Which type of video games do you prefer? Do you like to create and explore new worlds? Or perhaps you like to play sports? Or maybe you prefer something more action-packed, where you can battle an army of zombies? In the Sandbox, you can do all these things, and more!
The Sandbox is a decentralized metaverse built on top of the Ethereum blockchain. It has many features in common with the popular Minecraft game. Both worlds use voxel graphics; both encourage players to create new items and structures; and both provide players with access to resources like land, lava, and water.
Full property rights set Sandbox apart from traditional games. When someone joins Sandbox and buys a piece of real estate, they receive an NFT representing a claim to the land. The same thing goes for in-game items.
Thanks to the decentralized nature of the Ethereum blockchain, neither the creators of Sandbox nor anyone else can take away land from a user. Ethereum was, after all, created by Vitalik Buterin shortly after World of Warcraft developers intervened to weaken his prize “warlock” character!
One of the most disruptive elements of Sandbox is that users can create new items using the voxel editor, mint them as an ERC1155 token, and then sell them on the Sandbox marketplace. This means it’s the players who are financially rewarded for their creativity, and not simply the producers of the game.
There are 166,464 unique plots of land in the Sandbox universe. Each plot of virtual land measures 96 x 96 meters. Since the game is never going to create more land, it makes the existing parcels scarce and valuable. When a player combines multiple plots of land into one larger parcel, it’s referred to as an estate.
landowners can build things like museums and art galleries on their plots, and can choose to monetize the experience they create by charging admission to visitors.
Digital art galleries showcasing NFTs is one of Sandbox’s most exciting use cases, along with live concerts inside the Metaverse. Rapper Snoop Dogg recently dropped 10,000 playable “Doggie” avatars into the game, and has hosted private parties and shows.
Even if some events are invite-only, anyone can join the Sandbox and walk around the virtual world for free. However, to fully participate in the universe, a player needs to buy a piece of land. Only players with land can create new items and sell them in the Sandbox marketplace.
If you want to get involved in the Sandbox economy, you’ll need to know the difference between SAND and ASSET tokens. SAND is the official currency of the Sandbox, and players can use SAND to buy in-game items and purchase new land. SAND coins can also be staked to earn passive income. The second Sandbox-based coin is the ASSET token.
ASSET is a term that refers to all of the in-game items people create and upload to the marketplace. Recent developments are dominated by “play-to-create” initiatives from third parties. Custom-built estates from partners like Ubisoft invite users to get involved and help build their own original experiences within the game.
No comments yet