My Top 10 Sandbox Board Games

[@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 open world 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'.

[@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

[@RaveKev]

You changed the way i was looking on Sandbox games - and i don't know, if i like it :D A Sandbox Game was walking / flying around, solve some quests, trade, go somewhere else, etc. for me (just like Firefly, Xia and Western Legends). Having Euro games with hundreds of posibilities on the list is somehow new for me.

[@wildtrip1182]

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

[@barry_t]

your idea of sandbox is, if I may sarcastically so describe, more a list for people wanting to game alone and have lots of choices...and your artificial restriction of more than 4 hours is not really fair. You should enjoy a game even if you lose it... well I try to judge a game more that way. But thanks for your list, thankfully I have played most of the games and made different impressions, and like many games, they are often as fun as you make them...and your friends...I've lost TI4 several times with stories with my friends for the ages...I hope you have the same fun with yours. But I love your tagline...it's only a game...so true, so true.

[@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...

[@icypunk880]

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

[@EmanuelBradeanu]

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!

[@tmorganriley]

I have never had even my most-marginally-gamer friends turn down Xia; it is always a hit. Though I dont often have time for it, when I do, the willingness of others to let it take the table is worth a lot to me.

[@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 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.

[@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

[@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!

[@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 🤣

[@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.

[@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.

[@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

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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 😅

[@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!

[@thefacethatstares]

i hope you get to try Arcs at some point because i'd count it as having a lot of sandbox type mechanics

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

I'd like to try it for my own reasons certainly as opposed to what is being hyped up like crazy.

[@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!

[@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.

[@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

[@broavonyl5997]

Check out Pauper's Ladder. It's a fantastic lightweight fantasy sandbox. The Moontowers expansion and This Cobbled Isle expansion add nice thematic activities and challenges without adding complexity.

[@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.

[@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!

[@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.

[@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.

[@MsInthegrove]

Hi this list got me subscribed, thanks 😘

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@ag806]

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

[@b_player55]

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

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Keep seeing this Bantam West mentioned!

[@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.

[@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

[@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 🤣

[@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.

[@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

[@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

[@christaggart5687]

I like Caverner. ;-)

[@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.

[@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

[@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.

[@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!

[@grog3514]

The Firefly expansions are great. If you see someone who gets lucky with a strong crew, you outfit yourself with more offense and raid their ship to sell their crew for bounties. It becomes a cat and mouse game if trying to strip their ship while they send the allowance after you. I've had hilarious games where I'm fighting one player while another takes a clear lead and we all stop scrapping with each other to team up on him. It's such a good time. But you do need to use the movement variant to prevent the game from taking too long.

[@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.

[@realdealastrology9]

Xia? Blech!

[@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!

[@areskram]

It's mage knight for me

[@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

[@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.

[@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.

[@stevekingswell9143]

La Granja vs Fields of Arles?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Field of Arle hands down.

[@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 :)

[@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.

[@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.

[@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! ;-)

[@davimds4589]

What about keyper?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Way too fiddly and clunky.

[@michaelcrampton5560]

Would WarHammer be considered a sandbox?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Not really.

[@nkorppi]

A Study in Emerald, Agra and Madeira.

[@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!!

[@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

[@jonridley]

I get the impression that sandbox games aren’t your favourite

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Despite having ten favourites and loving lots of options.....

[@firstsecond9499]

Suprised hexploreit wasnt mentioned

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

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

[@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.

[@thomaswolf2391]

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

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Awwwww!

[@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-2025]

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-2025 Why call these things games? They are more tedious activites.

[@ChristinKasuske]

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