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The Sandbox is an interconnected world of unique game experiences. With land plots of varying sizes, each land owner can build their own creations using a visual game builder. And though The Sandbox is still in alpha testing, this is a gaming metaverse that anyone interested in play-and-earn experiences should know about. So let’s guide you through the basics of The Sandbox, and show you where to go for further research and investigation!
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The Sandbox Gameplay Overview
The Sandbox consists on thousands of plots in a variety of sizes. Within each plot lies the unique creation of the plot owner. This could be a game, a social hub, or whatever else can be imagined and built. Sandbox is voxel-based, giving it a Minecraft feel. Assets inside of each experience are individual voxel objects, which can be imported from external editors.
Built on Unity and with and featuring an ever-growing scripting language, the Sandbox Game Maker gives builders quite a bit of opportunity to create something unique. Plot owners have complete control over what is built in their plot. The games created so far range from RPGs, to side-scrollers, to business management sims, to dance games, and more! Players can join and play any public experience via the Game Maker. Most are single-player adventures, though some offer a chance to socialize with other players.
About The Sandbox
The Sandbox began as a mobile game, way back in 2012. And even back then, they already had the model for what we have today. User-created, mutable worlds with complex elements. In 2018, Animoca Brands acquired the property and began development on the blockchain-based, web3 version.
Sandbox first sold land plots in December of 2019, offering discounts of up to 40% on the retail price. Pre-sales continued throughout 2020. Then, in February of 2021, Sandbox began an ongoing series of public sales for the remaining land. So far about 108,000 land NFTs have been sold, from a total of 166,464 plots. Most lands also come with special NFTs inspired by one of the partners for the sale. These partners cover a diverse range from Atari to the Care Bears to Snoop Dogg!
Though much of the Sandbox ecosystem still lives on the Ethereum blockchain, The Sandbox has begun the process of moving to Polygon. They have already moved the staking pools to the Polygpn network and encouraged land owners to migrate their lands over as well. On Polygon, the SAND token is known as mSAND.
The Sandbox Play-to-Earn Mechanics
At the moment, Sandbox doesn’t have any persistent play to earn opportunities. But when the monetization tools are implemented, each experience in The Sandbox has the opportunity to create their own play to earn mechanics. Whether that be with a token reward, NFTs, or some other means. However, Sandbox does run a constant series of special events wth various partners. During these events, players can earn SAND token and NFT rewards by completing quests in certain experiences.
Initial investment
Playing The Sandbox is free. Owning a land plot is not. A rental system in the future will allow land owners to rent out their plots to creators. The Sandbox still holds public sales every once in a while. Users earn sale slots through a lottery, and all land purchases must be paid for with SAND tokens. The amount of land available is limited, and there is always quite a bit of competition for the plots!
Reward System in The Sandbox
Once launched, the reward system in The Sandbox will vary from plot to plot, with each game creating its own play-to-earn experience. So far, the Sandbox special events have handed out rewards in a rewards pool system system, with those completing more quests and engaging more with social media receiving a larger portion of the prizes..
Landowners sometimes receive special perks such as limited edition NFTs.
The Sandbox Tokens
Sandbox features just one token, SAND. SAND is an ERC-20 utility token, available on both Polygon and the Ethereum mainnet. Available on many exchanges, both centralized and decentralized, SAND has a max supply of 3 billion with a circulating supply of about 1 billion. The Sandbox offers staking rewards on the Polygon network. Users who stake the mSAND / MATIC pair, or just mSAND by itself, receive regular rewards in mSAND tokens.
All purchases on The Sandbox marketplace use SAND. This includes land plots and NFTs. Marketplace fees are 5%, with a percentage of those fees being sent to the Foundation Pool, which is used to provide incentives for builders and players. The Foundation Pool also receives a portion of the income from land and NFT sales, equating to 26.50% of all SAND income.
How to Start in The Sandbox
Getting started in Sandbox is easy. Both the Game Maker and VoxEdit are free to download directly from the Sandbox site. The Sandbox also features their own game launcher for engaging in experiences created by other users. To earn rewards for the events, players will need to undergo a KYC / identity verification procedure and link a wallet.
Tips for The Sandbox
To start playing, you just have to jump right in. Controls are the standard WASD with E usually used for interactions. For creators and designers, VoxEdit and Game Maker are both very easy to learn, with some more complex options for advanced users.
The Sandbox Alpha Season 2 Video Review
Creating in The Sandbox
Editing terrain and placing scenery in the Game Maker is pretty straightforward. Terrain comes in blocks while everything else is a voxel-based asset. Players can import their own assets (or ones purchased from the marketplace), and also use a number of free, default assets.
The scripting is a little more complex, and you will probably want to read up on that and/or watch a few instructional videos before you get started. Though, the game does come with a rather useful tutorial world. When played, the world has a number of scripted objects set up with explanations of what they do. This way the player can see it in action in-game, and then also go into the editor and look at the script settings to better understand the whole process. It’s not always the most up-to-date experience, but it is well done and recommended for any new user. The Sandbox team holds weekly streams on Twitch where they play games made by users and provide live feedback.
