Sandbox Genre forum

[ccgr]

I think we can prove our points without insults here guys.

[ChickenSoup]

He's been snappy all over the forums and I have no idea why everything has to be an issue worth arguing. Pick your battles, man

[Orodrist]

ludicris

<_<

[delve]

Alright then tell me, just where do games such as Infamous and Prototype go into in these forums? Games like those have a genre of their own, I'm sorry that you seem too simple-minded to understand.

You've narrowed your 'genre' down to 4 games and dismissed all other comers as not meeting your requirements.
I think you can ask teh intarnets and get told off quite thoroughly about the 'sandbox' qualifications of just about every Elder Scrolls game ever made. I was being polite. Beyond that Minecraft is just about the categorical definition of sandbox (pet peeve: it's not an MMO-anything, 16-64 does not Massively Multiplayer make). So no. Your definition is needlessly narrow to the point of describing individual games.

[Sstavix]

Perhaps we need to come up with a definition of what a "sandbox" game actually is. From what I recall, it basically is a sub-genre of other genres where the player is presented with an open world and the freedom to do whatever he or she want to in it. There may be plotlines, quests or missions, but the player is certainly not required to do any of those, if he or she so chooses.

So for those of us who haven't played (and have no interest in playing) games like Infamous or Saints Row - which have been given the genre of action-adventure, incidentally - how would you define them as a "sandbox" game, and different from games like Morrowind or several MMOs where the player is free to go wherever he wants?

[delve]

I personally would classify Fallout 1 & 2 as small scale sandbox games.
In the most basic terms I call it a sandbox if you're not railroaded down the plot-line and there are sufficient activities and space to distract you from said plot. In its purest form there is no plot, like Minecraft.

Kids enter a sandbox on the playground and build their own stories.

[Sstavix]

In the most basic terms I call it a sandbox if you're not railroaded down the plot-line and there are sufficient activities and space to distract you from said plot. In its purest form there is no plot, like Minecraft.

That's kind of what I figured as well. The game designers have designed the world, and it's up to the player to explore and have fun their own way. Which is kind of why I was puzzled as to why the Elder Scrolls games and MMOs lie World of Warcraft or Everquest wouldn't qualify (well, early WoW - I haven't played it in several years, so it could be much more plot-centric now. From what I've read, it has headed in that direction...).

But that could be the problem with trying to define a "sandbox" game. It encompasses so many genres and the definition is extremely loose. If you were flexible enough, you could even argue that Wii Music was a sandbox game in the music / rhythm genre. Sure, there's songs to follow, but you don't even need to follow along to that, if you want to. And since the only score is the one you make for yourself to judge your own performance, numbers are even meaningless in that game. It's essentially the sandbox version of Rock Band... with more instruments and less cool music.