The 12 best sandbox and creative games 2020

In this guide we tell you

  • Which sandbox, puzzle and riddle games you need to know about
  • What are the best creative games 2020
  • What the featured games are about

In some sandbox and creative games, you become the game maker and create your own personal worlds, levels and challenges. Other creative games present you with challenging riddles or puzzles that require a lot of brainpower to solve.

In this sandbox and creative games guide, we'll tell you which game construction kits are ahead of the game in 2020 and what options the titles give you to let your creativity run free.

Minecraft

  • Platform: Android, iOS, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Wii U, Nintendo Switch, PC, Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Playstation Vita, Raspberry Pi, Windows Phone, Xbox 360, Xbox One
  • Genre: open-world creative game
  • Addons: countless mods
  • Multiplayer: online multiplayer
  • Suitable for: the whole family

Minecraft is the work of Swedish programmer Markus Persson, who single-handedly created the classic block game and released it in 2009. Today, Microsoft owns the rights to the sandbox game Minecraft, which has now been sold over 155 million times, replacing Tetris as the best-selling game of all time. In Minecraft, everything consists of blocks that you mine, collect and use to craft.

There is no fixed objective in Minecraft, so you can decide for yourself whether you prefer to explore the game world or build your own Minecraft microcosm instead. Four game modes are available to you for this purpose. Depending on your preference, you can choose between survival mode, creative mode, adventure mode and spectator mode. In survival mode, you'll have to build a safe hiding place for the night and confront enemies that have exclusive resources for new items.

In creative mode, you'll have unlimited resources at your disposal, you'll be able to fly and won't suffer any damage. The creative mode in Minecraft is perfect for creating large buildings and your own worlds. In adventure mode, immortality is over, but you can explore the Minecraft universes of other players.

Our guides to Minecraft:

Dreams

  • Platform: Playstation 4
  • Genre: creative game, game construction kit
  • Multiplayer: announced
  • Suitable for: Anyone who has ever wanted to create their own game.

Dreams is the latest creation from the Little Big Planet makers and the most recent title on our list. Currently, the Playstation 4-exclusive sandbox game is in its Early Access phase from developer Media Molecule with great possibilities. With Dreams you can literally turn your dreams into reality. To do this, you create characters, locations and animations, which can be accompanied by sound effects and music.

As far as the game world of your dreams is concerned, the sandbox game doesn't make any specifications. Whether it's an interactive adventure, a platform or a shooter, Dreams lets you realize your fantasies and then share them with the community. What is possible in Dreams was shown by a fan who recreated the Playstation 1 classic Metal Gear Solid with the creative game for Playstation 4.

Our guides to Dreams:

LittleBigPlanet 1-3

  • Platform: Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Playstation Portable, Playstation Vita
  • Genre: Game sandbox with puzzle elements
  • Addons: Levelpacks, costumes and bonus DLCs
  • Multiplayer: co-op on one console
  • Suitable for: Jump-n-run fans and creative puzzle solvers

The first part of Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet was released in 2008 and has been followed by two sequels to date. In the LBP series you control small avatars in small levels full of puzzles. Thanks to the realistic physics engine, your creativity is required to solve the puzzles. You'll also have the possibility to create your own levels or mini-games in construction mode and share them with the Playstation community.

In Little Big Planet 2, the series was enriched with new items, power ups and tools for the construction mode. The last installment in the series so far, Little Big Planet 3, was developed by Sumo Digital and added three more characters with individual abilities to the game construction kit.

Super Mario Maker 1 2

  • Platform: Nintendo Wii U, Nintendo Switch
  • Genre: jump-n-run with level editor
  • Multiplayer: online mode for up to four players
  • Suitable for: creative Mario and jump-n-run fans

Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Maker 2 () allow you to design your own Mario levels and play through them with the plumber you trust or share them with the community. But even if you're just into Mario games and don't feel like creatively making levels at all, there are hundreds of other players' levels to discover in Super Mario Maker.

If that hasn't convinced you yet, we'll tell you all about the features and differences between the two Super Mario Maker parts in our guide.

More guides to Super Mario Maker:

Astroneer

  • Platform: PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One
  • Genre: Sci-fi exploration and survival game
  • Multiplayer: 4-player co-op
  • Suitable for: Science fiction enthusiasts

Astroneer from developer System Era Softworks is a sci-fi game in which you explore randomly created planets. In the extraterrestrial worlds you collect resources and do research to be able to build and use new items (vehicles, buildings, devices). Initially, you'll take care of the supply of oxygen and electricity, in a sandbox style.

Afterwards, your goal is to build a base on each planet and expand it to the point where you can construct a shuttle and travel on to the next planet. The sandbox game Astroneer is kept in a squeaky-colorful low poly design and does without unnecessary bells and whistles. Nevertheless, the game mechanics quickly manage to awaken the collector in you and encourage you to continue playing. So that you don't throw in the towel right after the first planet, we'll tell you the best tips and tricks for Astroneer.

