The Sandbox

If you don’t already know what The Sandbox is, let’s get you up to speed before jumping into covering the Game Maker!
The Sandbox is a dynamic virtual world that brings players and creators together to build, own, and monetize unique experiences in the Ethereum blockchain.
It’s a platform that gives you access to a multitude of games, environments, hubs, and interactions - all of which you can engage with using your very own avatar (playable character).
These experiences open up possibilities to explore, solve puzzles, defeat enemies, complete quests, and ultimately share those experiences with a thriving community.

The Game Maker

The Game Maker is a simple and easy-to-use tool that allows you to design, test, and share experiences, such as games, within The Sandbox's metaverse, whether you are an experienced game designer or not.
The Game Maker is your portal to express your creativity, connect with communities, and ultimately take part in contributing to how The Sandbox Metaverse is built 🏗️
🖥️ Put simply, the Game Maker is an easy-to-use program that allows you to build experiences. It provides a drag-and-drop interface, giving you the power to place different elements and objects into an environment, define how elements interact using inbuilt behaviors and mechanics, and then share your creations 📢within The Sandbox's metaverse, all with no coding required!
Using the Game Maker allows you to edit terrain, place characters, display items, organize buildings, and curate epic quests, all from a vast library of professional and community-developed resources.
🛹 Haven’t designed a game before? No worries! The Sandbox Game Maker has been developed to give anyone the opportunity to create something unique. So don’t let that stop you from taking your first steps into an exciting new world of creativity and potential.
👩‍🚀 Already a pro game designer? Well, that's perfect too! You’ll soon find you are surrounded by like-minded creators eager to push the boundaries of their imaginations using these tools. So get ready to flex your creative muscles and share your creations.
'But what exactly can you create?' 🤔 You might be thinking. Well for some examples of just what you can get stuck into let’s head to the next section to get some ideas!

What Can I Make?

Some examples of experiences you can create using The Sandbox Game Maker resources and tools.
🎡 Get ready! This is where it starts getting exciting!
We are about to cover some examples of what the Game Maker can be used to build.
Specifically ⚔️ Action-Adventure, 🧩 Puzzles, 🖼️ Galleries, 🏡 Homes, and 🗝️ Social Hubs.
Remember that these examples are just a guide, and while they are an excellent starting point, you are only limited by your imagination and the tools you have at your disposal.
We are constantly impressed by the ingenuity and creativity of the community who are always looking for new ways to push the Game Maker, try new ideas, and expressing themselves in surprising and inventive ways.
While the experiences you build in the Game Maker are dependent on your vision, creativity, and application, there are some types of experiences where the Game Maker really shines, and while you can push the envelope on what the tools allow you to deliver if you are just getting started there are definitely ways to play to the strengths of the program, and we will cover some of those below!
Remember, while the following examples of experiences you can build will offer some frameworks for getting started, it’s not impossible to create games and experiences of other genres.
Cyber or Steampunk? Dark or Medieval Fantasy? Adventure or Puzzle game? Survival or Lifestyle Simulation? Each LAND is a different adventure, a new place to meet friends or to save the day.
More features are always being added to the software, so keep your eyes peeled for updates, get active in the community if you are looking for a creative solution, and don't let go of your ambition to create something unique!

⚔️ Action Adventure

One of the archetypal experiences the Game Maker is ideal for creating is solo adventures.
With this kind of experience you are able to plunge your players into an exciting world where they can explore, discover quests, seek treasures, uncover secrets, and possibly encounter enemies.
Utilizing the tools of the Game Maker you can easily establish win conditions that reward the player for completing certain steps, or for overcoming obstacles you have set in their path.
There's a multitude of environments, cultures, times, and adventures you could create for your users to experience. The decisions about where, when, and what you send them to experience is up to you.

🧩 Puzzle Games

For centuries the human mind has been fascinated by solving puzzles, so why stop now! Using the Sandbox Game Maker tools you can create experiences where curious minds can immerse themselves in situations of your choosing and put their critical thinking to the test.
Ever wanted to create an escape room? Why not set up a timed event where a user must find the clues and escape before it’s too late?!
Perhaps you would like to set up a hidden reward, only available to those bright enough to solve your maze, or answer a cryptic riddle?
Whatever your plan, you get to be the mastermind. The Game Maker is your way to build an experience that will leave your players scratching their heads and stroking their chins as they muse and meditate on a solution.

🖼️ NFT Gallery

Whether you are an artist or a curator of art, using the Game Maker allows you to share collections of works and exhibit them unconstrained by the limitations of the physical world.
Not only can you create a unique gallery to house your collection of NFTs, exhibiting prized and meaningful pieces, you also have the flexibility to make the experience interactive and unique.
Unlike a stone and mortar exhibition, the Game Maker allows you to add flair and dynamics to your gallery. You can transport the viewer, well, anywhere.
You could build the setting for your gallery in a desert, on top of a mountain, or perhaps in the woods? You could make your exhibition a treasure hunt, or a battle to protect your works of art. Your audience's participation can be driven by elements of gamification, which will provide a show-stopping interactive experience like no other, as well as guide your viewers through the space.
How would you like to share your collections?

🏡 A Place to Call Home

The Sandbox Metaverse isn't all about quests and battle, it's also a place to call home. You may not be in the business of fighting off the undead or travelling to distant planets, and you know what, that’s perfectly fine.
Perhaps you just want a place to hang out, to decorate, and make your own 🏰
With the Game Maker, you can do just that. Build yourself something that’s uniquely yours. Your own little slice of the Metaverse. Express yourself, make the space your own, add some house plants...then add some more houseplants 🌲.... make a forest in your living room! 🌲🌲
Whatever you choose to do...is exactly that, your choice.
If the idea of setting up a humble abode, or a grand castle for that matter, is your jam, why not share your interior design with the community. Perhaps someone will want to visit for tea? ☕

🗝️ Social Hubs

Social hubs are the best way for you to connect and share content with the community.
They are areas for friends, solo-adventurers, and guilds to meet up, chat, hang out, plan the next leg of their journey, or share their latest discoveries or projects.
Social Hubs can be public or private, meaning that they can also serve as spaces for holders of specific NFTs to meet the rest of their community, to come together from anywhere in the world, and meet up in one place.
Having a Social Hub also gives your community visibility in the Metaverse. It can serve as a place where people can discover more about you and potentially join or participate in your community.