My Top 10 Sandbox Board Games

Top 10 Sandbox Board Games
Sandbox board games can be great fun where you're presented with a ton of options for a Euro Game or some open world, "do as you please" exploration mechanics. Which are my favourite 10, which ones would never make the list and do you know any others?
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Who Am I?
One single batchelor from the UK talking about his passion for board games and the people who play them! I support small content creators, board game cafes and go against the status quo when it comes to the board game industry. I give my honest opinions without bias towards any publishers or designers and will not hold back if I don't like a game.
The Broken Meeple is a variety channel that hosts all kinds of board game content from reviews to Top 10 lists to playthroughs to live stream collaborations with special guests (predominantly small channels who deserve more exposure).
I look forward to engaging with you, the community on my live streams or in the comments on my videos!
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Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
02:46 - KIENDA Promo
03:25 - No 10
05:22 - No 9
07:52 - No 8
10:36 - No 7
13:42 - No 6
17:08 - No 5
19:29 - No 4
22:02 - No 3
25:02 - No 2
27:40 - No 1
31:51 - But Luke, What About...?
39:26 - Please Share and Support The Show
#brokenmeeple #sandbox #sandboxgame #top10 #boardgames #boardgame #lukehector #supportsmallcreators #tabletop #tabletopgames #bgg #boardgamer #boardgamereview
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Full credit to BoardGameGeek and its members for any images used that aren't my own or part of the publisher press kit.

[@ahgasegg1205]

I really enjoyed the closing section of the video, naming popular games in the same-ish genre and why they dont fit for you, as well as interesting ones youve heard of but havent had a chance to play yet. The context helps to frame games on the list even better!!

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Yeah it beats just doing honourable mentions.

[@ahgasegg1205]

@TheBrokenMeeple There's not a ton of space for innovation in a list video lol, so kudos for finding something

[@wildtrip1182]

Merchants and Marauders is the best Sandbox for me and my group , there is some down time , but its worth it .

[@LlaneroSolitario-sj2tt]

Yes definetly Merchants and marauders with his expansion is the best sandbox i know. You really feel the breeze and the hot of the caribean sea there and you can do what you want comerce, smuggling, plunder, missions, rumors, upgraded your ship, etc..., but beawere of the treachorous pirates, pirates hunters and deadly storms...

[@carrickrichards2457]

10. Xia 9. Earthborne rangers 8. Western Legends 7. Lands of Galzyr (or Mythwind) 6. Vindication ?!? 5. Star Wars: Outer rim 4. Caverna ?!? 3. Pursuit of happiness 2. Empires of the void ?!? 1. Fields of Arle ?!? Your definition of 'sandbox' seems to be mere 'choice'. I'd say you need exploration, storytelling and adventure eg. 'Firefly', 'Bantham west', 'Mageknight', 'Star Trek Federation', 'Runebound', 'ISS Vanguard', 'Unsettled', 'Tainted Grail', 'Etherfields', 'Legion of honor', 'Legends of the American Frontier', 'Call to adventure', Tales of the Arabian nights', 'Merchants and maruaders', 'Sleeping gods'.

[@MsInthegrove]

Hi this list got me subscribed, thanks 😘

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@teaNgames]

This is a really good list! Some interesting choices, explained well. This is the first time someone's said they like Pursiit of Happiness and I actually understand *why* And when you started describing a game I really like...I thought "that sounds like Fields of Arle"😆 We've just discovered it & I hadn't thought of it as a sandbox, but yes! 💡 Also, I'm a fan of Firefly, both show & game. Yes, it's long. And the dice rolls can be frustrating. But it's just sooo thematic that even its *flaws* are thematic🤣 Thanks for the video! You've given me a handful of games to think about🎉

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Arle is the ultimate Euro Sandbox - because not only do you have a ton of options but all of them score.

[@teaNgames]

@TheBrokenMeeple There are no bad actions, just a bunch of good choices, every turn! It can be a little bewildering --- our first game was very long because we didn't know what to do😆 So many choices!

[@stacie_everdell]

Loved this top 10. Such a variety of games, even though they are all sand box. I very much enjoy Lands of Glazyr and Empires of the Void II. The latter I picked up because of how many times you speak highly of it. I would love to see an expansion that adds solo. That would be awesome! (Ryan, are you listening?)

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Yeah, I would love an expansion to EotV. I highly doubt he's listening though!

