10 Minecraft al­tern­at­ives for sandbox fans

Minecraft has been one of the most suc­cess­ful and popular sandbox and survival games for years. If you’re not a fan of Minecraft’s design, there are plenty of other Minecraft al­tern­at­ives to choose from, such as Roblox, Terraria, or Rust, all of which have a similar principal or are com­pletely unique.

The term ‘sandbox’ is now commonly known since Minecraft became popular. Minecraft’s block worlds have become as­so­ci­ated with ‘sandbox’, however, this is just a generic name for the versatile game principle. Like in sandboxes, sandbox players move freely through open game worlds where they can be active and creative thanks to the free in­ter­ac­tion between the players and the game world.

Sandbox worlds are made to be explored, developed, worked on, and designed. This can be achieved through ag­ri­cul­ture, industry, space travel, or ar­chi­tec­ture. The crafting is an essential char­ac­ter­ist­ic of sandbox games. Another feature, known as survival mode, involves players being thrown into computer-generated worlds where they must assert them­selves and evolve. The third sandbox feature is called adventure/RPG modes, where players can solve quests or choose their own game rules.

Minecraft was developed by Mojang Studios in Sweden and it is the current sandbox leader. As of 2021, it is the best-selling computer game of all time. The secret to its success lies in its simple graphics, which focus on creating virtual worlds with a childlike building block aesthetic. Stranded in a pixel world like Robinson Crusoe, Minecraft players can design real-time generated land­scapes as they wish. Players can also create a game world alone or with friends with their own rules thanks to the dedicated Minecraft server. They can make tools, build houses, chop wood, lay mines, and create cities and landmarks. However, there are plenty of al­tern­at­ives for those who don’t like Minecraft’s min­im­al­ist graphics or who are looking for al­tern­at­ives with more story.

The name ‘Roblox’ is a com­bin­a­tion of ‘Robot’ and ‘Blocks’. Like Minecraft, the game features min­im­al­ist graphics with textures and char­ac­ters re­min­is­cent of worlds in Lego. Roblox players choose between two game modes: creating their own mini-games or the user-generated free-to-play games. The pos­sib­il­it­ies when creating games with the Roblox studio con­struc­tion kit and the scripting language Lua are diverse, and they range from racing games to sim­u­la­tions. There are over 57 million games currently available. They are available in both single player and mul­ti­play­er mode (6 to 30 players).

• Platforms: Windows, macOS, iOS, Xbox One, and Android
• Advantage: Easy to create and program the free-to-play games as they are based on a modular principle
• Dis­ad­vant­age: Some content and games do not comply with child pro­tec­tion, so parents should check their children’s usage

Stardew Valley is one of the best-selling games with over 15 million units sold. Its mix of role-playing, sim­u­la­tion, and retro pixel graphics is re­min­is­cent of farming classics such as Harvest Moon. Players take on the role of the prot­ag­on­ist who inherits a farm. They renovate, farm, and build con­nec­tions with the residents in Pelican Town. There are also mini games, where players must fight monsters and search for precious mineral resources. The game is open-ended, but it is not open world in the true sense un­for­tu­nately, rather it is similar to the classic RPG sim­u­la­tions.

• Platforms: Windows, macOS, iOS, Xbox One, Android, Nintendo Switch, PS 4, and Vita
• Advantage: Relaxing, versatile farming RPG sim­u­la­tion with adventure in­ter­ludes, creative retro graphics and hours of gameplay fun
• Cons: Not open world and more similar to tra­di­tion­al console games

The open-world game Terraria is rightly nicknamed ‘Minecraft 2D’. It is similar to Minecraft in the sense that players interact with a randomly generated game world in real time. This includes logging, mining, and pro­duc­tion of tools, among other things. There is also an in­teg­rated day-night rhythm (in 24 minutes) which affects daytime and nocturnal enemies. The world consists of 2D block graphics and each element can be edited, mined, and reshaped. Another feature includes trading and creating your own empire from base camps into country estates and castles. There are un­lock­able game modes which offer new enemies and items. Lastly, players can explore the world as a team via mul­ti­play­er with their own Terraria server.

• Platforms: Windows, macOS, iOS, Xbox 360 and One, Android, PS 3 and 4, Windows Phone, Linux, Nintendo Switch, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS
• Advantage: Open-world/sandbox game which focuses on adventure and combines several elements with action/adventure, RPG, and dungeon games
• Dis­ad­vant­age: The sandbox principle is not as free and unlimited as in Minecraft due to fixed items

Starbound mixes elements from Minecraft and Terraria, the main dif­fer­ence being that the game world en­com­passes a universe. In this sense, it is similar to the sandbox/open-world game ‘No Man’s Sky’, but it presents itself in detailed 2D graphics. After the Earth’s de­struc­tion, players travel through the cosmos in a spaceship and travel between planets with fixed and computer-generated struc­tures where they must fulfill various quests and trade. Houses can be built on the planets, artifacts found, and enemies defeated. A dedicated Starbound server also offers mul­ti­play­er fun.