As for VoxEdit, PandaPops, one of the primary asset builders for Sandbox, also streams regularly, taking community suggestions and questions while creating new items in VoxEdit. Check their Discord for links to numerous tutorials and guides. VoxEdit can animate assets as well!
The Sandbox Review
Sandbox is a very promising project and has great potential of becoming something truly amazing. They already have a solid foundation, a laundry list of notable partners, a strong demand for their land plots, and an ever-growing community of players and creators! Once they get to a point where plot owners can monetize their games and provide incentives to players, the sky is the limit! The gameplay and style are familiar to Minecraft players, but the added complexity allowed by the built-in scripting brings a whole new dimension to the game’s potential.
Though play and earn opportunities are limited at this point, there are plenty of opportunities to build and earn before the game even launches. That ranges from making wearable hats to building a complex scene object, to creating an entire game! To start down this path, the best opportunities come from the regular VoxEdit and Sandbox Game Maker contests. Watch their Twitter feed and Discord to stay up to date on the contests and giveaways.
The creativity harnessed by making these tools free and open to the public is already paying dividends. The quality and ingenuity seen with the games and assets in development continue to grow with every passing week. If you have any interest in game development or voxel-based creations, then I strongly suggest you take a look at The Sandbox.
Though you must own land to publish any experiences created with the Game Maker, just using the tools and learning the interface will be a great experience. And even if you never own land, someday soon, landowners will be looking for game makers willing to build and run games on their plots. And the same goes for VoxEdit. Though only approved creators can sell their items on the marketplace, learning to use the VoxEdit tool and participating in the contests will be a great experience for leveraging into future projects.
As an enthusiast deeply immersed in the virtual worlds of blockchain-based gaming and metaverse ecosystems, my extensive knowledge in this domain stems from both active participation and in-depth research. Having closely followed the evolution of The Sandbox from its early mobile game days in 2012 to its current state as a burgeoning blockchain-based metaverse, I am well-versed in its gameplay mechanics, development history, tokenomics, and the broader play-to-earn dynamics.
The Sandbox is a groundbreaking gaming metaverse characterized by interconnected plots of land, each offering a canvas for unique creations ranging from games and social hubs to diverse imaginative constructs. The voxel-based nature of Sandbox, reminiscent of Minecraft, allows for intricate designs, with individual voxel objects serving as assets that can be imported from external editors.
Built on the Unity engine and featuring a growing scripting language, the Sandbox Game Maker empowers creators with the freedom to craft a wide array of experiences, from RPGs and side-scrollers to business simulations and dance games. Notably, the metaverse began as a mobile game in 2012, transitioning to a blockchain-based, web3 version under the ownership of Animoca Brands in 2018.
The Sandbox operates on a decentralized infrastructure, with land ownership represented as NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. However, the metaverse is undergoing a transition to Polygon, where the SAND token is known as mSAND. The sale of land plots, accompanied by special NFTs inspired by partners such as Atari, Care Bears, and Snoop Dogg, has been a pivotal aspect of The Sandbox's growth.
In terms of play-to-earn mechanics, The Sandbox currently lacks persistent opportunities, but it hosts special events where players can earn SAND tokens and NFT rewards by completing quests in specific experiences. The introduction of monetization tools will allow each experience within The Sandbox to implement its play-to-earn mechanics, potentially involving token rewards or NFTs.
The Sandbox ecosystem revolves around the utility token SAND, an ERC-20 token available on both Polygon and the Ethereum mainnet. Staking rewards on the Polygon network, facilitated by the mSAND / MATIC pair or mSAND alone, provide users with regular rewards in mSAND tokens. All transactions within The Sandbox marketplace, including land plots and NFTs, utilize SAND, with a 5% marketplace fee contributing to the Foundation Pool.
To enter The Sandbox, users can download the Game Maker and VoxEdit from the official website, with a dedicated game launcher facilitating engagement with user-created experiences. While initial investment in playing The Sandbox is free, owning a land plot involves participating in public sales using SAND tokens. Future plans include a rental system, allowing landowners to rent out their plots to creators.
The Sandbox's reward system varies across plots, with each game creating its play-to-earn experience. Special events often utilize a rewards pool system, with participants earning based on quest completion and social media engagement. Landowners may receive special perks, such as limited edition NFTs.
In conclusion, The Sandbox presents a promising project with a solid foundation, notable partnerships, and a growing community. Its potential to become a groundbreaking metaverse is underscored by the familiar gameplay style, combined with the added complexity of built-in scripting. For those interested in game development or voxel-based creations, The Sandbox offers a unique and engaging platform with opportunities to build, create, and potentially earn rewards. The evolving landscape of The Sandbox, marked by regular contests and giveaways, showcases the creativity and ingenuity of its community, making it a compelling space for both developers and players alike.