[@MarkThould]

Another great video Luke. I personally love sand box ganes and have many of your top ten. Caverna and Fields of Arle sound similar....is FoA the better of the 2?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Yes, FOA is the better.

[@Buako111]

This is great! I was actually thinking about this on your podcast episode. I would debate that sandbox games are kind of campaign games, where each game is a mini campaign for itself 😊 I actually skipped campaign games in my collection altogether for exactly same reasons you named in conclusion. Anyway great content as always!

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Campaign games certainly lend themselves to be sandbox games. Sandbox for me would be telling a "journey's story" within a game even if the game doesn't inherently have one.

[@icypunk880]

Yeahhhhh Fields of Arle!! My favorite Uwe and i love it for its sandboxyness... great list!

[@user-xx1jd5et5q]

My problem with Fields is the theme. It seems to me that Uwe is always picking the most boring theme imaginable, and then designs the most boring cover/components. Like Tom Vassel once said, even people on the cover box looks bored with their life. Sure, you have options - should grow tomatoes, or raise sheep? Exciting!

[@svenv.3701]

Fully agree with everything you said about your no. 1, what a great choice! For the reasons you mentioned, Fields of Arle is my favourite boardgame for many years now. It is sooo thematic! And the excellent expansion makes it even better.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Totally agree!

[@LlaneroSolitario-sj2tt]

I have no problem with 6-8 hours long games if they are worth it. And you have a lot of them... They are dificult to bring to the table, but when the day come is really unforgetable.

[@uziekiele]

I'm only 10 seconds into the video and I'm already cracking up. That Anakin sand clip was a genius choice. Lol.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Ha ha thanks!

[@thylight6620]

I went out and grabbed Fields of Arle after watching this and wow, what a great recommendation! I’ve played it a few times solo now and it’s the perfect chill sandbox game. Now I need to track down the expansion!

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Feels good when I'm right 🤣

[@frankndice]

You gotta check out The Good The Bad and The Ugly, and Once Upon a Time in The West. Both of those movies are incredible

[@npckse8508]

Luke you keep reminding me of Empires of the Void, which sits on my shelf, sad and lonely. Is there a player count that doesn't work for it, based on your plays?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Better at 3-4 I say, 5 is ok, 2 isn't worth it.

[@gidiyaniv82]

Solo?​@@TheBrokenMeeple

[@gidiyaniv82]

Thanks Luke Any resemblance between XIA and outer rim? And why do you prefer OR?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Both are space sandbox games, but it's FAR easier to learn and get played with regards to Outer Rim. Xia is a big mammoth beast to learn and set up and then it takes longer than OR.

[@johnstone2255]

Does your opinions on Caverna also apply to the two player version Cave vs Cave?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Cave vs Cave is pretty forgettable.

[@JasonRedeemed]

Even though I love sandbox games and Star Wars games, I found Outer Rim to be just a "sand-track" game since travel is so limited as to where you can go, but I know lots of people love it and I'm kind of an outlier with this opinion.

[@uziekiele]

Did you try it with the expansion? It increases the mobiilty and variety quite a bit.

[@Nominrath]

Same. Don’t consider Outer Rim (even with the expansion) a sand box. You don’t really have the choice to do what you want and your movement is really only a circular, double-railed track with a few deviations and forced stops. All your choices are determined by the cards available. You can’t, for example, choose to just attack players for benefits or go to Nal Hutta and do Hutt stuff and gain bonuses for Hutt jobs, cargo, bounties. It’s all random and if you spend too much time milling decks to get these particular cards so you can fulfill the “decisions” you want, other players will lap you in “Fame” (i.e. VP). It’s not a bad game at all, I like it a lot, but it is pick-up & delivery, through and through, where you take what you can get based on your current situation.

[@Original_Maverick]

Im seeing a lot of empty space behind you, Luke. Time to hit up Kienda, perhaps?? 😉 Fun list, as usual. Thanks!

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Ha ha I had my Marvel Champions stuff out to update dividers and make a Cyclops deck 😅

[@Original_Maverick]

Lol, I figured; I saw what belonged there during the Kienda clip. Didn't think you were gutting campaigns that quickly 😅

[@paolobingham3045]

Is there something like a light Sandbox game? i feel i would love all the choices but im not that thinky :) i was thinking Forgotten Waters from what ive heard?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Lands of Galzyr is pretty light

[@bradleyritger6765]

Love Xia! I missed backing the expansion so I backed it at the same time I backed Arydia. Unfortunately got to wait till November but I know I love the expansion since a friend has it. Also related to the podcast I’ve never really done a campaign so I’m excited to try Arydia. I’ve tried a couple but ever owned anything not counting LotR LCG Also I’m the same with Western themes I don’t know what it is that turns me away Never played pursuit of happiness but want to so bad but do agree it sounds like a sandbox Fields of Arle is one of the games I want to play so badly and my wife loves those kind of euro games so I think I could get it to the table a lot

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

For two of you, Arle would be perfect.