• Platforms: Windows, macOS, Xbox One, PS 4, and Linux
• Advantage: The sandbox game offers users a good balance between story mode, free ex­plor­a­tion, and de­vel­op­ment of the open world
• Dis­ad­vant­age: Quest and story mode are not as im­press­ive when compared to other plot-based games

Eco is a mul­ti­play­er sim­u­la­tion game where players find them­selves on a planet which is being threatened by an asteroid impact. The re­l­at­ively open gameplay focuses on building a civil­iz­a­tion with other players and fending off impact. However, resource ex­trac­tion must not disturb the eco­lo­gic­al balance. Therefore, the prin­ciples of farming, mining, and crafting are ori­gin­ally sup­ple­men­ted with an ethical and edu­ca­tion­al aspect. Players spe­cial­ise in certain skills and crafts which make teamwork very important. You can create an exciting, realistic team play with in-game agree­ments, contracts, and community ob­lig­a­tions with your own Eco server. Gov­ern­ments can also be formed and the virtual eco­lo­gic­al footprint can break down.

• Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
• Advantage: Civil­iz­a­tion sim­u­la­tion with nice graphics, creative mul­ti­play­er principle, and in­ter­est­ing eco­lo­gic­al approach
• Dis­ad­vant­age: Only works in mul­ti­play­er mode as single player mode has not been developed

The adventure/survival game ‘ARK: Survival Evolved’ takes fans of survival and sandbox games into the world of dinosaurs. Players start their adventure without any equipment and have to make clothes, houses, tools, and weapons from materials in the game world. At the same time, players must explore the world and its elements, as well as collect points and reach new levels. Dinosaurs can be fought, but they can also be tamed. The game began with a 49m² map of ‘The Island’, but it has since expanded to other numerous maps. It is re­com­men­ded to play ARK as mul­ti­play­er, as tasks such as dinosaur breeding take up a lot of game time. Users can join up with other players to form a tribe and dis­trib­ute tasks with a dedicated Ark server.

• Platforms: Windows, macOS, iOS, Xbox One, Android, PS 4, Nintendo Switch, and Linux
• Advantage: Offers a large game world, which can be sup­ple­men­ted with many elements through different mods, such as steampunk or pirate world
• Cons: Still has some bugs and glitches which can be annoying in single-player mode

Vintage Story developed from a Minecraft mod, but it has since evolved into an in­de­pend­ent sandbox survival game. Although it has the same char­ac­ter­ist­ic pixel-block graphics as Minecraft, it focuses more so on realistic survival elements. Players begin the game as a blue-skinned seraph in a mys­ter­i­ous world, where they must ensure their own survival by building houses, raising animals, farming, and crafting in-game tools, as they must also fight monsters. The world and its back­ground story can then be explored in single or mul­ti­play­er.

• Platforms: Windows, Linux
• Advantage: Offers a high degree of realism in terms of crafting, farming, and at­mo­sphere when compared to Minecraft
• Cons: Still in the Early Access phase since its 2016 release

Trove is a voxel-style sandbox game similar to Minecraft, so fans of Minecraft will have no trouble getting used to the cubic char­ac­ters and designs in Trove. Trove is an MMORPG where players choose char­ac­ters from a wide class system with their own crafting skills. The spe­cial­ised skills promote team play as players must work together. Players start in the ‘hub’ and move through portals into different in-game worlds. Access to portals will depend on the player’s level of ex­per­i­ence. The game revolves around defeating dungeon bosses, solving quests, finding loots, and mining materials for crafting.

• Platforms: Windows, macOS, iOS, Xbox One, and Android
• Advantage: Players can choose their char­ac­ters based on their classes and skills and form com­ple­ment­ary teams
• Dis­ad­vant­age: The Trove world does not seem to have a coherent back­ground story, which can make gameplay seem arbitrary and aimless at times

The Forest is an at­mo­spher­ic survival horror with sandbox elements and it is un­suit­able for young players due to its dark elements. The main character is the survivor of a plane crash who has to defend himself against cannibal tribes on a peninsula where he must rescue his kidnapped son. Players can build shelters, weapons, and tools from materials and elements in the game world. The nonlinear game includes third-person and first-person shooter per­spect­ives and can be played in single and mul­ti­play­er modes. There is a day-night rhythm, a diverse animal and plant world, and several versatile regions. The strength of The Forest is the deep story which is told in a min­im­al­ist­ic way, revealing the back­ground of the island and its in­hab­it­ants.

• Platforms: Windows, PS 4, Android
• Advantage: Deep, at­mo­spher­ic story which ef­fect­ively in­teg­rates sandbox elements into a non-linear game story
• Dis­ad­vant­age: Game only suitable for 18 years and older

In the survival game Rust, players find them­selves naked and without equipment in the dystopian game world. From the beginning, players must ensure their own survival by crafting tools, clothing, and shelter, as well as by hunting and producing food. Enemies include wild animals such as bears and wolves, opposing players, and extreme weather con­di­tions such as cold or radiation exposure. Players have the option to join clans with fellow players and use their own Rust server to get the best per­form­ance and fun out of the game. However, the player-vs. player principle with raids and battles is usually the focus on official Rust servers.

• Platforms: Windows, macOS, iOS, Linux, PS 4, Xbox One
• Advantage: The diverse, realistic dangers of the game world (animals, fellow players, climate) provide a realistic survival thrill
• Dis­ad­vant­age: New players usually have a hard time competing against well-equipped long-time players without dedicated servers and often have to restart without equipment