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
Dune Awakening opens a PTS to let players test out its new PvE-friendly Deep Desert patch
Earlier this week, Dune: Awakening solved for "finding out" in the FAFO Equation and confirmed that it'll reboot its PvP-centric Deep Desert endgame to...
Perfect Ten: 10 MMOs that have fun with dinosaurs
A great perk of being an MMORPG developer is indulging in your inner child's greatest fantasies. Been a life-long fan of pirates or ninjas?...
Little Orbit says it is finally ‘close’ to reopening Fallen Earth after nearly five months offline
To those not tallying up the days, Fallen Earth Classic has been offline nearly five months since server problems forced Little Orbit to take...
Interview: Chatting with Knut Avenstroup Haugen, the genius behind the music of Dune Awakening
If you are like many MMO players, you will eventually, if not immediately, turn off the music to your game as you are playing....
Albion Online is giving some chonky skill bonuses ahead of Abyssal Depths
With just one week to go before Albion Online's Abyssal Depths finally arrives on June 30th, Sandbox Interactive is a flurry of posts and...
RuneScape adjusts level 110 Crafting, Old School RuneScape readies ‘summer sweep-up’ and Sailing beta
Considering RuneScape released its level 110 Crafting patch last week, you'd assume that Jagex would be turning the dials of the content in this...
Massively OP Podcast Episode 523: Course-correcting into the future
Justin and Bree discuss World of Warcraft, BitCraft Online, the possible sale of CCP Games and EVE Online, LOTRO, DDO, Palia, Dune Awakening, and Chrono Odyssey, with adventures in WoW, LOTRO, Palia, and the land of Steam Decks.
Choose My Adventure: Using the polls to take on untouched mission types in Elite Dangerous
Most of the time when I ask for pollsters to guide me to tasks in Choose My Adventure, it's just for that purpose: guidance,...
‘Political, dynamic, and unapologetically brutal’: Early impressions of Dune Awakening
I stood there almost naked, staring across the desert the north as my hydration quickly dropped. I had no gear and no base and...
Brighter Shores finally introduces player-to-player trading in its latest patch
May the winds of commerce blow across Brighter Shores this week - or at least the breezes of bartering - as the early access...
The Daily Grind: Which MMO would be most improved by an engine overhaul in 2025?
On MOP, we can seldom go a single day without someone in the comments wondering when a specific MMO will get an engine upgrade...
Viking survivalbox ASKA marks a year of early access with a retrospective, trailer, and Steam sale
It has been a year for the Viking-themed survival sandbox ASKA. That's not a statement of exhaustion or disparagement; that's just literally how long...
Black Desert sets PS5 and Xbox X|S native launch for June 26, teases new content ahead of Heidel Ball
Remember all the way back in March, when Pearl Abyss confirmed that it would be launching native support for Black Desert on PlayStation 5...
Funcom is retooling Dune Awakening’s PvP endgame to be more PvE-friendly after all
Dune Awakening is on the move, fam, and Funcom doesn't mean to let anyone forget it. This morning, the studio released a launch infographic...
BitCraft recovers from ‘freeze and disease’ issues that affected its servers at early access launch
If you were part of the initial early access release of the sandbox MMORPG BitCraft, then you very likely had a bad time as...
The Daily Grind: How much do you care about getting through your MMO backlog?
The idea of a gaming backlog is not a new one and not at all uncommon even among MMO players, or so I'm led...
Iron Swarm is a third-person persistent war MMO where players fight as gun-toting ants
Take a game like PlanetSide 2, turn player characters into ants, and shrink them down to insect sizes to fight it out among each...
Stars Reach shows off recent visual updates and player-built structures
Playable Worlds' Raph Koster has been busy taking snapshots from within Stars Reach, apparently. That's the gist of his latest personal blog post, which...
Sandbox MMORPG BitCraft Online has officially released to Steam early access
It's been a bit of a bumpy last leg to get to this point, but after a few delays, the crafting and exploration sandbox...
The Stream Team: Trekking to the tradepost in Dune Awakening
After experiencing their first spice dream in Dune: Awakening, Massively OP's MJ and Larry have been directed to head to the Griffin's Reach Tradepost...
