Getting Dirty
Connor, like most young kids, loves to play and explore outside. So every week, we try to bring him to the park at least once. We are lucky to have a number of awesome parks in close proximity to us. They are furnished with beautiful modern playground equipment, massive swirling slides, and immaculately kept grounds. Every time we walk through the park gates, I find myself expecting him to book it for the giant blue tunnel slide (where I would be if I thought it wouldn’t come crashing down), but instead, he sprints over and jumps into the sandbox.
I should mention that the sandbox is always the ugliest part of every park: dirty wood chips mixed with coarse sand and pine needles, overrun with rusted dump trucks and broken shovels. But he loves it, and stays there the whole time. We have to drag him out at the end. Why?
As an adult I view the sandbox as a hassle. It’s uncomfortable. The sand gets all up in your shoes and socks, and it requires too much self-motivation. Everything you build just falls down. You can never dig deeper than three inches without hitting tundra, and I don’t want to use tools that are potentially going to give me tetanus. But all Connor sees is possibility.
What’s in the Sandbox?
For kids, especially young ones, the sandbox is a kingdom of experimentation and control. It’s a safe space to try out any idea, free from judgement and curriculum. It embodies learning through trial and error and gives them full control over the shape of their world. This freedom is an incredibly important ingredient in the creative recipe and translating it to other play spaces may be easier than you realize.
Children are spending more time than ever in front of screens, but that doesn’t mean they have to lose out on learning through experimentation. I’m talking about the ‘sandbox’ genre of video games, also known as digital sandboxes. I know what you are thinking, “Aren’t you just talking about Minecraft?” Yes and no.
I am definitely talking about Minecraft, the infinitely popular and most well known sandbox game, but I am not just talking about Minecraft. The sandbox genre is flourishing. Providing your child with options, a variety of tailored play spaces to create in, can really light a fire and focus their imagination.
What Sandbox Should We Play In?
Scrap Mechanic
Scrap Mechanic is a sandbox game that allows players to create and test vehicles in a world governed by realistic physics. My experience with this game consisted of attaching different rockets and wheels to wooden frames in an attempt to construct a pilot-able airplane. It was a lot of trial and error. But once we finally got it off the ground, we were able to fly it for a few hundred yards before it flipped over and crashed.
Connor was ecstatic. He immediately ran off to create paper airplanes mimicking the design of our craft. Later, we used wooden boxes and platforms to create a maze on a nice grassy plateau and challenged each other to make it through in the fastest time. This is a game that, due to the complexity of some of it’s elements, probably needs to be played with an adult, at least the first few times. If you are looking for a game similar to Minecraft, but with a greater emphasis on vehicular engineering, this one might be for you.
Planet Coaster
Ever wanted to build a theme park from the ground up? If so, Planet Coaster is for you. This game is targeted at a slightly older audience as it requires park maintenance and money management. You will also need some rudimentary mathematical knowledge to design working coasters, but boy is it fun.
The satisfaction of lining your exactingly efficient queue with sculpted topiaries is indescribable. The level of detail and customization achievable is really unparalleled, just check out some of the creations that have been posted to youtube. Any way you spin it, this is a unique take on a sandbox game with an incredible architectural twist.
BeamNG.Drive
One of the purest driving simulations out there, BeamNG.Drive is a game I play with Connor all the time. Choose a car, choose a sprawling map and just drive… down a winding desert path, off a cliff, into a lake. BeamNG does not care. The game is a pretty realistic physics simulation (i.e. the cars control a little wonky and the wheels will fly off when you crash into something) and that is a large part of the fun. Seeing how various cars handle at different speeds, how they dent differently while rolling down a hill, or just exploring the ridiculously large environments make this a must play for young car lovers out there.
Figuring out how to set the game up and working through the menus will take the assistance of an adult, but Connor (at 6) is able to control the actual game on his own. There is also a pretty large and dedicated community that creates new cars, maps, and obstacles, most of which are free to download.
Kerbal Space Program
Reach for the stars! Kerbal Space Program follows a race of lovable little creatures, known as kerbals, as they attempt to further their scientific knowledge and make it to the outer edges of the galaxy. The game has three modes: Sandbox, Science, and Career, which each offer slightly different game-play goals.
In Sandbox mode, you use a vast collection of different parts to create your dream spaceship. Spoiler alert: successfully navigating space is just as tough for kerbals as it is for humans.
Science mode lets you research various technologies to further your interstellar conquests, while Career mode gives you control over the whole space operation from top to bottom. Experimentation can be achieved by children of all ages, but to actually succeed in Science or Career mode, the help of a parent is recommended.
Play it on Steam, Playstation 4 and Xbox One
Dragon Quest Builders
An attempt by Square-Enix, the creators of the popular Dragon Quest series, to combine Minecraft and a traditional RPG story, Dragon Quest Builders inhabits a particularly unique space within the sandbox genre. There is combat alongside the collecting and building, and with a playtime that runs around 40 hours, it tells quite the considerable fantasy tale. Free the realm from the grip of the evil Dragonlord, or just build a really cool castle, the choice is yours!
Play it on Playstation 4, Playstation 3 and Playstation Vita
Choose Your Own Adventure
Unlike the sandbox at the park, digital sandboxes come in all shapes and sizes. I know that Connor is obsessed with cars, so BeamNG.Drive turned out to be a good fit for us. It gives us a game to bond over and a shared interest. It also presents many teachable moments. Choosing a sandbox that fits the interests of your child, as well as one that is developmentally appropriate, can be the difference between a temporary distraction and a true passion. And if all else fails, I guess we’ll always have Minecraft.
Disclaimer – With any computer game, before purchasing, make sure your computer meets the minimum requirements to run the game, and that the game is compatible with your operating system. Steam is the leading digital distribution platform for electronic games on Windows and Mac, and has a no questions asked refund policy if the game has been played for less than 2 hours.