Sandbox Games

[Chancie]

Ok, Yahtzee refers to these quite a bit and call me stupid, oblivious, whatever else you'd like, but what exactly IS a "sandbox game?" And what features would a game have to have to be considered one? I've never understood the term and it seems like quite a few games I enjoy are considered "sandbox games."

So...care to enlighten me?

 

[SantoUno]

After a whole year if hearing the term being pasted on every other god damn release I'm sure it refers to games that have a big, open world that you can freely explore without being forced to continue the story and you can encounter many side missions or other additional tasks to complete that don't exactly further the story but are merely to enjoy the sandbox freedom.

Examples include GTA IV, Prototype, Infamous, Oblivion, Fallout 3, Assassins's Creed 1 & 2, and there are many others.

 

[Chancie]

And people complain about that? Huh...

 

[JRShield]

And people complain about that? Huh...

Yes, it's difficult to make a good sandbox game. It has to be entertaining and open with a lot of stuff to do without getting boring like GTA 4.