In story-driven linear games, the player feels like the character of a book or movie. It’s certainly interesting when the game takes you through a well-thought-out scenario, bringing the story to life interactively, but sometimes players want a slightly different gaming experience. Sandbox games do not limit a player by the plot, they allow him to be distracted at any time and do what he wants right now. Sometimes in such games, there is no plot at all (like in Minecraft) and the whole point of the game is the player’s free creativity. In this list, you will find the best sandbox games that remain popular in 2020.
Minecraft
Minecraft has long become a classic and has inspired many game developers to add building and crafting elements to games, and other ways of interacting with the world. Thanks to the ability to build anything from cubes in creative mode, try to survive as long as possible in survival mode, Minecraft never gets boring, because in this game you can always come up with a new goal. Also, this game is an excellent platform for dating, communication, and joint creativity of players. The main thing is to find a cozy server where players don’t write insults in the chat and don’t destroy other people’s buildings. In general, the game Minecraft can serve not only as entertainment but also as a tool for the development of logic and creativity. Therefore, Minecraft is even included in the educational curriculum in some progressive schools.
Realmcraft
Realmcraft is regarded by many as another clone of Minecraft, but this is not entirely true. Of course, Realmcraft obviously inherits many of the legendary game’s traits, such as a cube world, unlimited building in creative mode, and desperate survival in survival mode. At the same time, the graphics in Realmcraft are more realistic, there is such a feature as the Worlds mode with 30 unique ready-made worlds that can be completed or re-built, in the same mode you can build with friends. There are several mini-games (egg wars, bed wars, snow fights) in which you can meet and compete with other players. But the main difference and advantage are that this sandbox is completely free, which makes it more accessible to gamers from all over the world.
Blackmoor 2
Blackmoor 2 is a retro-style action platformer that will keep you busy. There are two main modes: story and multiplayer. In the story mode, your main task will be to find a mysterious artifact that is potentially dangerous to the whole world. In this case, you will need to fight with enemies, sometimes with several at the same time. But before the battle, you yourself choose your own tasks and put enemies in their places. In multiplayer mode, you fight four other players in real-time. There is also a sandbox mode where you can build your own unique dungeon and share it with the gaming community.
Old School Runescape
Old School Runescape is a sandbox RPG with not very beautiful graphics by modern standards, but with a lot of activities, quests, a fully interactive world, and a lot of freedom of choice. There is no coherent plot and main characters, instead, you can take separate quests from NPCs, each of which is revealed as a small fascinating story. There are no classes here, so you can develop all the skills that exist in the game, including those related to strength, dexterity, witchcraft, etc. Many players set themselves the goal of developing all skills to 99 (maximum) level.
Crashlands
Space sandbox with elements such as action/adventure and survival. Your adventure begins with the fact that you travel in a spaceship in order to deliver a valuable cargo to the right place. But an evil alien attacks you and takes part of the ship. So you find yourself on an inhabited planet unknown to you. You have to build your alien home, collect resources, fight enemies, learn crafting recipes from friendly inhabitants, in order to eventually repair the ship and complete your mission. In addition, you will find yourself involved in the evil alien’s insidious plans to take over the world.
Last Day on Earth
On Last Day on Earth, you find yourself in a world devastated by an unknown infection. Most of the people turned into zombies, and the remaining survivors are forced to gather in groups, huddle in shelters, and often attack each other in order to seize prey. Here you have to be careful, distrustful, quick, and inventive: This is the only way you can survive. As in other survival games, here you will have to monitor the indicators of satiety and thirst of the character, get food on time, make weapons and other necessary things from improvised items, etc. You can team up with other players to make it easier to survive, but remember that in this cruel world you are always threatened with betrayal.
The Escapists 2
The Escapists 2 is an immersive prison escape sandbox with pixel graphics and top-down views. You have to carefully examine your prison in order to determine a possible way to escape and craft useful items from improvised things. At the same time, you need not arouse suspicion from the guards and other prisoners: you must appear on time at roll calls, hide prohibited items, perform work duties, and generally follow the rules of the prison. The unique feature of this game is that there are different types of prisons (regular prison, ship, train, etc.) and each prison has several ways to escape. For example, change into a security guard or get out through the ventilation. Explore the location and choose the most convenient way.
GTA San Andreas
The most popular part of the GTA series for mobile devices. The main character Carl Johnson escaped from the criminal San Andreas 5 years ago and lived the life of a law-abiding person. But he heard the sad news that his mother had died as a result of shootings of warring groups and was forced to return to his hometown to punish those responsibly. On his arrival, a familiar cop tries to blame Karl for the murder of a policeman that happened at night. You have to seek the help of old acquaintances from the underworld to restore justice. In addition, you can walk around the city and do anything, including robbery, murder, etc.
Stardew Valley
At first glance, Stardew Valley may seem like another farmer’s simulator, but in reality, it is a sandbox with a well-thought-out storyline and a lot of activities, from which you can choose the ones that you like: fishing, collecting seasonal plants, going to mines, etc. The most exciting thing in the game is communicating with dozens of well-thought-out NPC characters, whom you can help with around the house and select gifts that match their character. As a result, you will be able to make best friends and even choose a romantic partner. Also, by completing story quests, you can help improve the town and prevent a large corporation from destroying the local business.
Portal Knights
The world of Portal Knights was once large and prosperous, but a rift occurred, as a result of which the world was divided into thousands of small islands, between which you can only navigate using portals. To open portals to the next procedurally generated world, you first have to defeat crowds of monsters and get the required number of shards from them. In each new world, it will be more and more difficult for you. To make it easier for you to fight, create new armor and weapons for yourself. The game is designed for four players, but you can try it alone. There is also a sandbox mode in which you simply create the island of your dreams.