Sandboxes are a type of MMO that emphasize player freedom and expression. They frequently include mechanics for building, crafting, trading, character customization and development, roleplaying, destruction, and significant interaction with the world and other players. A sandbox that is dominated by an open-PvP or free-for-all ruleset is sometimes pejoratively called a gankbox. Contrast with the themepark.
sandbox
Massively Overthinking: Niche MMOs vs. everythingboxes
Earlier this month, veteran MMORPG designer Raph Koster announced that he's finally making a new MMORPG, with a suite of top devs and a...
Voidspace promises a survival MMO where players control the narrative, created items, and even inventions
In the vast majority of survival sandbox titles, creating items means you have to follow a pre-determined path or tree in order to unlock...
Star Citizen brings the interdiction-fixing alpha 3.7.1 online and shares the schedule for CitizenCon
With the newest update to Star Citizen, the game has hopefully fixed its little space rock vs. face problem (spoiler: space rock wins). Alpha...
RuneScape’s new Executive Producer talks monetization as Halloween arrives to Old School
It's a transition week for RuneScape as Jagex has appointed a new Executive Producer for the game: Ryan "Mod Warden" Ward. It's a comfort,...
Pearl Abyss preps standalone Shadow Arena battle royale plucked from Black Desert
Remember Shadow Arena, Black Desert's short-lived PvP battle royale mode? It was announced just before 2019, released a few weeks later, and immediately devolved...
EVE Online’s NetEase-backed mobile EVE Echoes enters beta in December
EVE Online mobile MMO EVE Echoes is swooping past its summer alpha into a winter beta, according to an announcement from CCP Games and NetEase...
Trove’s Halloween events begin on PC and console as Shadow’s Eve arrives
If you thought the voxel sandbox Trove couldn't possibly get weirder than it normally is, then you've clearly never seen it during the Halloween...
Make your own online game with Playcraft’s incredible toybox, launching today
Sure, you talk big about making games if you only knew how to code, but would you actually make good on that boast if...
Desert Oasis: First impressions of Black Desert’s Great Expedition
One of the most difficult things I've had to deal with in my time with Black Desert is sailing and boating. I've never been...
Miniature Desert Oasis: Hands-on with the upcoming Black Desert Mobile
Five years ago, if you'd asked me about any mobile game, I wouldn't have even considered it a real game. I'd have considered it...
The Daily Grind: What are the odds that Daybreak can turn itself around?
I've had... severe concerns about Daybreak Games over the last several years, and I'm sure that I am not alone in this. The multiple...
Massively OP Podcast Episode 243: ArcheAge goes ‘queue queue’
Justin and Bree discuss ArcheAge Unchained, the Daybreak EverQuest and PlanetSide 3 situation, Riot's big reveals, Fallout 76's expansion delay, plus chat on gaming routines, gamers' breaking point with studios, and the problems with RvR.
ArcheAge Unchained permabans 200+ accounts over ArchePass mission exploits
If you were among the gamers protesting exploits in ArcheAge Unchained - or the ArchePass in general - then know that Gamigo has now...
Project Gorgon adds Halloween quest, adjusts the Giant Bat skill in latest update
There's nothing quite like reading the patch notes for Project Gorgon because what other game lets you not only become a giant bat but also seriously...
MMO sandbox Boundless patches in new build items, teases Halloween
Fresh off its first birthday, Square-Enix backed voxel interplanetary survival-crafting MMO Boundless is already pushing on with more updates. Builders and hoarders are going...
Hellion launches out of early access unfinished and ends development
If you point your brain back at 2017, you'll recall that an ambitious survival sandbox called Hellion braved the Steam early access waters. Zero...
Star Citizen Q&A livestream touches on mining, caves, quality-of-life tweaks, and more
It's Q&A time for Star Citizen's developers in the most recent Star Citizen Live livestream that took place. As one would expect, this Q&A...
Starbase shows off its robotic body with a video all about player endoskeletons
Sure, Starbase is about building spaceships and space stations of various sizes, types, and complexities, but none of that actually happens without the endoskeleton...
Fight or Kite: Albion Online has the potential to be the perfect mobile MMO
You know, I am regularly sitting in a waiting room for my turn to be called back to the doctor or at the lube...
Garbled pirate transmissions are playing in Star Citizen’s 3.7.1 PTU
While the primary purpose of alpha 3.7.1 in Star Citizen is to test random asteroid interdiction, that apparently doesn't mean that CIG isn't eager...
