The Sandbox - Pixowl Inc

[Kaimega]

This thread is for the discussion of The Sandbox (Note to developer(s) - send me a private message if you would like to edit this thread).

Unleash your imagination and craft your own world with this awesome retro 8-bit world builder game! The Sandbox is a world building and crafting game based on pixel art 8-bit games from the 80s and 90s -- create a universe or destroy it -- the only limitations on what you can do in this game come from your own mind! This classic video game lets you use basic building blocks like stone, water and soil to build and craft your own world. You can then add mud and sand to start vegetation growing. Finally, add in people, plants and animals and watch what happens next! The more you play this mosaic game, the more access you’ll gain to complex elements such as non-organic elements like light bulbs, metal and famous buildings. This classic game allows you to populate your universe with creations both technological and natural for hours of “god like” fun. The Sandbox is an entire universe in the palm of your hand.


What the press says:
The Sandbox is a fantastically inventive mobile game that encourages players to create entire worlds and works of art!" ~Cult Of Mac

"It’s kind of hard to get bored with so many toys to play with.” ~4.5/5 from 148Apps

“The Sandbox straddles the line between game and art project, rewarding players for creativity while giving them near-infinite possibilities.” ~4/5 from TouchArcade

Awards:
• Best World Building Games (iTunes)
• Best Games of 2012 and 2013! (iTunes)
• Top Games -- If You Like Minecraft (iTunes)


The Sandbox features:
• Over 130 elements you can combine for different physical effects
• A classic/retro 8-bit interface
• Easy to understand tutorials get you started building worlds
• 10 Individual Campaigns: Initial Story, Alien invasion, Contraptions, Pixel Art, User-Created, Robocalypse, Zombie Attack, Lonely Human, Lasers & Pipes and Music
• Compose your own chiptune melodies you can play in-game. You may choose the following instruments: Note, Guitar, Bass, Trumpet and Drums
• Add advanced elements to your worlds:
• Vehicles -- Cars, tanks and Lunar lander are all available for your use within your world!
• Contraptions -- LEDs, conveyor belts, lasers, pipes and multiple sensors are all available to bring your world into the age of technology!
• Bring life to your worlds: Add humans and use Magic Job Powders to turn them into miners, builders, hunters, woodcutters or… ZOMBIES!
• Zombies -- Turn your mild-mannered human into a brain eating beast that wreaks havoc on your world!
• Robots -- Have robots taken over your world? You better obey your metal masters, puny human animals!
• Add dinosaurs and protect them from extinction (or, recreate the BIG BANG and wipe them from the face of the Earth - the choice is yours!)
• Add animals, fish and fireflies to your worlds and watch as their behavior creates “natural drama” that rivals any reality TV show!
• Lions eat humans (!!) and prowl through the African Savannah Ecosystem
• Flamingos fly in group formation, adding color to your sky, eating your fish
• Check out the rest of the amazing natural drama of the African Savannah Ecosystem… Change your human into something new and exciting with a NEW magic powder!
• Use our decorations and add awesome real-life wonders to your landscapes: The Eiffel Tower, a crashed UFO, the pyramids, futuristic buildings and a giant robot are all available at your fingertips!
• Use TNT or C4 to wreak havoc with powerful explosions or light up your sky with meteors and fireworks


Share your creations with the world:
• Share your worlds on Facebook
• Share your favorite universe in The Sandbox’s Online Gallery
• Search the gallery to see the creations of other players (500,000 worlds and climbing!)
• Rate other players’ worlds and add in your own elements to give them a surprise effect


Are you stuck on a level and need help?
Check the forums: http://forum.thesandboxgame.com


★ FOLLOW US ★
Twitter: http://twitter.com/thesandboxgame
Facebook: http://facebook.com/thesandboxgame

[Sitting Fox]

I like this game. The idea is neat and there are some interesting puzzles in the campaign.

I do think the menus could use a remake to be in a style better suited for a controller. It takes a little figuring out with those, especially since you'll have vertical lists and horizontal ones too of the buttons, but then only left/right or up/down works for all of them (not both).

Otherwise, it works fine and is pretty fun.

[MGFanJay]

Here's my review of it - http://www.hardcoregamer.com/2014/07...ox-ouya/93648/

I love it on my tablet, but it's poorly-optimized for the OUYA right now.

[Paul Laimal-Convoy]

The menu system is all over the place AND when I tried to use my keyboard, the game immediately crashed (not even an error message) AND my mouse pointer was nowhere to be seen from then on, even when using the launcher or other apps! I had to restart the Ouya.

Methinks that this was a very, very rushed port with little or no testing...

[ravenmdm]

I agree with the others about control optimization. I tried it for like a day and a half. Between that, and what felt to me like a slow pace for unlocks, I gave up. I really like the concept, the execution in-game (as in aside from menus) wasn't bad, I just couldn't get past the rest of it. I really want to like it, but I'm waiting to see if an update might improve the experience.

[RiotingSpectre]

So, ultimately this game was a bust simply because of unoptimized controls? I see. Pretty poor deal we got here since it could potentially be a great title to recommend to a large majority of OUYA players if it had ended up a better port. I'll avoid it myself unless I see an update that improves the controls.

[Username]

This game is not a bust - it's one of those games that I could not possibly imagine playing on anything smaller than a television. Sure, the controls take a little bit of getting used to (shoulder buttons are used often, and you have to scroll through all the options before landing on the one you want (e.g. if it's [menu] [load] [save] [quit] and you want the menu, you'd have to hit a shoulder button either once, five times, or nine times, depending on if you're really good at missing the option you want), but it's well worth ponying up the $10 for 40,000 mana (the "currency" - like pillcoins in SpaceCat HD), and the level select screen during the campaigns is loopy, but this game is great. I am crossing my fingers hoping that more campaigns are added and the Pixowl team continues to support the OUYA.

The nature of the game is such that if you don't want to buy the campaigns, it will be slow and painful to get enough mana to buy the elements and upgrades you'd need to make the game fun. But I am grateful that the "buy" option is for all campaigns, and not the $2 at a time unlock that the other variants of the game offer. They've even got the "check back daily" quests which I tend to check every day. The game is beautiful - the Pixel Art campaign is phenomenal and a big part of why I can't imagine playing on a smaller screen. The Alien Invasion campaign, because of the menu, will have to skip a level requiring multi-tasking, but that's the only real flaw I've found.

Long story short: this game made me believe in the OUYA again.

[mmartino]

The controls for this game definitely kill it. Was excited to try it but the way they are it is completely unusable to me also. If they ever decide to fix the controls I can see this game getting popular but as is it will be another rushed port that sounds good but is meant to be played on a phone. Such a shame

[RiotingSpectre]

I checked this game out for myself against my better judgement and holy shit... I have played the worst games of all time in every gaming category such as difficulty, story, and game-play concept. This takes the cake as the worst game I've ever played in the control department. I'd rather play Superman 64 while being drunk off my ass than ever touch this again. Avoid it like the plague.

[boxtropica]

I checked this game out for myself against my better judgement and holy shit... I have played the worst games of all time in every gaming category such as difficulty, story, and game-play concept. This takes the cake as the worst game I've ever played in the control department. I'd rather play Superman 64 while being drunk off my ass than ever touch this again. Avoid it like the plague.

Nice to see someone that agrees... This is a touch game, not a controller game. Now I want to try beating the first freaking level of Superman 64 again...