Zombies. Dinosaurs. Other people. Pygmies, for some reason. They’ve been done. But plenty of themes haven’t been tapped for survival sandboxes.
Joking in the Massively OP online offices the other day, our writers decided that MJ’s frequent travels deserve immortalizing as a survival game. “Introducing Air-1 Citizen: Follow protagonist MJ as she trawls airports and tries to make it to the right plane, which may or may not take off and convey her to her destination! We’ll have two modes: One is all about melee combat with airplanes, hijackers, attendants, and tourists; the other is a minigame for baggage handlers where you have to sort the bags into the right conveyor belt. (Insert GM joke about TSA agents stripping away your gear.) No need for a complicated launch; we can just keep Air-1 Citizen in early access forever, dividing it into smaller and smaller pieces — Air-1 Citizen: Bag Totality now comes split into the Bag Customizer and Bag Sorter modules, both at full price!”
OK, maybe not; we were all a bit silly and cynical at the time.
But what theme would you like to see in the next big survival sandbox?