What kind of sandbox game doesn't exist but should?

[SWard]

Personally I'd love to see more of these "you play the animal running around the wild" type sandbox games. I also think something cool and gothic set in the Penny Dreadful Universe would be really cool.

 

[Zoid]

I've always thought it would be cool to play a sandbox game ala The Borrowers or The Secret World of Arriety where you play in a normal world (like a family house and surrounding neighborhood) but on a tiny scale.

The normal survival game features could easily apply:

• Go out and scavenge for food that gets dropped on the floor, or raid the cupboards and tear your way into a cereal box.
• Build a home base inside the walls or up in a tree.
• Avoid dangers like being seen by humans, or the family cat, or birds of prey.
• Fight bugs or rats or other small pests with makeshift weapons you find, like a toothpick or a needle.

I think I've even seen a few people try to make a game like this but I don't know of any that got completed.

 

[Beetroot]

Cold-war spies and espionage!

Spies are the best at stuff. They can fight, shoot, manipulate, infiltrate, change identities, smuggle, and so on.

An espionage sandbox would require some real creativity because it can't all be action a-la Mission Impossible 2.

The game could be open world, including urban, suburban and rural areas in many countries.

Missions might be:

Surveillance of a suspected foreign agent: You tail them, take photos of people they interact with and actions they take (they just dropped something into the coin jar and took a newspaper, is it a drop or a message pickup?), plant devices at locations they visit, B&E their apartment, etc.

Assassination attempt: Target could be in a cafe, in a car or in an embassy. Choose a location for an attempt, success of failure affects the character and the world. Did they die? Are they unaware of your failure? Maybe before you pull the trigger you see something that makes you call off the mission.

Infiltration: Assume an identity and infiltrate something. Maybe pose as a cop to gain access to the confiscated video tapes. Maybe you need to be an employee of IBM to be in position for a hack, so the mission is getting a job there. many things to do there.

Intel board: Monkey around with all your collected intel, dossiers, maps and stuff to plan new missions or discover plots etc. I'm thinking something like Phantom Doctrine and Sherlock Holmes Devils Daughter. Mission creation should have serious depth and customization.

Character skills
Tons of cold-war weapons, equipment, upgrades, modifications etc.

I could invent this game it would be sick.

 

[Cooper88]

I'd love to see more games based in an underwater setting. Subnautica really tapped into a underutilized environment and I think so much more could be done there.

 

[Zoid]

I'd love to see more games based in an underwater setting. Subnautica really tapped into a underutilized environment and I think so much more could be done there.

I agree. Subnautica felt really fresh. The organic building of suspense as you go to greater depths made the game so engaging.

 

[Frindis]

A ghost sandbox simulator with good/neutral/evil/ mechanics.

A game where you play as the only ghost in town and roam around different locations trying to find a way to pass to the other side. You can play as a good ghost, bad or basically anything in between. Do you want to be like the Patrick Swayze ghost from the movie Ghost? Sure, you can do that. Maybe you want to be the Dude ghost and just do absolutely nothing valuable? Sure, no problem at all.

You could be doing everything from getting the neighbor dog to stop barking at 2 AM, take control over a person's body (think Beetlejuice) to swapping nametags at the local wedding party or just do absolutely nothing while you float over a family eating dinner in perfect harmony. You have to find out how you want to live your ghostly life and reap the consequences of your actions. Oh, and I forgot to mention, if people get too drunk, they might be able to engage in a spiritual conversation with you, making you able to plant ideas in their head, which could potentially have devastating effects.

 

[Frindis]

I've always thought it would be cool to play a sandbox game ala The Borrowers or The Secret World of Arriety where you play in a normal world (like a family house and surrounding neighborhood) but on a tiny scale.
I think I've even seen a few people try to make a game like this but I don't know of any that got completed.

Shares similarities with Obsidian's upcoming game, Grounded. Rumored release Q2 2020.

 

[Zoid]

Shares similarities with Obsidian's upcoming game, Grounded. Rumored release Q2 2020.

That looks awesome! I'll be interested in playing that. Curious to see what the scope and structure are like.

 

[Apollo]

Maybe this is the Trekkie in me, but some sort of space based survival game. Not like Alien, but more the Forest and Minecraft's baby.

 

[fletch254]

Maybe this is the Trekkie in me, but some sort of space based survival game. Not like Alien, but more the Forest and Minecraft's baby.

Have you ever looked into Space Engineers? It's a survival based game where you set up infrastructure to generate power and fuel to eventually build yourself spaceships and fly off to explore the great unknown. Once out in space too you can put the effort into setting up asteroid mining stations for particularly rare ores etc. Very cool game if you have the time for it!

EDIT: Just checked too and it's currently down to £10 on Steam (UK)

 

[I Will Haunt You]

A ghost sandbox simulator with good/neutral/evil/ mechanics.

You could be doing everything from getting the neighbor dog to stop barking at 2 AM, take control over a person's body (think Beetlejuice) to swapping nametags at the local wedding party or just do absolutely nothing while you float over a family eating dinner in perfect harmony.

