Sandbox is a virtual world that is essentially its own “Metaverse”, meaning it’s “a virtual-reality space in which users can interact with a computer-generated environment and other users”, as per Google. It’s one of the projects leading the way in defining what exactly that term “Metaverse” will develop into and look like.
In one sentence, The Sandbox is a blockchain game builder that utilizes several types of crypto tokens to allow users to generate their own games and experiences. There’s more to it, so thank goodness we have a little more than one sentence to work with. There are a couple strategic benefits for both users and creators on Sandbox and it finds itself in a race with Facebook (now Meta) and other entities to dictate what the Metaverse will ultimately be. Will it stay decentralized, or become controlled by a central authority like Faceboo…err Meta?
Visually, Sandbox is a Minecraft-looking digital world that brings to life a few different decentralized web concepts. Users can create games, play games, interact with each other, and engage in digital commerce on the platform.
Taking a page out of Web 2’s playbook, Sandbox thrives off of user-generated content. But how can you get normal people to create actual, usable games? By building them a studio to create that doesn’t require them to know how to code! One of the major benefits and strengths of sandbox is that it lets people plug in and get creating games (and in-game assets) without technical knowledge and with an extremely user-friendly editor called “VoxEdit”.
This is big because it opens the door for normal people to create in-game assets that are stored on a blockchain as NFTs (in this case, ERC-1155, but don’t worry too much about what that means). These tokens allow these creators to not only create, but DISTRIBUTE these assets as well and even use them in their own gaming experiences.
Pretty cool that in an afternoon or two, you can go from a casual observer or player of a video game to actually being a designer and creator yourself.
What else is cool about the setup of the Sandbox is that it’s a virtual world that covers all the bases. Being able to explore as a customizable avatar is only one aspect. In addition to experiences, it has a built-in marketplace where users can buy and sell their created assets, as well as a rarity system for those assets. It really is its own ecosystem and provides users with everything they need to be a game developer in one place.
This economy runs on an ERC -20 token known as SAND, which is the in-world currency. It allows players and creators to exchange assets and is a fungible token.
There’s a third type of token in Sandbox called LAND, which is an ERC – 721 token. This token allows for ownership and is a finite resource in the ecosystem. Each LAND is a 96 meter x 96 meter plot and can be combined into an ESTATE, which is composed of multiple LANDs. LAND can be held similar to real estate in real life, rented to generate income, used to build a game, or other virtual experience. There are only 166,464 parcels of LAND created, boosting its ability to store value as a finite asset.
Sandbox is one of the major players in the race to embody the default definition of “THE Metaverse”, battling against other decentralized projects like Decentraland and centralized authorities like Meta and Microsoft. It’s essentially a virtual world, created by its users whom it empowers to design and create games through a code-free interface. It utilizes several types of tokens to create a dynamic experience for its users and has gained much popularity in the following year. What are your thoughts on Sandbox? Have you built a game on the platform yet or invested in SAND or LAND?
Will Sandbox be the defining entity of the Metaverse? Only time will tell.
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