The sandbox genre covers dozens of different games.
Here’s our list of the best titles you could enjoy on console and PC.
Aloft released on Steam on January 15in early access, and our guides are accurate as of launch.
How you collect resources depends on which resource it is.
Youcan store specialized resources in baskets, but you cannot store anything else in a specialized resource stockpile.
I need an objective to stay interested.
Drop me in Minecraft and I’m turning it into an Ender Dragon speedrun.
In a true sandbox with no end point, I’ll usually go after Achievements or challenge runs.
Rock Salt
Use your pickax on Rock Salt deposits.
Stone
Use your pickax on any regular gray rock, or gather fallen stones on the ground.
Windstone
Use your pickax on any gray rock with blue accents.
Wood Storage
Charcoal
Use your ax to chop up any burned tree stumps you find.
Curved Plank
Refine on the Workbench.
Wooden Cog
Other Natural Resources
Dirty Water
Use the Gather button while standing in water of any kind.
Hardstone
Use your pickax on the large, square, black stone deposits you’ll find sporadically across islands.
Opal
Find in treasure chests, often in locked chests.
Okay, we get it Minecraft is the sandbox king.
Every Farming And Plant-Based Resource In Aloft
Leaf Storage
Leaves
Gather from fallen trees in any biome.
Small Plants
Use the scythe on wild plants, and gather them from fallen trees.
Other Plant-Based Resources
Flax
Use your scythe on the purplish blue flowers in Fallen Heights.
Glasswort
Use your scythe on the green and brown finger-like tendrils when you see them in the wild.
Mykter Fibre
Defeat monsters in combat, and break up fungus nodes left over after healing an ecosystem.
Reishi Mushroom
Gather from the bases of certain trees.
Waxed Rope
Combine two ropes and one wax on a Workbench.
Floral Resources
Azure Sky Blossoms
Gather from islands in the Fallen Heights during the day.
Brightsun Flower
Gather from islands in the Emerald Isles.
Purple Moonbloom
Rare grab from the island in Fallen Heights, only in bloom at night.
Yellow Moonbloom
Gather from islands in the Fallen Heights, only in bloom at night.
These co-op games are cozier than you’d think.
Feather
Occasional on islands with Pheasants.
Golden Feather
Rare drop on islands with Pheasants.
Honey
Collect from trees that have a beehive in Fallen Heights.
Manure
Dropped on the ground from most livestock.
Milk
Use a bucket on a female goat after feeding it.
Wax
Wool
Use shears on any sheep or alpaca after feeding it.
Animals with different patterns seem to produce the same wool.
Bug Resources
Bee
Gathered from trees that have a beehive.
