Best Sandbox Games on Steam
Unlike generic lists, our strategy game recommendations use a rigorous analysis of Steam user reviews to identify and feature only the best, community-validated sandbox games.
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Stardew Valley
You've inherited your grandfather's old farm plot in Stardew Valley. Armed with hand-me-down tools and a few coins, you set out to begin your new life. Can you learn to live off the land and turn these overgrown fields into a thriving home?
UnReal World
The cult classic open-ended wilderness survival roguelike RPG taking place in the ancient North. Throughout the years, UnReal World has been praised for its incredible depth, realism, atmosphere and immersion. Lose yourself in the most intricate, detailed and enchanting iron-age game world.
Plague Inc: Evolved
Plague Inc: Evolved is a unique mix of high strategy and terrifyingly realistic simulation. Your pathogen has just infected 'Patient Zero' - now you must bring about the end of human history by evolving a deadly, global Plague whilst adapting against everything humanity can do to defend itself.
Wayward Terran Frontier: Zero Falls
2d space combat like no other. From the perspective of a single crew member, explore the fully destructible interior of any ship in a massive living world. Engage in space combat with no hitpoints where you know your enemy is dead when you see them fall out of their ship into the cold dark of space.
5089: The Action RPG
5089 is a deep & complex action RPG featuring strong sandbox roots. VR is supported, but not required. Watch the tutorial & VR videos next to the trailer! Everything is procedurally generated, like terrain, enemies, weapons, items & quests. Planet Xax's war rages on... how is that possible?
Crashlands
Fight and tame alien beasts, craft resources into menacing weaponry, befriend the outlandish locals, and go toe-to-chin with a world-domineering maniac.
Scrap Mechanic
Enter the creative paradise of Scrap Mechanic! Build fantastic machines, go on adventures with your friends and defend against waves of evil Farmbots in this imaginative multiplayer survival sandbox. With Scrap Mechanic’s powerful creation tools you can engineer your own adventures!
Evochron Legacy SE
Advanced Space Flight, Combat, Trading, and Exploration Simulation. Set in a vast explorable universe, Evochron Legacy offers freeform gameplay with many diverse objectives and paths to choose from.
Feed and Grow: Fish
Hunt and eat other fish - simply, grow into larger beasts!
SimplePlanes
Build airplanes by snapping parts together, designing wing sections, and attaching engines. At any time, you can strap yourself into the cockpit and see how it flies with realistic physics. If you're not in the mood for building, over 100,000 airplanes are available to download for free.
Block Story™
There isn’t much better than a wide open game world in which you have essentially no limits and can alter the very landscape in which you play – that is, unless you add dragons, of course…
Astrox: Hostile Space Excavation
Exiled to a deep space mining sector, you are left with a crappy ship, a laser, and a small mining beam. It is up to you to survive by working your way through the galaxy. Mine asteroids, refine and trade the ore, buy upgrades for your ship, hunt pirates... you get it.
Just Cause™ 3
With over 1000 km² of complete freedom from sky to seabed, Rico Rodriguez returns to unleash chaos in the most creative and explosive ways imaginable.
Life is Feudal: Your Own
Hardcore and realistic; LiF is a Medieval multiplayer sandbox RPG, with free terraforming, a rich crafting system and preset and modular building construction. With engaging survival aspects, no target physics-based combat and a unique formation system - along with numerous other features - LiF is not for the faint of heart!
Fallout 4
From Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of Starfield and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, comes Fallout 4. A landmark in open-world RPG design and winner of over 200 ‘Best Of’ honors, including the DICE and BAFTA Game of the Year.
FortressCraft Evolved!
FortressCraft Evolved is a unique blend of Voxel Landscapes, Tower Defense, Crafting, Logistics, Exploration, Combat and Assembly lines. Players begin by crash-landing on a strange alien world, left with only a small handful of starting machines.
Anno 2205™
In Anno 2205™, you join humankind‘s next step into the future with the promise to build a better tomorrow. You conquer Earth, establishing rich, bustling cities and grand industrial complexes, but to secure the prosperity of your people, you must travel into space.
Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game
You've just unearthed the classic post-apocalyptic role-playing game that revitalized the entire CRPG genre. The Fallout® SPECIAL system allows drastically different types of characters, meaningful decisions and development that puts you in complete control. Explore the devastated ruins of a golden age civilization.
Endless Sky
Endless Sky is a 2D space trading and combat game inspired by the classic Escape Velocity series. Work your way up from a relatively wimpy shuttle, cargo ship, or fighter, to a highly upgraded and customized flagship or to a massive fleet of warships or freighters.
KINGDOMS
KINGDOMS is a procedural medieval RPG in a randomly generated open world. The main feature of KINGDOMS is a smart AI system that completely controls NPC behavior. As the player, you can fully interact with this massive world and become any person you want to be.
RPG Maker MV
POWERFUL enough for a developer SIMPLE enough for a child VERSATILE enough for any platform!RPG MAKER MV allows you to make the RPG of your dreams! This latest version includes a host of new featuresand export options for MacOSX, Android, and iPhone!
Viscera Cleanup Detail
In Viscera Cleanup Detail, you step into the boots of a space-station janitor tasked with cleaning up after various horrific sci-fi horror events. Instead of machineguns and plasma-rifles, your tools are a mop and bucket. That hero left a mess, and it's up to you to deal with the aftermath.
Wurm Unlimited
Wurm Unlimited is the standalone version of the fantasy sandbox world Wurm Online, the MMORPG where the players are in charge! A pioneer in the ideas of player influence, crafting and adventure, it is now one of the most deep and feature packed true sandbox experiences available.
Rebel Galaxy
Rebel Galaxy is a swashbuckling space adventure, with action-packed combat, exploration, discovery, trade, and “negotiation” with the outlandish denizens at the edge of the known universe.
Planetbase
Guide a group of space settlers trying to establish a base on a remote planet. Grow food, collect energy, mine resources, survive disasters and build a self-sufficient colony in a harsh and unforgiving environment.
Human Resource Machine
Program little office workers to solve puzzles. Be a good employee! The machines are coming... for your job. From the creators of World of Goo and Little Inferno.
Prison Architect
Only the world’s most ruthless Warden can contain the world’s most ruthless inmates. Design and develop your personalized penitentiary in Prison Architect.
Game Corp DX
Manage your Game Studio, earn big bucks, impress the critics, beat rival studios and clean up at the awards!
Doodle God
Doodle God is an addicting puzzle & world building game where players use logic and ingenuity to create the entire universe. Starting with the basic elements of earth, wind, fire and air players can build a world filled with locomotives, Dragons, skyscrapers, Aliens and more.
Train Simulator Classic
The ultimate railway hobby for more than 15 years! From historic steam locomotives to modern high-speed and heavy freight trains, and routes around the world, Train Simulator Classic is the simulation made by railfans for railfans.
Painters Guild
Painters Guild is a management sim where you control an art academy in the Italian Renaissance. Paint artwork as beautiful as the Mona Lisa. Hire painters like Leonardo da Vinci and millions of randomly generated ones. Expand and customize your guild with furniture and more.
METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN
Ushering in a new era for the METAL GEAR franchise with cutting-edge technology powered by the Fox Engine, METAL GEAR SOLID V: The Phantom Pain, will provide players a first-rate gaming experience as they are offered tactical freedom to carry out open-world missions.