Our Sandbox Gaming Struggle

For those that don't know, sandbox games refers to a genre of gaming where the player is placed in an open world with an emphasis on exploration and carrying out tasks; usually at the will of the player rather than a hard A to B path to complete the game. Like a sandbox in real life, a lot of what makes it fun is what you put into it.

Whether it be sand, gravel, dirt, or snow, the idea behind these materials is that they can be shaped, molded, sculpted, arranged, and manipulated as you see fit - save for physical limitations. For example, you can build a sand fort at the beach or have a snowball fight after snowfall. These are just a fraction of all the things you can do with it. But without imagination or creativity, what are these?

Well it's simple, they're nothing.

However, like we stated earlier, some things are harder to break into than others when it comes to putting in and getting out. Unfortunately, a lot of what that comes down to for us isn't a lack of creativity or imagination, it's a lack of time. See, when it comes to sandbox gaming, the experience is designed around playing at your own pace whether that's at leisure or going full speed ahead on a goal you've set for yourself. Maybe you want to complete 10 side quests before you move on to the new area of the game. Maybe you want to build a base first before you start exploring. Or maybe you want to level up a bit before tackling a difficult quest. Maybe you just want to explore and see how far you can go.

All of these objectives have one thing in common, none of them are lost to us when we think of what we find enjoyable in gaming as a whole; not just the sandbox genre. But, there are a huge variety of games within this genre ranging from Fallout to Assassins' Creed to The Legend of Zelda series and so on and so forth. You also have the other end of the spectrum when considering open-endedness. To say, there isn't a hard focus on the main "quest" of the game. This includes games like Minecraft, Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, Don't Starve, Terraria, and the various simulator games. This list is by no means exhaustive but paints a clear picture we think.

Of the games listed, we've played them all between the two of us at some capacity and have enjoyed what little time we've spent on them. But the big draw for most of these games is that you can pick up and play it at any time and do whatever you want. Some have a bigger emphasis on surviving while others let you kind of figure things out at your own pace where imminent death isn't always knocking at your door. Each has their strengths and many people enjoy these games for different reasons.

The struggle we have specifically is not being able to give each of these games the time and dedication they deserve. Not only that, but the experience only richens further the more time you spend in that game's universe learning the rules, limitations, systems, and what you are able to potentially accomplish given that you set those goals for yourself.

It's no secret that these games are hugely popular. You can easily find dozens of YouTube channels dedicated to each and every one of these games pushing the envelope further with each video. Honestly, for us, that's pretty daunting. Being a "Youtuber" or being a "streamer" comes with a few expectations from those who watch them. There's always that notion that if you play a game, you should be somewhat good at it. For example, the idea that the Minecraft Community has "been there, done that" is very real. Not to say that this is a problem with Minecraft specifically or that it's a problem at all, but a lot of people love to see new and big things for games that have a long and rich history behind them.

While we do enjoy playing a lot of games we've never touched before, there's a level of acceptance that we won't blow through a game easily if it's a "blind run." However, with such open and creative games, there isn't a clear goal we have in mind. We simply don't know enough about what we can do. That, in and of itself, is stressful in its own way…

But don't worry! This blog post probably got a little gloomy there for a second. We recognize that people love these games and we love them too. We just haven't given them the time they deserve but we want to try and change that this year. One of our meta-goals is to play more games and since we love to stream, they'll probably find their way there outside of our normal 6 hours a week stream schedule.

Essentially, we envision a set up where we are able to complete shorter games just as we always have during our normal schedule but also play these open ended games on our off time and that's not just limited to strictly sandbox games either. For ourselves and for our community, long form games don't really fit our structured streaming schedule. The main reason we try to choose games that can be finished in a week or two is because both we and the community tend to prefer, interest-wise, shorter games that have an ending.

We both have a strong love for games like Overwatch, Monster Hunter World, Mario Maker, and many others that cannot be "beaten" in a week or two. We've tried doing this before on Mixer, another streaming platform, but struggled to be consistent with it. We can’t tell you how many times we've sat down at our computers and just looked at each other and thought "should we be streaming right now?"

The entire purpose of this is to answer that question. We are currently working really hard and are juggling some IRL stuff but hope to make this a reality sooner rather than later with some added lifestyle changes to go with our process.

Here's to conquering our 2020 goals. As we close out this first month of the new year how are your goals going? Also what are your favorite sandbox games? Let us know in the comments below!