | Simulator | Strategy
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Wobbledogs
Release 03/15/2022
Sandbox
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Stronghold HD
Released 10/21/2013
Sandbox | Simulator | Strategy
PC
Multiplayer, Single Player
💰 One-time purchase
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Hitman: Blood Money
Released 3/15/2007
Action | Shooter | Sandbox | Logic
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Teardown
Released 04/21/2022
Sandbox | Adventure
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
SPORE™
Released 12/19/2008
Action | RPG | Sandbox | Adventure
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Mount & Blade: Warband
Released 03/31/2010
RPG | Sandbox | Strategy | Action
PC
Multiplayer, Single Player
💰 One-time purchase
Planet Coaster
Released 11/17/2016
Sandbox | Simulator | Strategy
PC, Playstation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Singleplayer
💰 One-time purchase
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Just Cause 2
Released 3/23/2010
Action | Sandbox | Shooter | Adventure
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Untitled Goose Game
Release 09/20/2019
Logic | Sandbox
PC
Co-op Single
💰 One-time purchase
Two Point Hospital
Released 08/29/2018
Sandbox | Simulator | Strategy
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Dwarf Fortress
Released 12/6/2022
Sandbox | Strategy
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Black Desert
Released 11/22/2018
MMORPG | Sandbox | Action
PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One
MMO
Free
Prison Architect
Release06.
10.2015
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Sandbox | Simulator | Strategy
PC
Multiplayer, Single Player
💰 One-time purchase
Sunset Overdrive
Released 11/16/2018
Action | Shooter | Sandbox | Adventure
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
The Sims 3
Released 01/27/2011
Sandbox | Simulator
PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch
Single
💰 One-time purchase
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Platinum
Released 03/12/2008
Sandbox | Simulator | Strategy
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Planet Zoo
Release05.11.2019
Sandbox | Strategy
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Filament
Release 04/23/2020
Strategy | Logical | Sandbox
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Hardspace: Shipbreaker
Released 05/24/2022
Sandbox | Simulator
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
Release 03/15/2007
Action | Shooter | Sandbox
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Two Point Campus
Release09.
08.2022
Strategy | Sandbox
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Risk of Rain 2
Released 08/11/2020
Sandbox | Action
PC
Co-op, Multiplayer, Single Player
💰 One-time purchase
Fallout 3
Released 10/28/2008
RPG | Action | Shooter | Sandbox
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
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Kenshi
Released 12/6/2018
RPG | Sandbox | Adventure
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Tropico 4
Released 09/01/2011
Sandbox | Simulator | Strategy
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Men of War™
Released 05/06/2009
Action | Shooter | Sandbox
PC
Singleplayer, Multiplayer
💰 One-time purchase
Autonauts
Released 10/17/2019
Sandbox | Strategy
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Raft
Release 06/20/2022
Survival | Sandbox | Adventure
PC
Co-op, Multiplayer, Single Player
💰 One-time purchase
Forager
Released 04/18/2019
Sandbox | Adventure | Action
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Let’s Build a Zoo
Released 05.