Or annoy people on gaming forums. 👻

 

[I Will Haunt You]

Someone mentioned an archeology game in another thread about games that don't exist, I would love a sandbox similar to that but you collect everything and have different ways to go about it. Metal detectors, divining rods, treasure maps.

Just a world full of stuff to find along with some light building and crafting to make the items you use for your collecting and to make a museum to store all your stuff in. I fyou want to take crafting up a notch let player make their own treasure and hide them where other people can bring them into their own games.

 

[Apollo]

Have you ever looked into Space Engineers? It's a survival based game where you set up infrastructure to generate power and fuel to eventually build yourself spaceships and fly off to explore the great unknown. Once out in space too you can put the effort into setting up asteroid mining stations for particularly rare ores etc. Very cool game if you have the time for it!

EDIT: Just checked too and it's currently down to £10 on Steam (UK)

Sounds awesome, just need to upgrade the S.S. Potato

 

[BornAgainPCGamer]

I've always thought it would be cool to play a sandbox game ala The Borrowers or The Secret World of Arriety where you play in a normal world (like a family house and surrounding neighborhood) but on a tiny scale.

The normal survival game features could easily apply:

• Go out and scavenge for food that gets dropped on the floor, or raid the cupboards and tear your way into a cereal box.
• Build a home base inside the walls or up in a tree.
• Avoid dangers like being seen by humans, or the family cat, or birds of prey.
• Fight bugs or rats or other small pests with makeshift weapons you find, like a toothpick or a needle.

I think I've even seen a few people try to make a game like this but I don't know of any that got completed.

Obsidian are making a game like what you describe. Its a bit like Honey i shrunk the kids. Its 4 player co-op based in a garden and you are all tiny people. Can't think of what its called though sorry.

 

[BornAgainPCGamer]

Cold-war spies and espionage!

Spies are the best at stuff. They can fight, shoot, manipulate, infiltrate, change identities, smuggle, and so on.

An espionage sandbox would require some real creativity because it can't all be action a-la Mission Impossible 2.

The game could be open world, including urban, suburban and rural areas in many countries.

Missions might be:

Surveillance of a suspected foreign agent: You tail them, take photos of people they interact with and actions they take (they just dropped something into the coin jar and took a newspaper, is it a drop or a message pickup?), plant devices at locations they visit, B&E their apartment, etc.

Assassination attempt: Target could be in a cafe, in a car or in an embassy. Choose a location for an attempt, success of failure affects the character and the world. Did they die? Are they unaware of your failure? Maybe before you pull the trigger you see something that makes you call off the mission.

Infiltration: Assume an identity and infiltrate something. Maybe pose as a cop to gain access to the confiscated video tapes. Maybe you need to be an employee of IBM to be in position for a hack, so the mission is getting a job there. many things to do there.

Intel board: Monkey around with all your collected intel, dossiers, maps and stuff to plan new missions or discover plots etc. I'm thinking something like Phantom Doctrine and Sherlock Holmes Devils Daughter. Mission creation should have serious depth and customization.

Character skills
Tons of cold-war weapons, equipment, upgrades, modifications etc.

I could invent this game it would be sick.

I thought splinter cell double agent kinda done a lot of this well, for when it was released. However, i would welcome a deeper, modern version, with all the stuff you mentioned included. It has a lot of great potential, if done properly.

 

[Pifanjr]

A God game. Really any kind of god game... I should replay Black & White sometime, if I can get it to work.

I'd love a crafting game, like Minecraft/Space Engineers/Subnautica/etc., based on magic instead of technology.

I'd also love a sandbox game that delivers what the Spore creature phase was supposed to be like. I love any game that involves evolution really. A combination of the Spore creature phase and a crafting game, where instead of tools you improve your creature's body to accomplish different tasks sounds amazing for example.

 

[Krud]

I'd like to see a semi-scripted open-world sandbox that combines some of the radiant AI elements of Skyrim (and perhaps to a greater extend Oblivion, but slightly less buggy), with the needs/goals/interests of a Sims game. Have it be set in a particular time period, though I don't particularly care when -- I'd prefer modern times, but I'd settle for medieval times or ancient -- the important thing is a bunch of AI people who have routines and reactions and the like. I think basically what I want is for the sort of thing Bethesda tried (and mostly failed) to do with radiant AI and turn it up to 11. It would require that there not be an over-arcing plot like a civil war or dragon uprising, because the unpredictability of the AI would easily thwart that. But there could still be general randomly generated 'missions/quests.' Ideally it would also have the sort of interactivity you often find in a Rockstar game, but I would like all of the buildings to be more than decorative. I realize what I'm describing would probably never run on a console, and probably most computers unless it had hyperthreading and 16+ GB of memory. I just want to see how far the concept can be taken, without the distraction of Saving The World (or blowing it up, as the case may be.)

Edit: I may have been describing Dwarf Fortress, I'm not sure. I should try playing it again. It might be more abstract than I would want.

 

[Krud]

A ghost sandbox simulator with good/neutral/evil/ mechanics.

A game where you play as the only ghost in town and roam around different locations trying to find a way to pass to the other side. You can play as a good ghost, bad or basically anything in between.