Satisfactory

  • Platform: PC
  • Genre: Simulation, Building game
  • Multiplayer: Online multiplayer
  • Suitable for: Experimental tinkerers

In Satisfactory you land on a distant planet and use the resources and your factory to ship constructions via your space elevator. For those familiar with Factorio, this is more or less a version in 3D and from a first-person perspective. The more you explore on the planet, the greater the variety of resources and your options become.

A great strength of Satisfactory is the beautiful environment. The otherwise sometimes monotonous assembly line work in the factory is loosened up by landscapes with lakes, mountains and fields. While completing the digital tasks, you can relax and leave the stress behind.

Our guides to Satisfactory:

RimWorld

  • Platform: PC
  • Genre: Open World, Survival, Building Strategy
  • Multiplayer: No
  • Suitable for: Problem solvers and fans of surprises

RimWorld is perhaps the cruelest survival and sandbox game you will play. You land on an alien planet and must try to leave it again. To do this, you'll have to build a large settlement from scratch. The characters that support you over time have a deep personality system that has an effect on their actions and needs.

Just when you are happy that you have repelled an attack of giant killer ants, one of your inhabitants loses his senses, since he can't pursue his nudist inclination. Out of frustration, he destroys your supplies and your colony starves. Absurd but everyday life in RimWorld. With the right sense of humor and a lot of perseverance, this game is a safe bet.

Our guide to RimWorld:

Terraria

  • Platform: Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, Switch (), PC, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Playstation Vita, iOS, Android
  • Genre: Sandbox, Open-World, Action-Adventure
  • Multiplayer: online and offline multiplayer in co-op mode and PvP
  • Suitable for: Out-of-the-box thinkers and adventurers

In the open-world game Terraria, you search, collect and build equipment and weapons to survive the different biomes in the game and defeat boss opponents. Terraria offers 2D graphics, which are partly influenced by 3D elements. The block graphics are strongly reminiscent of Minecraft, which is also reflected in the gameplay. Every element of the game world can be dismantled and rebuilt.

Besides you, peaceful NPCs and enemies also inhabit the game world. You can trade with NPCs to get hard-to-find materials. When you feel ready, you face off against bosses to unlock another biome.

Scrap Mechanic

  • Platform: PC
  • Genre: Open-World, Sandbox
  • Multiplayer: Yes
  • Suitable for: Amateur engineers and open-world fans

About Scrap Mechanic you slip into the role of a mechanic. In the open game world, you'll encounter enemy robots, build your own vehicles and dwellings, and explore the area. Recently, Scrap Mechanic also has a survival mode. In this mode, hunger and thirst also play a big role. For the nights you protect your farm with a defense against robot raids.

The more you explore the game world, the more experience you'll gain and unlock new options and blueprints. Of course, the threat also grows as you expand your base. For collectors, there are skins and cosmetic improvements.

Our guide to Scrap Mechanic:

Dragon Quest Builders 2

  • Platform: PC, Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch
  • Genre: Open-world creative game
  • Addons: Season Pass
  • Multiplayer: Co-op possible
  • Suitable for: Fans of Minecraft and JRPGs

"What if Minecraft, but it's Dragon Quest?" - That's probably how the pitch for Dragon Quest Builders went, or something like that. The franchise combines the best of both worlds: An open game world with almost endless possibilities to let off steam creatively like Minecraft and the iconic characters and monsters from Dragon Quest. On top of that, there's a full-fledged single-player campaign.

If you find Minecraft's visuals too rough and the characters lack personality, you'll be better off with Dragon Quest Builders 2 (). The world is colorful and the characters are penned by Dragon Ball cartoonist Akira Toriyama. Of course, typical for role-playing games, battles against a variety of monsters are also possible.

The Sims 4

  • Platform: PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One
  • Genre: Gods simulation
  • Addons: Many themed expansions
  • Multiplayer: No co-op
  • Suitable for: Gamers with god complex and sadists

Who doesn't know them, the little Sims? In the meantime, the franchise has been around for twenty years. The Sims 4 () is the current spin-off of the life simulation. As an almost omnipotent entity, you rule over your little empire and determine the fate of the Sims entrusted to you. Do they lead a happy life or die a cruel death? That is largely up to you.

One of the new features of the fourth part is that the Sims show their emotions much better. Pretty much everything in their environment - from their living space, interaction with objects and other characters, to their personal experiences - affects the Sims' mood. Thanks to an improved AI, they're also much better at finding their own paths through the environment and can do three things at once.

Our guides to The Sims 4:

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

  • Platform: Nintendo Switch
  • Genre: Life simulation
  • Addons: Only free updates
  • Multiplayer: Online and local co-op
  • Suitable for: Players who like to build something in peace

Nintendo has landed a mega hit with Animal Crossing: New Horizons (). At a time when it's difficult to go on vacation, we can really enjoy island life here. As a community leader, it's the player's job to gradually beautify the island to attract new vacationers.

Life in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is much slower than in most other games. At the beginning, the game only gradually gives you all the tools and options. Later on, it's even possible to change the landscape yourself, but that takes a lot of time and resources. So sit back, enjoy the sun and have fun.

Guides to Animal Crossing: New Horizons:

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