Games That Let You Engineer Wild Contraptions The Developers Never Planned For

Gamers love a challenge and constantly strive to overcome obstacles. A frustratingly difficult trophy list often motivates players to earn that Platinum, as long as it’s actually achievable. Similarly, when a game offers many ways to customize a character or strategy, players are driven to explore all the possibilities and maximize their power.

Sandbox games really push the boundaries of creativity. Because they let you do almost anything, players often treat that freedom as a challenge. This means that when these games include building or crafting, players frequently come up with creations far more complex – or just plain silly – than the game designers ever intended.

7. The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom

What Did Those Koroks Ever Do To Us?

Similar to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom offers a fantastic, expansive, and immersive open world. However, it was important to make this new game feel unique, not just a repeat of what made the 2017 game so successful. A key addition was the Ultrahand ability, letting Link combine objects. It starts simple – like building a quick raft or adding a motor for speed. But players soon discovered that with enough effort, they could create almost anything they imagined.

Immediately after the game launched, social media filled with videos of players launching poor Koroks into the air using rockets, robots, and other funny creations. While open-world games often let players get sidetracked for hours, it’s unusual to see that side content involve quite this much… launching.

6. No Man’s Sky

Design Your Own Spaceship

Since its release in 2016, No Man’s Sky has been updated many times, but the Voyagers update is considered one of the most significant. While it included smaller improvements like suit adjustments, the update dramatically improved the game’s multiplayer experience. The introduction of Corvette ships was a game-changer, letting players stick together and explore the universe in a stunning new vessel. What’s truly special is that players can design and customize these ships themselves.

Soon, players were building spaceships inspired by iconic vessels like the Millennium Falcon, the Nostromo from Alien, and the TARDIS, along with many other classic sci-fi designs. It’s incredibly satisfying to recreate these ships, but even more rewarding to create something completely original. With a wide variety of parts available, the possibilities for unique and outlandish ships of all shapes and sizes are nearly limitless. Don’t forget to focus on getting the best upgrades for your Corvette!

5. Minecraft

If You Can Imagine It, You Can Build It

Since it first launched, Minecraft has always been about mining resources, constructing things, and then repeating the process. Like No Man’s Sky, the game has received many updates over the years, constantly adding new ways to do just that. But for the more technically-minded players, the addition of redstone was arguably the most important update. Redstone, introduced early in the game’s development, lets players power the structures and machines they create.

Mojang, the creators of Minecraft, likely didn’t anticipate the complex and often whimsical redstone contraptions players would build. While the game frequently requires gathering resources, it’s helpful to have machines that can automate those tasks. However, players often prioritize building purely for fun – things like bouncy castles – instead of practical tools. This playful approach is a key part of what makes Minecraft so creatively engaging and keeps players constantly finding new ways to express themselves.

4. Trailmakers

A Ludicrous Vehicle Building Simulator

Trailmakers is essentially a game focused entirely on building and customizing vehicles, much like the vehicle customization feature in No Man’s Sky, but expanded to be the main gameplay. In Sandbox mode, players select a map and use a wide range of parts to construct their own unique vehicle. Once built, they can drive, fly, or sail it around to explore and collect items. The game also features a competitive racing mode and a story-driven campaign.

What makes Trailmakers unique is its realistic physics engine. Builders need to consider this throughout the game – vehicles will behave as you’d expect in the real world. Uneven weight distribution will cause tipping, and elements like water and air will affect performance. While there are tons of parts to choose from and building is easy, you’ll also need to think about how physics will impact your creations.

3. Besiege

Make The Deadliest Contraptions Imaginable

Unlike many vehicle-building games, Besiege focuses on destruction. The goal isn’t just to build vehicles, but to create powerful siege engines designed to break through enemy defenses. The game offers incredible freedom, letting players move beyond simple catapults and siege towers to build elaborate and terrifying creations like flaming battering rams and multi-barreled cannons.

It’s incredibly rewarding to build things, whether they’re real-world objects or creations within a game. But there’s also a unique release in watching things fall apart, and the game Besiege lets you do both. The satisfaction of carefully building a machine and then demolishing a tower of knights with it is endlessly enjoyable.

2. Kerbal Space Program

Take Your Imagination To Infinity And Beyond

People have always dreamed of space travel, and the game Kerbal Space Program lets you live out that dream. It’s similar to games like Trailmakers and No Man’s Sky because you design and build spacecraft, then use realistic physics to make sure your missions succeed. You’ll be guiding the Kerbals, a curious green alien race, as they explore their solar system – and it’s up to you to build the rockets that take them there!

Building spaceships by connecting parts is incredibly rewarding, and you have complete freedom to customize every detail. It’s easy to learn, and many players will enjoy the creative freedom of the sandbox mode, pushing the limits of design while still achieving liftoff. If you prefer a challenge, Career mode lets you manage a full space program, carefully budgeting resources to research new tech and build relationships with companies. The game offers a surprising amount of complexity, but you can dive in as deeply as you like – or just enjoy the simple fun of building and flying.

1. Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

A New Direction For A Beloved Series

As we know, games where players build their own vehicles often lead to unpredictable and messy fun. That’s certainly the case with Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, a game that unfortunately didn’t resonate with fans. While changing the series’ genre and character designs was a risky move, Rare definitely took a creative chance with this one.

Banjo and Kazooie face off against Gruntilda and her helpers in a series of challenging races to save Spiral Mountain. This kicks off a big quest to collect parts and upgrades, improving both Banjo and Kazooie’s skills and their vehicles. The game encourages you to try different combinations – even if your final creation looks silly, it needs to handle well!

2026-01-03 14:35