I like this idea, though I'd also like to see a "monster simulator." Where you're a werewolf or vampire or... black lagoon creature... just trying to make your way through life without being identified and killed by a mob. Maybe like Octodad but less goofy and more potentially violent.

 

[Apollo]

I'd like to see a semi-scripted open-world sandbox that combines some of the radiant AI elements of Skyrim (and perhaps to a greater extend Oblivion, but slightly less buggy), with the needs/goals/interests of a Sims game. Have it be set in a particular time period, though I don't particularly care when -- I'd prefer modern times, but I'd settle for medieval times or ancient -- the important thing is a bunch of AI people who have routines and reactions and the like. I think basically what I want is for the sort of thing Bethesda tried (and mostly failed) to do with radiant AI and turn it up to 11. It would require that there not be an over-arcing plot like a civil war or dragon uprising, because the unpredictability of the AI would easily thwart that. But there could still be general randomly generated 'missions/quests.' Ideally it would also have the sort of interactivity you often find in a Rockstar game, but I would like all of the buildings to be more than decorative. I realize what I'm describing would probably never run on a console, and probably most computers unless it had hyperthreading and 16+ GB of memory. I just want to see how far the concept can be taken, without the distraction of Saving The World (or blowing it up, as the case may be.)

This sounds a lot like RDR2

 

[Krud]

This sounds a lot like RDR2

It's definitely what I had kinda hoped RDR2 would be like, and to its credit, it probably comes closer to what I'm trying to describe than most games, but it still has an over-arcing storyline and a lot of scripted arbitrariness that I'd just as soon do without (at least for the game I'm describing). I'm not looking for long speeches by main characters, or a super-gamey slow-mo/aim system, or any of the other shooter-specific elements of RDR2. I don't actually want it to be a murderous-by-necessity game like most Rockstar games lean toward. (I specify "by necessity" because it should still be an option. But I'm pretty sure it's impossible not to be an outright murderer in any Rockstar game other than Bully.)

 

[Frindis]

I like this idea, though I'd also like to see a "monster simulator." Where you're a werewolf or vampire or... black lagoon creature... just trying to make your way through life without being identified and killed by a mob. Maybe like Octodad but less goofy and more potentially violent.

Not exactly the same but that reminded me of the new Shark game called Maneater. As I understand it you have to avoid bigger things and the men hunting you, while also eating your way to the top of the food chain. The commentator also talks about you being able to evolve outside the water for a limited time, making you able to kill people on land.

Here is 25min of gameplay:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USPXtdNI_lg

 

[I Will Haunt You]

with the needs/goals/interests of a Sims game. -- the important thing is a bunch of AI people who have routines and reactions and the like -- it would also have the sort of interactivity -- but I would like all of the buildings to be more than decorative. -- without the distraction of Saving The World (or blowing it up, as the case may be.)

The potential for the amount of chaos one could create within that game has me drooling. (I wanted to make some kind of ectoplasm joke, but they all sounded too vulgar).

 

[I Will Haunt You]

Not exactly the same but that reminded me of the new Shark game called Maneater.

This is one of my most anticipated titles of the year, maybe even more so than Cyberpunk 2077 or Bloodlines 2. I really can't wait to sink my teeth into this one. 👻

 

[BornAgainPCGamer]

I'd like to see a semi-scripted open-world sandbox that combines some of the radiant AI elements of Skyrim (and perhaps to a greater extend Oblivion, but slightly less buggy), with the needs/goals/interests of a Sims game. Have it be set in a particular time period, though I don't particularly care when -- I'd prefer modern times, but I'd settle for medieval times or ancient -- the important thing is a bunch of AI people who have routines and reactions and the like. I think basically what I want is for the sort of thing Bethesda tried (and mostly failed) to do with radiant AI and turn it up to 11. It would require that there not be an over-arcing plot like a civil war or dragon uprising, because the unpredictability of the AI would easily thwart that. But there could still be general randomly generated 'missions/quests.' Ideally it would also have the sort of interactivity you often find in a Rockstar game, but I would like all of the buildings to be more than decorative. I realize what I'm describing would probably never run on a console, and probably most computers unless it had hyperthreading and 16+ GB of memory. I just want to see how far the concept can be taken, without the distraction of Saving The World (or blowing it up, as the case may be.)

Edit: I may have been describing Dwarf Fortress, I'm not sure. I should try playing it again. It might be more abstract than I would want.

I take it by saying you would like it in modern times, that you'd like a world built with Rockstar's attention to detail, like in gtaV but maybe shaved down to just the city though. Then merge that, with a much more complex version of Bethesda's Radiant A.I mechanic. Then just loose the player out into the extremely interactive world and see what happens? Or am i way off the mark?

 

[Krud]

I take it by saying you would like it in modern times, that you'd like a world built with Rockstar's attention to detail, like in gtaV but maybe shaved down to just the city though. Then merge that, with a much more complex version of Bethesda's Radiant A.I mechanic. Then just loose the player out into the extremely interactive world and see what happens? Or am i way off the mark?

Yes, exactly that.

Edit to add: But also with Sims-like "needs." So if you're sleepy or hungry, your performance suffers. As does the performance of NPC's.