[@joukenienhuis6888]

Fields of Arles was my first introduction to worker placement games and I had to play it several times to understand it, but every time I am in France I want to play it (game is in France). I have the Dutch version called Friesche Velden

[@ralfn9629]

The Persuit of Happiness is definitely a Sand-box game. I would love to own the All-in-box. Western Legends I still need to play - is this great as solo though? How about Frost punk and This War of Mine?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

I wouldn't play Western Legend solo. Frostpunk and This War of Mine are great solo games but I wouldn't call them sandbox.

[@yarondavidson6434]

This War of Mine is indeed great solo, but while it's very much a storytelling it's not a sandbox. Western Legends not great solo, YMMV since personally I'm not that crazy about it in general, but still for solo it loses a lot in comparison. While I never would have suggested The Pursuit of Happiness if someone asked me about sandbox games, during the video I kept seeing it in the background, and got thinking about it, eventually reaching a point where I decided that after the video ended I'll post a comment saying that it actually should be considered. And then was positively surprised to see it made the list. I do have all the expansions, and while I do also have the big/all-in box, from what I recall over the multiple expansions and crowdfunding campaigns over time, almost everything could fit the original box with some aggressive Tetris play.

[@CardboardHunter]

Personally I think Roads & Boats is the ultimate sandbox game, cannot recommend it enough. Great list, though!

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

But that's Splotter...........

[@CardboardHunter]

@@TheBrokenMeeple it’s said that if you whisper the word Splotter at a board game convention I will materialize

[@b_player55]

XIA with exp, Bantam West, Fallen Land, Merchant and Marauders.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Keep seeing this Bantam West mentioned!

[@jamielehn6926]

Merchants and Marauders is one of the best pirate sand boxes out there. It is long - true, and there is some downtime (One of the expansion modules fixes that - sort of (if you’re lucky)) but I think it’s pretty easy rules. The combat is really good - but you might have to refer to the rules. Arrr 🏴‍☠️

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

I feel like if it had a streamlined, fixed edition I'd jump back in.

[@vishallan]

Have you tried playing Captain's Log and Euthia?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Not CL, but Euthia yes, Mark Dainty showed me it and.................yeah I hated it.

[@Christian-cy2pn]

Earthborne rangers vs Lands of galzyr. I have played Galzyr but missed any form of urgency and no "main quest". How is Earthborne in comparison in this regard?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Earthborne I'm not sure if it really has a main quest per say, but you do have progression. Urgency depends on what mission you have - some are on a bit of a timer. Galzyr is more a "pick up and have fun" approach. Earthborne I guess has a little more structure to it.

[@browe]

Right there with you on Mage Knight and Merchants & Marauders... Bounced off of each one, even though they should have been my kind of game. Weirdly, I liked the Star Trek re-implementation of MK better, and not just because I like the theme. 🤔 Xia and Outer Rim + Unfinished Business, however, are both a ton of fun, and I'm glad to see them on your list!

[@rovingmauler7410]

Xia is amazing. With the expansions, it is a 10/10 sandbox game. The only thing that could make it better would be a story mode of sorts.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

And easier rules to learn.

[@rovingmauler7410]

@@TheBrokenMeeple Yeah, they are simple, there's just a lot of them.

[@halforange1]

Woohoo, I guessed your #1. It’s sad to hear that you’re done with campaign games. They are a commitment, which is why I’m considering Primeval Peril over Sleeping Gods/Distant Skies. Give Arkham Horror LCG’ Fortune and Folly a shot before you retire that game. It’s basically a mash up of Ocean’s Eleven and Metal Gear Solid (mechanically) in Arkham.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

I doubt I'll retire Arkham LCG but I just don't feel like buying more campaign material

[@FalkFlak]

I basically gave up on sandbox board games because they always fall flat in some regard (balance, game length, interactivity etc.) My favourites could have been Phantom League (basically Elite as a board game) and Merchants & Marauders but they also have serious issues

[@ag806]

I agree, Caverna is much of a better sandbox than Agricola.