11.2021
Strategy | Sandbox
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Minecraft
Released 11/11/2011
Sandbox
PC
Multiplayer
💰 One-time purchase
Tropico 3
Released 11/13/2009
Sandbox | Simulator | Strategy
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
When Ski Lifts Go Wrong
Released 01/23/2019
Logic | Sandbox | Simulator
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Victoria II
Released 08/30/2010
Strategy | Sandbox
PC
Single, Multiplayer
💰 One-time purchase
Pupperazzi
Released 01/20/2022
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RPG | Sandbox
PC
Co-op, Multiplayer, Single Player
💰 One-time purchase
Dig or Die
Released 07/10/2018
Arcade | Sandbox | Shooter | Action
PC
Co-op, Multiplayer, Single Player
💰 One-time purchase
Crazy Machines 3
Released 10/18/2016
Logic | Sandbox | Simulator
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Assassin’s Creed® Revelations
Released 11/30/2011
Action | Sandbox | RPG | Adventure
PC
Singleplayer, Multiplayer
💰 One-time purchase
My Time At Portia
Released 01/15/2019
Sandbox
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Forts
Released 04/19/2017
Action | Sandbox | Strategy
PC
Singleplayer, Multiplayer, Co-op
💰 One-time purchase
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
Released 10/27/2016
RPG | Sandbox | Action
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Crayon Physics Deluxe
Released 05/06/2009
Logic | Sandbox
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Tinytopia
Release 08/30/2021
Sandbox | Simulator | Strategy
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Grow: Song of the Evertree
Released 11/16/2021
Sandbox | Adventure
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Parkasaurus
Released 08/12/2020
Strategy | Sandbox
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Poly Bridge
Released 07/12/2016
Logic | Sandbox | Simulator
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Garry’s Mod
Released 11/29/2006
Sandbox
PC
Co-op, Multiplayer, Singleplayer
💰 One-time purchase
Universe Sandbox Legacy
Released 04/29/2011
Sandbox
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Megaquarium
Release 09/13/2018
Strategy | Sandbox
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
ASTRONEER
Released 05.
02.2019
Sandbox | Adventure | Action
PC
Co-op, Multiplayer, Single Player
💰 One-time purchase
EVE Online
Released 05/28/2003
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MMORPG | Sandbox
PC
MMO
Free
Stardew Valley
Released 2/26/2016
RPG | Sandbox | Simulator
PC
Co-op, Multiplayer, Single Player
💰 One-time purchase
Starbound
Released 07/22/2016
RPG | Sandbox | Adventure | Action
PC
Co-op, Multiplayer, Single Player
💰 One-time purchase
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Banished
Released 02/18/2014
Strategy | Survival | Sandbox
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
RollerCoaster Tycoon 2: Triple Thrill Pack
Released 05/21/2014
Sandbox | Simulator | Strategy
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Solar 2
Release 06/17/2011
Sandbox
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Kynseed
Released 12/6/2022
RPG | Sandbox
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
SimplePlanes
Release 12/17/2015
Sandbox | Simulator
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Little Big Workshop
Released 10/17/2019
Sandbox | Strategy
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Space Engineers
Released 2/28/2019
Survival | Sandbox
PC
Co-op, Multiplayer, Single Player
💰 One-time purchase
STATIONflow
Released 04/15/2020
Sandbox | Simulator
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Rebuild 3: Gangs of Deadsville
Release29.
05.2015
Sandbox | Simulator | Strategy
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
House Flipper
Release 05/17/2018
Sandbox | Simulator
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Terraria
Released May 15, 2011
Sandbox | Adventure | Action
PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Mobile
Co-op, Multiplayer, Single Player
💰 One-time purchase
Prototype™
Released 06/12/2009
Action | Sandbox | RPG
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Plague Inc: Evolved
Released 02/18/2016
Sandbox | Strategy
PC, Mobile
Co-op, Multiplayer, Singleplayer
💰 One-time purchase
Imagine Earth
Release 05/25/2021
Strategy | Sandbox
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
X3: Terran Conflict
Released 10/16/2008
Sandbox | Simulator | Strategy
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
SPORE Galactic Adventures
Released 06/26/2009
RPG | Sandbox | Strategy
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Children of the Nile
Released 07/08/2008
Sandbox | Simulator | Strategy
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Project Highrise
Released 09/08/2016
Sandbox | Simulator | Strategy
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Honey, I Joined a Cult
Released 11/3/2022
Strategy | Sandbox
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Bully: Scholarship Edition
Released 12/23/2010
Action | Sandbox | RPG | Adventure
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Railway Empire
Released 01/26/2018
Sandbox | Simulator | Strategy
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Dragon Quest Builders 2
Released 12/10/2019
RPG | Survival | Sandbox | Adventure
PC, Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch
Co-op, Multiplayer, Single Player
💰 One-time purchase
Dead Rising® 2
Released 9/27/2010
Action | Survival | Sandbox | RPG | Adventure
PC
Singleplayer, Multiplayer, Co-op
💰 One-time purchase
Jurassic World Evolution
Release 06/11/2018
Sandbox | Simulator | Strategy
PC, Nintendo Switch
Single
💰 One-time purchase
POSTAL 2
Release02.
