Best Sandbox Games on Steam
Games that offer open tools, systems, or spaces for player-directed play.
Browse all Sandbox →
1Terraria - Dig, fight, explore, build! Nothing is impossible in this action-packed adventure game. Four Pack also available!
May 16, 2011
In this game, you can…
- kill one world-changing boss and watch new biomes appear, new ores rise up, and the whole map turn into a deadlier version of itself.
- hunt down specific triggers to summon absurd bosses, like catching a rare worm just to call up a sea monster that can wipe you.
- fight a boss rush that starts with a cult leader, escalates into world-invading pillars, and ends with a final boss dropping in immediately after the last pillar falls.
- build a tiny shelter before night, then hold out until dawn against monsters that suddenly flood the surface.
- dig so deep you stumble into giant underground landmarks like beehives, buried pyramids, and hidden mushroom biomes.
- build a custom arena with platforms and buffs, then use it to fight bosses on your own terms instead of wherever you happen to meet them.
- build a hotel-like tower of houses to attract dozens of NPC residents, then watch them move in and sell new gear and services.
2Stardew 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?
Feb 26, 2016
In this game, you can…
- marry someone with the exact salad you found in a trash can.
- build an 8-player farm together and even tweak the group profit split for a harder run.
- spam bombs in a monster-filled cavern to blast straight through floors for loot.
- run the mines in co-op, with one person fighting monsters while the other grabs ore and bolts.
- restore a run-down community center to reshape the whole town, or buy into a big corporation instead.
- ignore farming and still build a whole life by fishing, mining, foraging, cooking, and specializing into different work paths.
- befriend townspeople by learning their schedules, catching them at dawn, and steadily unlocking personal cutscenes and secrets.
- turn an overgrown inherited farm into a working homestead by clearing debris, planting crops, upgrading tools, and expanding your setup.
3Red Dead Redemption 2 - Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde Gang are outlaws on the run. With federal agents and bounty hunters massing on their heels, the gang must rob, steal, and fight their way across the rugged heartland in order to survive.
Dec 5, 2019
In this game, you can…
- get remembered as a thief months later, with people recalling what you stole and treating you differently.
- tie someone up, feed them to an alligator, then come back later to see scavengers pick over what's left.
- kill someone in the wilderness, then return days later to find the same body still there, rotting as birds gather.
- lose at poker, then pull a revolver, shoot the table, and loot your money back.
- watch eagles grab rabbits, fish jump for bugs, and predators hunt while the world keeps going without you.
- ride into a town, chat with strangers, and have individual people remember how you acted toward them.
- rob a train, get into a high-stakes shootout, and watch the world snap from quiet travel to explosive violence in seconds.
4The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - You are Geralt of Rivia, mercenary monster slayer. Before you stands a war-torn, monster-infested continent you can explore at will. Your current contract? Tracking down Ciri — the Child of Prophecy, a living weapon that can alter the shape of the world.
May 18, 2015
In this game, you can…
- miss a unique card from an NPC, then later find that same card lying under a tree of hanged civilians if you never won it.
- pay out of your own pocket to take care of an orphan, finishing the quest with less money than you started.
- ignore the main quest and travel the continent just to find one specific card and beat one specific merchant at Gwent.
- turn a simple contract into a whole mini-drama, like mediating a divorce and then stumbling into a curse and a missing-person hunt.
- build fights around prep: read a monster entry, choose the right oil, brew a potion, pack bombs, then walk in ready.
- switch from swordplay to a full spell-and-alchemy style: parry, dodge, shield up, cast, then escalate to oils and bombs for bosses.
- walk into a huge city without a loading screen, then watch people change routines from day to night and react to rain.
- make small choices that ripple forward and change outcomes much later, leaving you stuck with the consequences.
5The Forest - As the lone survivor of a passenger jet crash, you find yourself in a mysterious forest battling to stay alive against a society of cannibalistic mutants. Build, explore, survive in this terrifying first person survival horror simulator.
Apr 30, 2018
In this game, you can…
- get knocked out, dragged through the forest, and wake up trapped in a cave you have to escape.
- watch cannibals scout your camp, retreat to call reinforcements, and come back as a coordinated raiding party.
- fight off a base siege where mutants smash your walls and one rips up a whole tree to use as a weapon.
- wake up after a plane crash and hunt for your kidnapped son by following clues through caves, boats, and survivor camps.
- build treehouses, cliff forts, and spiked walls, then have a falling tree smash your own structure to pieces.
- craft gear by gluing teeth to your axe, wearing bones as armor, and turning skulls and bodies into lamps and defenses.
- creep through pitch-black caves, squeeze through flooded passages, and surface missing gear with enemies still hunting you.
- turn the crash site into a long-term fortress, or build rafts and dock houses into a whole river-and-coast base network.