[@LlaneroSolitario-sj2tt]

I disagree about the long games... What's more, with Merchants & Marauders we (me and my children) use to extent it a little bit longer, from 10 victory points to 12, because it's so fun and catching. The same with twilight imperium, we play the long version of 14 objective points without problem.

[@yaryayray]

How about Dead Reckoning? Have you tried it? Shiver me Timbers also looks interesting.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

I have tried Dead Reckoning but wasn't bowled over by it. It has potential maybe in more plays, but I remember it being very long for what it is and some paths being very lacklustre compared to others. The combat randomness also was a put off.

[@john-qz3fu]

Bios megafauna, very event heavy, I would consider it the entry level bios game. Phil Eklund. His game are very polarising - people tend to hate or love them… I definitely lean heavy on the later. Also I wouldn’t consider it a sandbox game, but I wouldn’t really consider outer rim a sandbox either so … to each their own. Fantastic video Luke.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

I have heard of that one and would certainly try it

[@robertthurman9866]

One reviewer said Outer Rim is a faster less complex Firefly. Would you agree with that?

[@MarkThould]

Yes, definitely. However, there's a difference in ship vs crew with Xia, Outer Rim and Firefly. I have all 3 with all their expansions and for me I find Xia : No crew it's all about the ships. How you outfit them, buy new ones etc Outer Rim: It's a nice balance between your crew and the ship for outfitting and levelling up. Firefly: Mostly about the crew, their skills ,equipment etc and putting together a team to do missions. The ships don't really alter too much....not even the ones in the expansions.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Less complex ............I think they are about the same especially as Firefly has been expanded up the wazoo. But it's certainly faster!

[@allenherring7787]

How is Unsettled, directly beneath you not included on the list?

[@yarondavidson6434]

Very good game from the few plays I had with it so far, but it doesn't really feel like a sandbox to me. You have specific in-game things you have to do.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

What he said, I also haven't played it enough to warrant if I like the game or not.

[@rickcarson591]

Firefly board game would be a great background simulator for some kind of Space-Cowboy themed RPG ... unfortunately as a board game it's _not_ excessively long - all you do is sit on certain locations churning cards until you get certain ones that will make the end missions trivially easy and then basically win. Just when everyone else is really starting to have fun. That is to say if you play it 'in character' it's fun, but if you play it 'to win', there's a strategy which basically breaks it in an un-fun way. Groups that play it a lot probably either haven't discovered how to break it, or have introduced house rules to prevent deck squatting.

[@Vandoon]

High frontiers 4 all, this will trigger your time phobia and luck fest antennas. Still I think it is interesting and the board is just wow.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

My mate has a copy of that game, spirograph board and all - I want to play it just to see how mental it is.

[@areskram]

It's mage knight for me

[@Punkve1987]

Have you played the Colonists? Great game, despite some clunky rules that could use another round of streamlining.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Way too long and I found the storage mechanic a pain to have to deal with.

[@Punkve1987]

That is the clunky rule I was referring to. Never understood why storing goods had to be so difficult to wrap my head around 🤣

[@stevekingswell9143]

Vindication doesn’t really have bloat, as it’s very modular.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

But it's a lot of modules that you have to sift through to find the perfect way to play. And there are WAY too many modules.

[@christaggart5687]

I like Caverner. ;-)

[@michaelcrampton5560]

Would WarHammer be considered a sandbox?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Not really.

[@davimds4589]

What about keyper?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Way too fiddly and clunky.

[@PentaHousen]

Where is mage knight? :C We know you love it!

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

;-) Hee hee, oh it's out of shot, you just can't see it! ;-)

[@Duxa_]

Hard disagree on Caverna killing Agricola. Both are excellent but Agricola is still better due to occupations and improvements, static buildings in Caverna are pale in comparison.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

The cards are cool (probably its main good feature) BUT they lead to a lot of imbalanced combos that you can't recover from.

[@Duxa_]

@@TheBrokenMeeple You definitely need to learn the basics over the course of a few games, but if everyone is on the same level and knows same amount about the combos I think its well balanced (of course remove the 10 or so banned cards first, or play with a deck with zero banned cards, the new deck that came out a few months ago is the best yet, its great). Caverna is not safe from a person that knows how to pace and build out right rooms at the right time either. Both great games :)

[@JasonRedeemed]

The lines between sandbox and 4x and sandbox and worker placement are somewhat blurry. For other games that would qualify as a sandbox, Wasteland Express Delivery Service, Sea of Legends, Windward, Waste Knights 2nd Ed, Bantam West, and Fallen Land are all ones that come to mind but lean a little more Amerthrash...

