Sandbox games are those that offer a great level of freedom to the players. This translates, most of the time, to giant open worlds, but this is not a mandatory criterion. The most important thing is, without a doubt, that the player can create his own rhythm and style of play and still have fun. With that in mind, we've rounded up the 18 best sandbox games for PC below that offer just that: freedom + fun. Check out!
1. Minecraft
The king of sandbox games. Minecraft offers basically infinite freedom of creation and interactions since, with enough skill, you can create basically anything you want. The game has delighted millions of players worldwide, appealing to both children and adults. Here, you can create the silliest structures possible, but you can also create true architectural designs.
2. Grand Theft Auto V
GTA V is still glued behind Minecraft. Even with a rich campaign and a very fun and well-written storyline, the game offers a freedom almost never seen in other games. You can spend hours and hours enjoying the game without having to get close to the main campaign or even side quests. This is one of the main traits of a good sandbox.
3Watch Dogs: Legion
Legion is the third title in the Watch Dogs franchise, released in 2020. The story takes place in a dystopian London completely dominated by a military entity that has installed extreme surveillance systems in the city, and we control a group of hackers who seek to free the citizens. The game takes the series' level of freedom to a new level, allowing us to recruit any NPC from the game to the team. Each character has its own story and abilities. Just like the previous games, any mission can be completed in countless different ways, it all depends on your creativity.
4. The Witcher 3
The Witcher 3 is an RPG as dense and deep as the first two games in the series, but it has an open world so large that it's intimidating. Just like in GTA V, you can spend hours without touching the main campaign and still have a lot of fun. Variety of regions, NPCs and activities in general make The Witcher 3 one of the best sandboxes in history.
5. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Skyrim is by far the best game in The Elder Scrolls franchise. Bringing together all the typical elements of the RPG genre, the game has hundreds of weapons, skills and spells, in addition to a level of freedom that is still respectable despite the game being almost 10 years old. The game also has an absurd number of side quests that you might not even discover during your gameplay. With so many secrets, skills and professions to learn, Skyrim deserves a spot on this list.
6. Red Dead Redemption 2
There's not much to say. If GTA V is on that list, Red Dead Redemption 2 needs to be too. Although they have completely different themes, both games offer very similar experiences in terms of freedom of exploration and richness of activities. RDR2 is another Rockstar gem.
7.Horizon Zero Dawn
Newly released for PC, Horizon Zero Dawn is an absurdly beautiful game. The game is an RPG and extremely well designed with a huge open world. In addition to the main campaign, the diversity of side quests and the number of activities to do in the game are immense.
8. Far Cry 5
Far Cry 5 is an open world FPS with extremely beautiful environments. Just like the previous titles, here you'll take part in another civil war and you'll have to complete the most varied missions. The variety of elements present in the game world is huge and allows you to follow the story in many different ways. The game's artificial intelligence also allows you to find many ways to complete missions, allowing you to find something new every time you play again.
9. Fallout 4
To vary the theme of RPG games a little, Fallou is not set in a medieval environment, but in a post-apocalyptic open world devastated by a nuclear war. In addition to several innovative mechanics, the game was highly awarded and praised for the amount of content and, above all, for the level of freedom offered to players.
10. Donât Starve
Don't Starve is one of the most popular survival games on the market. In it you wake up on an island where you can interact with practically everything and the objective is very simple: survive. For that, you'll need to collect items and assemble tools that allow you to settle down and protect yourself from the dangers of the island. Due to the wide variety of items and characters, there is no fixed formula for success, and players can advance through their games in countless different ways and styles.
11. Rust
Rust is a game of pure survival, nothing more. The only objective is to find ways to overcome hunger, cold, thirst, attack by animals and other players. The game offers a more hardcore experience in the genre, with a lot of explicit violence and a high difficulty level that forces you to do whatever it takes to survive. The level of freedom is what you would expect from a sandbox game, with the possibility of interacting in different ways with absolutely everything around you.
12. Teardown
Teardown is a sandbox game in which you have to carry out a series of robberies to complete missions and level up. For that, you can interact and mainly destroy everything you see on your screen, as long as it doesn't spoil the plan and get you caught. The game has several modes, items and vehicles that you'll need to make the best use of to find the solutions for each level. The game also has a specific mode called "Sandbox" in which there are no objectives and all content is unlocked for you to just interact and destroy the entire scenario.
13. No Man's Sky
No Man's Sky has the biggest open world of ALL games there is. That's right. The game has a space exploration theme that has a random generation of planets. Whenever the player approaches one, the game combines numerous elements to create a new planet with its own characteristics. Inside it, players have a lot of freedom to explore, craft and build their bases.
14. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Within such a recognized and award-winning franchise, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is a masterpiece. This time around, Hideo Kojima offered a freedom never seen before in the series and a level of artificial intelligence that perfectly complements it. Here, there is never a fixed way to go and you can use your imagination to create the right situations to advance in the missions. The game also has an absurdly large content and a very high level of interaction with the environment.
15. Terraria
A good way to describe Terraria is: Minecraft in 2D. Despite the simple look, the game has even more content than the Minecraft phenomenon, with a lot more things to kill and weapons to assemble. Here you can also access an underground world and basically destroy anything on the screen to reveal secrets and get new items.
16. Ark: Survival Evolved
Ark: Survival Evolved is another survival game with a high level of freedom. Here, you are stranded on an island full of technological dinosaurs, and you must craft your equipment, set up your base and secure your resources to survive. As with most current games of the genre, there is no fixed formula to progress and you can evolve your character however you want, in addition to being able to fully decide the strategy used to stay alive.
17. Saints Row IV
Following the same lines as GTA, the Saints Row franchise also bets on an open world full of possibilities to commit crimes. Even if you completely ignore the main campaign, you can have many hours of fun exploring the captivating universe created by the game, being able to customize your character the way you want, not only its appearance, but also its abilities.
18. Just Cause 4
Just Cause 4 is yet another 3rd person action game with an incredibly large open world. In addition to the very high freedom that the game offers, the main character also has incredible equipment that allows him to explore the world in different ways not very present in other games. Here, Rico Rodriguez (the character) can use his wingsuit and grappling hook to move around the scene very easily. Undoubtedly one of the most action-packed games out there.
See also:
- The best open world games for weak PC!
- Minecraft-like games for you to keep building