6Unturned - Unturned is an open-world zombie survival sandbox game. As one of the few not yet turned, you must fight to remain among the living.
Jul 7, 2017
In this game, you can…
- arrest other players with handcuffs and blindfolds instead of killing them, then stage prisoner captures on roleplay servers.
- find a tank, stock ammo for it, and use it to raid other players' bases.
- pose as a killed player, talk your way into their squad, ride in their truck, then shoot the front seats and take everything.
- build a silenced, scoped marksman gun from junk parts, including duct-tape optics and a campfire-made muffler.
- shoot out of vehicles, cram friends into a truck, and do drive-bys as a rolling squad platform.
- fortify rooftops and hillside bases with barricades and traps, or even build on a vehicle to make a moving fortress.
- recruit a beach full of kids into your crew, make yourself the leader, and roll up on bases as a growing mob.
- explore huge maps for hidden bunkers, military zones, and radioactive deadzones, then hop into custom workshop maps built for totally different modes.
7Don't Starve Together - Fight, Farm, Build and Explore Together in the standalone multiplayer expansion to the uncompromising wilderness survival game, Don't Starve.
Apr 21, 2016
In this game, you can…
- get turned into a ghost when you die, then haunt specific items to resurrect yourself back into your body.
- steal a giant bird egg, keep it from overheating by the fire, and hatch it into a baby that follows you around.
- discover a friendly pig village, use it as a safe base, and then watch the pigs turn into werepigs later.
- turn a tiny camp into a real settlement with farms, spider dens, bee hives, and even a beefalo herd.
- build a trap-filled room just to protect a stolen egg from spiders until it finally hatches.
- bring friends back from death with things like a heart, an amulet, a touch stone, or the starting portal.
- watch a one-eyed giant arrive in winter with ground-shaking footsteps, smash your camp, and force you to survive in the dark.
8Valheim - A brutal exploration and survival game for 1-10 players, set in a procedurally-generated purgatory inspired by viking culture. Battle, build, and conquer your way to a saga worthy of Odin’s patronage!
Feb 2, 2021
In this game, you can…
- build a house with a fireplace and die if you forget ventilation.
- drag a cart full of ore across the wilderness, then end up building roads and supply routes to get it home.
- ship ore and even livestock across islands by building docks and running maritime trade routes.
- hunt sea serpents on purpose at night for food.
- watch enemies from different regions start fighting each other while you just stand back.
- build with structural support so big halls and towers need real beams, not just stacked walls.
- sail in a night storm, guide a friend's ship to port by torchlight, then sprint to the walls when a raid warning hits.
- tear down a bad build and get all the materials back, so you can rebuild freely.
9Palworld - Fight, farm, build and work alongside mysterious creatures called "Pals" in this completely new multiplayer, open world survival and crafting game!
Jul 9, 2026
In this game, you can…
- hand a sheep a rocket launcher and let it wipe out a bandit camp for you.
- lasso a fire-breathing duck and hook it up to your base generator for electricity.
- put cute creatures on an assembly line to mine ore and mass-produce ammo around the clock.
- craft guns after starting out with nothing on a beach.
- catch creatures, then assign them to fight, mount, and work at your base before everyone eats and sleeps together.
- use your creatures to run your whole base: smelt, harvest, haul, build structures, and keep production going as long as they're fed.
- ride creatures across land, sea, and sky to reach places you can't access on foot.
- enter a boss portal that tells you what's inside, kill or capture the boss, and bring it home in a loot explosion.
10Project Zomboid - Project Zomboid is the ultimate in zombie survival. Alone or in MP: you loot, build, craft, fight, farm and fish in a struggle to survive. A hardcore RPG skillset, a vast map, massively customisable sandbox and a cute tutorial raccoon await the unwary. So how will you die? All it takes is a bite..
Nov 8, 2013
In this game, you can…
- look down from a skyscraper roof at thousands of zombies swarming below, then get trapped inside and survive by rationing food.
- trade Sonic fan fiction for gasoline in multiplayer, then crash the car and die four minutes later.
- kill your bitten friend after he turns into a zombie, using a frying pan on the side of a highway.
- load a car with supplies, drive out for a VHS-store run, and find a pristine video store packed with tapes after clearing the street.
- press one wrong key, accidentally shout, and pull the whole neighborhood into your base like a siren.
- turn a lumber mill into a fortified co-op settlement with roof crops and water projects, then lose it to a kitchen fire and a converging horde.
- loot a gun store, get chased deeper into the city by a helicopter, fight from a rooftop until the door breaks, then jump off and keep going on a shattered leg.
- level skills by doing physical work like dismantling furniture and electronics, stripping car parts, and even practicing first aid by bandaging your own injuries.
