There’s Too Much Sand In My Sandbox – A Sandbox Design Rant.


Role-playing survival game is willing to take risks

It’s time for another deep, dark gamer secret. For those keeping track : I hated Bioshock, find Bioware overrated and didn’t care for Call of Duty or Gears of War (this one I haven’t written about yet). Today’s rant is all about the sandbox genre. I have never been able to get enjoyment from these games. I’ve tried to play both The Sims 1 and 2, and got bored fairly quickly. Even Minecraft, the game I raved about last year has been un-played for at least six months. I started to think about why these games have never hooked me and realized that it has to do with what motivates me to play.

When it comes down to it, I need to have some form of motivation to play from the game. Whether that is in the form of the challenge of the game, or simply achievements to check off. As someone who loves to come up with game ideas all day long, I’m horrible when it comes to making my own fun in sandbox titles.