11.2012
Action | Sandbox | Shooter | Adventure
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Besiege
Release 02/18/2020
Sandbox
PC
Co-op, Multiplayer, Singleplayer
💰 One-time purchase
Crossout
OBT (Open Beta) 05/30/2017
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Sandbox | Shooter | Action
PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One
MMO, Multiplayer
Free
Graveyard Keeper
Released 08/15/2018
RPG | Sandbox | Adventure | Simulator
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Breathedge
Released 02/25/2021
RPG | Sandbox | Shooter | Action | Survival
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
X2: The Threat
Released 07/21/2006
Sandbox | Action | Strategy
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Hearts of Iron III
Released 08/07/2009
Strategy | Sandbox
PC
Singleplayer, Multiplayer, Co-op
💰 One-time purchase
Nantucket
Released 01/18/2018
RPG | Strategy | Sandbox
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
TerraTech
Released 08/10/2018
Sandbox | Adventure | Simulator
PC
Multiplayer, Single Player
💰 One-time purchase
Trove
Released 07/09/2015
MMORPG | Sandbox | Action
PC
MMO
Free
Reus
Released 05/16/2013
Strategy | Sandbox | Logic
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Tropico 5
Released 05/23/2014
Sandbox | Simulator | Strategy
PC
Co-op, Multiplayer, Single Player
💰 One-time purchase
Nebuchadnezzar
Released 02/17/2021
Strategy | Sandbox | Simulator
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles
Released 07/17/2017
Sandbox | RPG | Adventure
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Way of the Samurai 4
Released 07/23/2015
Action | RPG | Sandbox | Adventure
PC
Single
💰 One-time purchase
Unturned
Released 07/07/2017
Sandbox | Action | Shooter | Survival
PC
Co-op, Multiplayer, Single Player
Free
Fallout Shelter
Release 3/29/2017
Sandbox | Strategy
PC
Single
Free
ARK: Survival Evolved
Released 08/29/2017
Survival | Sandbox | Action
PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Mobile
MMO, Multiplayer
💰 One-time purchase
Genre
Platform
Year
List of sandbox adventure games
Horizon: Zero Dawn
Released: 2017
Platforms: PlayStation 4
System requirements: unknown
Genre: sandbox, open world, action, rpg, adventure, rpg
Horizon: Zero Dawn is a PS4 exclusive set in the future.
The world is destroyed, people are forced to live in stone houses and try to get used to the new world, fighting against metal robots that look like animals…
nine0003
84 /100
Terraria
Released: 2011
Platforms: Android, iOS, PlayStation Vita, on PC
System requirements: low
Genre: Sandbox, Building, Adventure, Platformer, Indie, Survival
Terraria is similar to Minecraft, but has a unique atmosphere created by 2D graphics. The game includes two options for its passage: single player independent mode and multiplayer…
nine0003
84 /100
LittleBigPlanet 2
Released: 2011
Platforms: PlayStation 3
System requirements: unknown
Genre: sandbox, adventure, platformer, puzzle, for kids
The well-known platformer got its continuation with an even wider list of features, kindly invested by the developers. The current version of the platformer has become a platform where you can easily and naturally create completely diverse games.
