Best Free Sandbox Games for PC in 2025!

Crossout
Trick out your ride and take to the post-apocalyptic roads for battle in Crossout, the free-to-play vehicular combat game from Gaijin Entertainment!

Palia
Get your cozy MMO on as you work to build your house, collect bugs, fish, and help out friends.

Genshin Impact
Explore a bright and fantastical anime-styled world in miHoYo's free-to-play online RPG Genshin Impact.

Fortnite
Like other classic battle royale games, you'll be dropped into the world and forced to scavenge and survive.

Albion Online
Albion Online is a 3D sandbox MMORPG with player freedom being at the center of the game. Players will be able to claim land, build a house, gather resources, craft items which they can use or sell, and engage in Guild vs Guild or open world PVP.

Dungeons and Dragons Online
Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO) is a free-to-play 3D Fantasy MMORPG based on the classic Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) tabletop role playing game.

Brighter Shores
If you are a Runescape fan, you may want to check out the latest MMORPG project from its creator.

Neverwinter
Neverwinter is an action MMORPG based on the acclaimed Dungeons and Dragons universe.

Fractured Online
It's been a long road to get here, but Fractured Online is now free-to-play.

Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore
An "old school MMORPG" that pays tribute to those that came before it.

Lost Light
Go it alone or team up with friends (or enemies you decide to spare) in this cross-platform, survival shooter.

Chimeraland
Chimeraland is a free-to-play sandbox MMO that has so many character customization options that some of you may be in the creator for hours… no joke

Blankos Block Party
Play in a multitude of fanciful worlds in Blankos Block Party, a free and wide open multiplayer game from Mythical. Get your Blanko, give it a special power, and set it off on an adventure in The Junction, a colorful and vibrant world that serves as your hub to many others.

Ylands
Get creative and build the world of your dreams in Ylands, a free game-builder from Bohemia Interactive.

Legends of Aria
Choose your path and create your legacy in Legends of Aria a free-to-play sandbox MMORPG from Citadel Studios. Create your character exactly how you want it, choosing from over 30 skills, and put yourself to the test in a vast open world where danger lurks around every corner.

Totally Accurate Battlegrounds
Dive into hyper-realistic battle royale action in Landfall's Totally Accurate Battlegrounds, now free-to-play. Up to 60 players compete to be the last man wobbling, using weapons like the balloon crossbow, inflatable hammer to achieve their murderous goals.

Wild Terra Online
Make friends, make enemies, and survive the elements in Wild Terra Online, a free-to-play survival MMORPG from Juvty Worlds Ltd.

Pixel Worlds
Create your own world and enjoy endless customization in Pixel Worlds, a 2D free-to-play MMORPG from Kukouri Mobile Entertainment!

Atom Universe
Live another life in Atom Universe, a free-to-play social virtual world from Atom Republic that has lots of fun activities and places to explore, alone or with friends. You can play in the Minikart Race or the Shooting Gallery, or try your hand at some Motor Stunts.

Trove
Trove is a Voxel-based MMO from Trion Worlds that generates exciting new worlds on a regular basis.

Salem
Salem is a free-to-play crafting MMORPG developed by Seatribe and Mortal Moments, Inc. Players will experience an enormous open-world colonial setting where creation is the goal and all the necessary materials are for the taking – and permanent death is a real possibility.

Block N Load
Block N Load is a free-to-play multiplayer online FPS game developed by Jagex that looks like a mix of Minecraft and Team Fortress 2. Get ready for the ultimate in multiplayer online gaming; you’ll face off in battles of 5v5, where everything you build, destroy, construct or shoot at has a devastating impact on the entire game.

Gear Up
Gear Up is a free to play multiplayer arcade action game with tanks and robots. Vehicular combat is fun, and Gear Up is no exception to that.

8BitMMO
Listen up all of you 8bit lovers out there! As the name would suggest, 8BitMMO is a free to play retrostyle 2D massively multiplayer game!

Blockade 3D
Blockade 3D is a free to play multiplayer First Person Shooter (FPS) in an editable procedural world similar to Minecraft. In this cubic sandbox you can build and destroy things with 4 teams at the same time and up to 32 players on one map.

Counter-Strike Nexon: Studio
Counter-Strike Nexon: Studio is the free-to-play massively multiplayer online FPS that asks the simple question: What’s better than Counter-Strike? Answer: Counter-Strike with new game modes, map creation and lots of zombies!

ArcheAge
ArcheAge is a fantasy sandbox MMORPG that sends players on a journey across the great continents of Nuia and Harihara.

WAKFU
Wakfu is a free to play 2D anime-style MMORPG with unique features like a ecosystem, citizenship and much more featuring tactical turn-based combat, vast character customization, and a deep player influenced world. One of the goals of the game is to develop your character, not only by finding its place in the world of Wakfu, but also by improving its characteristics and battle skills.

Cubic Castles
Cubic Castles is a 3D voxel-based adventure MMO from Cosmic Cow. Jump into a destructible world that is yours to mine, terraform, build, and destroy with as you please, all so your realm can grow.

Creativerse
In Creativerse, a free-to-play building game from Playful Corporation, you can explore, mine, craft, and build to your heart's content in a lush and vibrant 3-D world. Many elements will be familiar to players of similar games, but Creativerse streamlines much of the gameplay, making it easy to jump right in and start building the structure of your dreams!
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What is sandbox in a game?
A sandbox game is a game where very few limitations are placed on a player and they are encouraged to roam, build, destroy, or even shape the game's world to their liking. Where an open world game may allow the player to accomplish game objectives any way and in any order they so choose, a sandbox game usually tosses aside objectives in many case. This lack of direction can be off-putting to some, but the creativity it can encourage is limitless.
Enter a virtual world, maybe farm some materials, and build yourself a house. Sure, why not? A "sandbox" game puts players in the driver seat and they determine what the game world becomes as they find their place in that world engaging only in the activities they find interesting.
What are the best free sandbox games in 2023?
Most sandbox games don't have any narrative or main quests lines, but some do have these features as part of daily play or just as a tutorial type system. The below games are all free and are all more sandbox focused but some may have other content included like story or quests. In no order:
1. Trove2. Ylands
3. Fallout Shelter
4. Albion Online
5. Creativerse