Best Sandbox Video Games of All Time

The Top Ten
1 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

A sandbox game is a game where you are free to do anything you want, when you want and how you want in a big open area. San Andreas is the game which meets these requirements fantastically. There is so much to do and such great other qualities of a game packed with it like awesome graphics (at the time), fantastic soundtrack, interesting story and memorable characters.

Not only is this the best sandbox game, San Andreas is the best game of all time.

Quite possibly the best game ever! There is so much content in this game that you never run out of interesting things to do, even after you have completed the main story line. Also, the vehicle assortment is phenomenal. You can pilot an Apache helicopter and wreak complete havoc with it. Awesome game. AWESOME.

2 Grand Theft Auto V

I had San Andreas as #1 but this game is better in every way. Endless stuff to do, plus the car handling is fixed from IV. The new sandbox champ right here, and one of the greatest games ever made.

Will be hard for Rockstar to top this one. A huge, truly amazing game. Blows IV out the water.

Why this game is after RDR? Grand Theft Auto 5 is better all the way! Multiple vehicles planes, boats... It have so much stuff to do thanks. for the 3 caracters switch.

3 Minecraft

Was tempted to vote for Red Dead Redemption, but the amount of hours I've put into that, versus that amount of hours I've put into THIS... Well, let's just say that a competition like THAT would be horribly unfair to RDR.
Minecraft is only fun if your creative enough to make the best of the world. It's less of a game, and more of a giant virtual box of Legos. Sure you can wave your sword at monsters until they disappear, but mining, crafting, building... That's what it's all about. And when you get your friends involved so your not forever alone, it gets that much better.
You can't get much more sandbox-y than Minecraft, ladies and gents.

4 Red Dead Redemption

This is the best sandbox Wild West experience and the finest game today to my opinion. The multiplayer still rocks!

Takes the Wild West and shakes the cobwebs out of it.

The second best game on my sandbox list... First is Grand Theft Auto San

5 Grand Theft Auto IV

Best sandbox game? Everybody loves gta4? Nope, sorry, terrible driving, once you die in a mission, you have to restart the whole mission, that's a huge slap to the face to gamers, every single time Grand Theft Auto releases a screenshot for its' upcoming game, everyone throws a party, too much hype and too many people kissing rockstar's ass, reality and graphics don't make a game, fun does and Grand Theft Auto 4 is just one of the most boring games ever

Rockstar rocks! Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto series are loved by every corner of people. Grand Theft Auto iv received many awards including Game of year, Best story, Best voice acting, etc.

6 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
7 Fallout 3

Not only do I believe this to be the greatest sandbox game, but one of, if not the greatest game of all time. This game had it all: great quests, excellent level progression and hours upon hours of quality gameplay. Of course it wasn't without flaws, but then again there's no such thing as a perfect game. It's just a shame that many early Fallout fans denounce it so much.

Amazing environment, game play, and story. Only lacks a little bit graphically.

It is purely great. Only bested by GTA.

8 Sleeping Dogs

Really solid game and fighting system. Lot better than the previous True Crime games.

9 Just Cause 2

Lower on the list than Grand Theft Auto games? I don't recommend main story, it sucks. It has like 350 different settlements, first playthrough is amazing. It takes a while to get bored of it, despite it being an older game. Just Cause 3 isn't nearly as good and only has 100-some settlements.

Best Sandbox game ever. Nothing else comes close, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. Just Cause 3 could be the best game ever if done right.

You can have a lot of fun by not completing missions, fully accessible transport too!

10 Garry's Mod

9/10 of the games in the top 10's are not sandbox games. Grand Theft Auto is an open world game, not a sandbox. Minecraft should be like, number 10. Garry's mod is the best.

Litterally hardly any of the above are sandboxes... They are fanboys thinking sandbox means their favourite game. Garry's Mod is an honest and true sandbox where mods are everything.
Want to crush a car with Groudon? GMod
Want to blow your friend out of the map? Gmod
Want to play a game of who-dun-it? GMod
Want to hide as furniture and have blood-thirsty combine hunt you down? GMod
GMod
GMod
GMod

The Contenders
11 Saint's Row: The Third

Although people say Saints Row 2 was better, they are just butthurt fanboys who can't get over the fact that fun beats serious. I enjoy SR2 and SR3, but you can do almost anything you want in SR3. Yet, Grand Theft Auto fanboys won't even bother to play the game, but would go crazy for ANY of Rockstar's upcoming titles. For all they care, Rockstar could make a game about Barbies, and it would get like 100 million preorders within the first few days. This game sets itself aside from reality and throws logic out the window to make one of the most fun games of all time. Just give this game a chance, and you'll understand what I mean.

12 Mafia II

The most fun you can get in Mafia II in my mind is how much cash you can make from the moment you escape the burning house because from that moment on any cash you earn from car exports and selling cars to the scrapyard, you can keep.

Mafia II, a much better game than people give credit for. Grand Theft Auto San Andres, an overhyped game that isn't what it's all cracked up to be.

This is much better than Grand Theft Auto 4.

13 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Has a rich and insanely fleshed-out world that you're dropped in. You can explore, quest, or just screw around. You can easily plug over 300 hours into one character. Then, you can reroll as a new kind of character and create a new story. Then choose any combination of over 30,000 (and growing) modifications to further customize your experience and add infinite replayability. You don't play the Elder Scrolls; you live them.

Why isn't this in the Top 15?! It should be number one!

14 Far Cry 3

How can this game be left behind at #20

This is the most perfect game we have ever witnessed, you can play up to 40 hours without feeling you did.

This game is one of ubisoft's all-time masterpieces!

15 Terraria

What? Grand Theft Auto ain't got nothing on this! Terraria is the greatest sandbox game ever and one of the greatest games period!

This is one of the best sandbox games!

Terraria is too good for me to even talk about. Terraria have guns, npcs, swords, bows and even the underworld, dungeons, dungeon and lihzahrd and an EVIL AND GOOD BIOME!

16 Mafia

Made me want to stroll around and whistle tunes of Bugsy Malone, while shooting random people.

17 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
18 Saints Row 2

Unlike Grand Theft Auto 4 Saints row the third doesn't forget that people play games to have fun, not to rag on GTA4, it was a pretty good game but with the constant whine of your cousin and the grinding driving mechanics, Saints row shines all the more brighter. Additionally the wackiness of the game is emphasized all the more when mixed with a game that tries to play Mr. Straight face. Also the character customization is a hella lot better

Just pure fun. Like the first Saint's Row, it doesn't take itself too seriously but unlike the first one there is a lot more polish, way more things to do, hidden activities, character upgrades, and more that make you want to keep playing.

19 Batman Arkham City
20 Super Mario Maker
21 Far Cry 4

What an amazing and pretty extreme sandbox this is, a really nice improvement from what FC3 was; I really praise the wide map, the brutality and sadism that they added in comparison with the previous titles, the tons of main missions as well as the lots of side quests to do and the story, which is pretty decent and with a charismatic and a very memorable villain too. A 10/10 in my opinion, this one should be placed in at least the top 3.

Most fun to explore from this list.

22 Grand Theft Auto 3

The first BIG open world game, if this didn't get big you would even have the Other Grand Theft Autos

23 The Saboteur
24 Mercenaries

This game brought me into the sandbox world. It has great faction choices one of the best car selection ever and its only T so everyone can play it.

Grand Theft Auto gets boring after 30 minutes. There aren't much game that offer what this game does

25 L.A. Noire
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