..
nine0003
84 /100
Guild Wars
Released: 2005
Platforms: on PC
System requirements: low
Genre: sandbox, open world, action, adventure, mmorpg
A unique online role-playing game Guild Wars. The game has gathered an army of fans thanks to the epic map sizes and the lack of a monthly subscription fee. Join five million gamers scattered across the earth and explore a new world…
nine0003
83 /100
Garry’s Mod
Released: 2006
Platforms: on PC
System requirements: high
Genre: sandbox, building, shooter, simulation, adventure, indie, rpg, arcade
Garrys Mod is a unique sandbox game. In this game, you are free to do and create whatever you want. You do not have any clearly defined tasks, but there are many tools to create them yourself …
nine0003
82 /100
Don’t Starve
Released: 2013
Platforms: iOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, PC, Xbox One
System Requirements: Low
Genre: Roguelike, Sandbox, Building, Horror, Adventure, Indie, Survival
Evil forces imprisoned scientist Wilson in the wild world.
Playing Dont Starve, you will need to help the hero get out of prison, using all the resources of a mysterious and wild land…
nine0003
81 /100
Guild Wars 2
Released: 2012
Platforms: PC
System Requirements: Medium
Genre: sandbox, open world, action, adventure, mmorpg
Entertaining game Guild Wars 2 is a continuation of many beloved, exciting MMORPG. This game has millions of fans around the world. The second part is no less exciting, players are provided with several different races…
81 /100
LEGO Worlds
Released: 2015
Platforms: PC
System Requirements: Medium
Genre: sandbox, open world, building, adventure, arcade
LEGO Worlds provides every opportunity for the player to fully express their creativity. Using LEGO blocks and various tools in this «virtual sandbox» you can create various objects, and special landscape tools allow you to create entire tropical islands and mountain ranges in a few clicks.
..
nine0003
80 /100
Minecraft
Released: 2009
Platforms: Android, iOS, Java, Linux, MacOS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, on PC, Windows Phone, Xbox 360, Xbox One
System Requirements: Low
Genre: sandbox, open world, building, life, educational, simulator, adventure, indie, life simulator, for kids, survival
Minecraft is a popular sandbox game with a huge, auto-generated open world and survival elements. In its style, the entire game world consists of specific blocks (objects, landscape, the player himself and mobs), for the creation of which low-resolution textures were used…
nine0003
79 /100
Totally Accurate Battle Simulator
Released: 2019
Platforms: on PC
System requirements: high
Genre: sandbox, action, simulation, educational, adventure, indie, strategy
The video game Totally Accurate Battle Simulator is an arcade voxel strategy rag doll style battle simulator.
At the start, the player gets under his command a group of warriors of any time and social background…
nine0003
78 /100
Dynamite Jack
Released: 2012
Platforms: on PC
System requirements: low
Genre: sandbox, stealth, adventure, indie, rpg
Dynamite Jack is an action-adventure 2D game released by independent developers. Jack is a brave Marine Corps officer. He was captured on a planet called Anathema, after which he is sent to work in the mines…
78 /100
The Wild Eight
Released: 2017
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PC, Xbox One
System Requirements: High
Genre: roguelike, sandbox, open world, action, simulation, RPG, adventure, indie, rpg, survival
The Wild Eight is a project in the survival genre, where the success of survival depends on the correct cooperation of people. The plane crashed in Alaska, eight people miraculously escaped, and you are one of them, now the survivors must fight for life in the most difficult conditions .
..
nine0003
78 /100
LittleBigPlanet 3
Released: 2014
Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4
System requirements: unknown
Genre: sandbox, adventure, platformer, puzzle, for kids
LittleBigPlanet 3 is a corporate video game developed for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 gaming platforms.
nine0003
78 /100
Cities XL 2012
Released: 2011
Platforms: on PC
System requirements: low
Genre: Sandbox, Open World, Building, Simulation, Adventure, City Builder, Strategy
Cities XL 2012 is a typical city building simulation. The game world allows you to use in the game new unique cards and buildings that are numerous in their features…
77 /100
Minecraft: Story Mode — Season 2
Released: 2017
Platforms: Android, iOS, MacOS, PlayStation 4, PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One
System Requirements: Medium
Genre: sandbox, open world, building, life, educational, simulator, adventure, rpg, life simulator, for kids, survival
Minecraft: Story Mode — Season 2 — continuation of the adventure sandbox, which includes five episodes.
