Biggest Upcoming Sandbox Games

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Sandbox games are all about giving players freedom. While the genre includes many different types of games, they all focus on letting you control your own experience. You’re placed in a world where your choices matter, and you can change things through building, exploring, customizing, and interacting with everything around you. For players who love to be creative, there’s a huge variety of fantastic games to choose from, like Minecraft, RimWorld, Project Zomboid, Factorio, and many more.

Looking ahead to 2026, there are some really promising sandbox games on the horizon. We’ll be highlighting a diverse range of titles, including open-world survival games, life simulation games, and more. While this isn’t a complete list of everything coming out, these are definitely the most anticipated releases. Exact release dates aren’t available for all of them yet, but they’re currently expected to launch sometime in 2026.

Outbound

From A Camper Van To Something More

If you enjoy cozy sandbox games, check out Outbound. It’s an open-world survival crafting game with a fun twist: instead of starting with nothing, you begin with a camper van! This lets you easily move around and explore the different environments before finding the perfect place to settle down. With several biomes to discover, exploring is key to a good start.

In this game, you’ll get to personalize a charming, old-fashioned van and fill it with everything you need by collecting materials – just like in other survival crafting games. You can grow plants, cook food, decorate to your heart’s content, and more. The really great part is you can play with up to four friends! If exploring the colorful world alone doesn’t appeal to you, team up with your friends to unlock all the technology needed to build and power up your van quickly. The game is currently planned for release around the second quarter of 2026.

Witchbrook

Magically Witchy Life Sim Sandbox

If you love Stardew Valley, you’ll probably be really excited about Witchbrook! This new life simulation and sandbox game is made by the same creators of Starbound and Eastward (Chucklefish). Instead of farming, you play as a student at a college for witches and join a coven. Like Stardew Valley, it features a cozy, unique town filled with interesting characters you can befriend – and maybe even find romance with!

The game will let you create a completely unique character and personalize a charming cottage with its own garden. You’ll play as a witch, learning everything from casting spells to performing rituals and practicing alchemy. It sounds incredibly cozy, and the pixel art is beautiful! While it’s not a completely open-ended sandbox game, the promised level of customization suggests it will be very popular, especially with the option to play with up to four friends. There’s no confirmed release date yet, but the developers are aiming for a 2026 launch.

Solarpunk

Skyblock Just Got Real

Remember the popular Minecraft mode Skyblock? If you enjoyed building on a small floating island, you should check out Solarpunk. It’s a new open-world survival game where you can build anything, anywhere, on a network of gorgeous floating islands. Find the perfect scenic spot and start creating! The game has a bright, cheerful style similar to Outbound, and you can even play it with friends in co-op.

I’m really excited about Solarpunk! What immediately grabbed me is that everything runs on solar power – you build all sorts of awesome machines and keep your base going purely with the sun. It’s got a lot of that satisfying, technical automation gameplay where you can design really intricate farms, which is cool. Plus, there are animals, which reminds me a lot of Stardew Valley, and I love that! But it’s not just about settling down; you’ll need to use your airship to explore new islands and get better resources so you can build even more complex stuff. There’s no firm release date yet, but you can try the demo on Steam now, and hopefully it comes out around 2026 as planned!

Paralives

A New Player Appears In The Life Sim Genre

Everyone’s been eagerly awaiting Paralives, a delightful life simulation game created by Alex Massé and their team. While the Early Access release has been delayed – understandably, given the small team and limited resources – the game still looks very promising. If you’ve played life sims like The Sims or inZOI, you’ll quickly recognize familiar elements, including robust character and building modes, and a lively gameplay experience. Whether you love designing unique characters or simply enjoy building your dream home, Paralives offers something for every fan of the genre, and it’s particularly impressive coming from an independent studio.

Players will have tons of creative freedom with a wide variety of decorations, furniture, and building tools. The building system is completely freeform, offering a refreshing change for those familiar with grid-based building in games like The Sims. But it’s not just about building! You can also watch your characters live their lives, experiencing everything from love and loss to challenges and triumphs, and even influence their stories. The game includes unique features, like the ability to adjust character heights, that you won’t find in other life simulation games. It’s a truly open-ended life-sim sandbox with something for everyone.

Subnautica 2

Time To Dive Back Into These Depths

It’s currently unclear what the future holds for the Subnautica series, especially with the recent issues surrounding KRAFTON. However, I’m hopeful that the next installment will be great. Originally planned for 2025, the game’s Early Access release has been delayed to sometime in 2026. From what we’ve seen, Subnautica 2 will likely be similar to the first game—you’ll be stranded on an alien ocean planet and have to explore the underwater environment, possibly to find a way to escape.

The best part of games like this is the challenge of lasting as long as possible, taking your time instead of rushing to finish. You can rebuild your underwater base, create new equipment, and unlock better technology while learning about the creatures around you – using that familiar scanner, of course. And yes, that includes the scary ones! The Leviathans are coming back, so if you’re afraid of the ocean, be prepared.

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2026-02-05 20:13