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Bantam West keeps getting mentioned!

[@nkorppi]

A Study in Emerald, Agra and Madeira.

[@alister3882]

This intro was good, not buy games, but I do miss the regardless of the consequences. I wanted XIA, but is imposible to get here. Western Legends I thought the big box had all the content in it in a big box, sad to find out is an empty super expensive box. Ti4 I recomend playing it at TTS, with people that now the game well, you can play in 4 hrs a 6 player game, specially with the expansion that speeds up everything.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

People on BoardGameCo's channel were slagging me off behind my back about the consequences line so I thought I'd just do something different every time unless I find one that sticks.

[@alister3882]

@@TheBrokenMeeple I know. You mention it. And remember is just s game is a good one. You could make a poll with different ones.

[@stevekingswell9143]

La Granja vs Fields of Arles?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Field of Arle hands down.

[@Oncus2]

I wish TI4 was ONLY 6-8 hours, but games can easily take 10-12 hours. I won't comment on whether it's justified or not as this is rather subjective, but I will say that while there is luck and having a better starts are better, because of its length and negotiation you have plenty of time to catch up and make impactful plays. Runaway leaders are not so much of a problem because people can team up to squash you. In fact, you don't want to be a runaway leader early or that reputation might just cause you to lose the game.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Lol 6-8 was being optimistic. It boggles my mind when people claim 4 hours as a timeframe- that's such a weird exception to the rule and would have to be 4 players capped AND someone runs away with the game.

[@ag806]

And what about this war of mine???

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

I didn't really class it as a sandbox. The various missions usually have things to focus on.

[@uziekiele]

Outer Rim completely killed Firefly for me

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Agreed!

[@neptuune]

Best sandbox games and no Stationfall ?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Just not Top Ten. It does need the right group and a crap ton of rules explanation.

[@jamielehn6926]

I really wanna play it

[@andrewtickner1602]

FYI, if you're wanting to get Xia, Western Legends of Pursuit of Happiness to the table, I'm always happy to join you ... 😀

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Pursuit is never tricky 😉 Xia is best solo really but do need to figure out my Western Legends box...

[@andrewtickner1602]

@@TheBrokenMeeple Yeah, if you have all the expanded content, you won't get it into the base box (although if you take our the boards in preference to the playmat you might). I did get the big box, and the insert isn't perfect; but I can get everything in and don't have to constantly reassemble the shops. 🙂

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

@@andrewtickner1602 Yeah the box size is the only good thing about the big box. But for that much money, jesus!!

[@firstsecond9499]

Suprised hexploreit wasnt mentioned

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Not even seen a physical copy in existence, certainly isn't what I would call a popular game.

[@realdealastrology9]

Xia? Blech!

[@thomaswolf2391]

I was worried fields of arle would be here. I hate this game with a passion! 😂

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Awwwww!

[@shatnershairpiece]

Did you block me? Keep trying to post, gets removed in seconds.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Really? Swear I ain't doing nothing!

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

I can't see any comments held on Held For Review either. Were any swear words or hashtags or Web links used? Sometimes that triggers YT.

[@shatnershairpiece]

@@TheBrokenMeeple I was telling you not to worry about views as many channels now get only 2000 views on a video with 1.5 million subs. You're doing okay. I get about 500 now with 130,00 subs. These long form channels are all being blacked out. The channels make desperate videos asking viewers what they want, trying anything to recover, but that isn't the problem. YT doesn't even promote videos anymore to your own sub base. There's already a lot of people giving up KZbin for these reasons, and they are BIG channels.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

@@shatnershairpiece Good to know, thanks! Not sure why you were having commenting trouble though.

[@ChristinKasuske]

Who ever is reading this... have a great day! 😅💋

[@diamondmeeple]

I don't get WHY people play these kind of games. Got dropped by accident as a baby and hit their heads? 😬

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Lots of options and freedom of choice - never a bad thing!

[@Azrael-Death]

I got to wonder if people who are super judgemental about what games other people play for entertainment might have just had a fatherless childhood.

[@diamondmeeple]

@@Azrael-Death Why call these things games? They are more tedious activites.