Blockchain-fueled metaverses are soaring in success and have attracted millions from around the globe. Mainly, to invite them to create a more robust and dominant virtual reputation and set foot in the digital age. Major brands from all over the world are also jumping on the bandwagon of the Web3-powered future where virtual worlds will be forming new realities.
Over the years, blockchain game developers gave birth to many metaverses, and The Sandbox is one of the most prominent ones. Aimed toward offering a decentralized virtual space for its users to freely use their imagination to build immersive gaming experiences, The Sandbox is revolutionizing the gaming spheres forever.
In the massive and immersive virtual world, players are equipped with the tools required to build exciting gaming projects and deploy them on the owned land parcels. This concept not only allows artists to make their ideas possible, but also opens up alleyways for them to earn monetary gains through their imaginative projects.
In this in-depth The Sandbox review, we’ll cover all the essentials that players must keep in mind for a successful campaign.
What is The Sandbox
The Sandbox is a virtual metaverse home to a plethora of decentralized land parcels which users can develop, trade, and monetize their owned virtual real estate using a variety of monetary means. The Sandbox is one of the fewest live metaverses based on the blockchain that is accessible to the public.
Built on the Ethereum blockchain, The Sandbox first started as a game-builder simulator that was available on Steam. Later in 2018, Animoca Brands, a tech giant within the blockchain industry, took over the title and moved it to the blockchain and built a gigantic metaverse where users can leverage the developing technology to mint virtual assets.
The Sandbox quickly rose to the ranks with its incredible in-game offerings which enabled like-minded people to come together to create exciting products and monetize them through tokenization. The economy of the metaverse is dependent on $SAND, the utility, and the governance token within the metaverse used for trading goods in The Sandbox marketplace.
Moreover, the land parcels owned by the users enable the users to curate the virtual land as they see fit. People could build different sorts of games and deploy them on their owned land parcels to attract crypto and non-crypto gamers alike which is an excellent aspect since non-crypto enthusiasts have been hesitant to try the metaverse.
Moreover, if top-notch games are deployed within the grid, people from every corner of the world will be forced to try the virtual world and get a taste of the next-level gaming which also utilizes the play-to-earn (P2E) feature and enable players to earn rewards for their contribution to the metaverse.
The Sandbox: Pros And Cons
The Sandbox is in its initial stages and since the Web3 interface is also in the developing stages, the metaverse has a long journey ahead of itself. While cryptocurrencies have matured enough to make up a sustainable economy, there are a few issues that plague blockchain technology and hinder it from reaching new heights of success.
Similarly, there are a few offerings from The Sandbox which leave its competitors in disarray but, at the same time, there are a few downsides of the metaverse as well which may have a negative impact on the user experiencing the metaverse for the very first time.
The Sandbox Advantages
One of the biggest advantages of The Sandbox is that it features a decentralized means of governance, meaning that SAND owners can control the policies and run the metaverse through decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). There’s no centralized authority that could influence the policies, instead, users will govern the metaverse themselves and have complete ownership over their digital assets.
All the non-fungible assets (NFTs) minted or owned by a user will have complete digital ownership over all their virtual assets. These assets could be deployed on the land parcels or used in the creation of P2E games as well as traded on The Sandbox marketplace to turn a profit. While there’s a regulatory process in the way which ensures that all the content adheres to the predefined policies to ensure that the content doesn’t hurt the sentiment of certain communities, the users are free to use their imagination to create games and integrate them into their owned virtual land.
Moreover, The Sandbox offers a lucrative means of earnings for its players. There are various play-to-earn (P2E) aspects within the metaverse that allow everyone to earn lucrative awards by engaging with the gameplay. Similarly, trading the assets created within the metaverse is another lucrative method of turning a profit since the minted assets are under the complete ownership of the users.
Another prominent aspect of The Sandbox is its support for cross-platform interoperability which would enable the users to utilize the blockchain technology to use their assets in other applications based on the blockchain system. While the system will need some time to mature, in the future, players will be able to shift and move around their owned virtual assets with other metaverses and P2E games.
The Sandbox Disadvantages
The Sandbox is in its pre-mature phase where the economy isn’t stable and while it may seem like a sustainable environment, the SAND token is yet to reach its full potential. Despite big names like Snoop Dogg partnering up with The Sandbox, the economy of the metaverse is yet to be fully matured.
Similarly, the metaverse is in its initial phases and it is plagued by various development and management issues as well. Firstly, the roadmap suggests that the complete implementation of the metaverse will require a couple of additional years and until then, the metaverse would be considered to be in the beta phase.
Secondly, for the metaverse to work under the DAO structure, the metaverse will require time to mature before it can be handed off to the users. And since many tokens were sold in private auctions and sales, there’s a chance that a specified group of people will be influencing the policies made using the DAOs since the SAND token holders have a greater say in the voting process.
Moreover, to get the footstep in the gigantic metaverse, a user has to spend a great chunk of money to utilize the lucrative opportunities available within the metaverse. Firstly, acquiring the SAND tokens and paying the gas fees is an expensive task and afterward, purchasing the land parcels, utilities, and in-game assets is another expense that most people won’t be able to bear.
Lastly, The Sandbox is focused on offering freedom to its players to enact sophisticated gaming experiences. For these experiences to be successful, plenty of funds are pushed into the marketing factor. While the metaverse offers opportunities to the artists to invest their time and money, they aren’t guaranteed lucrative feedback from the community.
What makes The Sandbox unique?
The sophisticated process of tokenizing the in-game assets and providing the users with the ability to utilize the assets as they see fit is one of the most prominent aspects of The Sandbox metaverse. Players are encouraged to be a part of the ecosystem and unlike a centralized means of governance, peer-to-peer trading is encouraged which further contributes to the lucrative opportunities.
Moreover, the unique gameplay of The Sandbox also makes it a hit among enthusiasts. The environment is stunning and the rewarding gameplay attracts crypto and non-crypto gamers alike. And since the project is backed by famous celebrities, non-enthusiasts are also attracted to the metaverse.
The Sandbox tokens
The Sandbox tokenomics are pretty easy to understand since the entire ecosystem is based on trading the supplies through three different tokens including Sand, Gem, and Catalyst.
SAND
SAND is the primary utility token used within The Sandbox ecosystem and it is an ERC-20 token that serves as the fungible token within the economy. Players must acquire SAND tokens to trade on the native marketplace and also for governance purposes.
SAND holders can influence the voting outcome taking place within the DAOs structure to get a final say in internal matters of the game. Moreover, SAND tokens are also used by the players to pay gas fees when uploading their 3D assets to the native marketplace.
SAND tokens have a limited supply of 3 billion with 30% of the tokens already in circulation. Players can navigate famous DEX like Binance to acquire SAND tokens and reap the rewards later on when the project is in its final phase and ready to be mainstreamed.
GEM
The second most used currency in The Sandbox economy, GEM is used to enhance the attributes of assets used in the game maker. It is an ERC-20 token with the ability to make the assets more valuable by contributing to their attributes. 1 single GEM token could add 25 attribute points to the overall statistics of the assets.
To The Sandbox users, GEM tokens are essential for those who’d like to achieve maximum functionality in their games. While burning the GEM tokens can be a complicated task, players can easily purchase these tokens from the native marketplace of The Sandbox.
CATALYST
The CATALYST is a mysterious currency within the ecosystem introduced by The Sandbox team that gets burned when a player mints new assets to enhance the rarity of the NFT which significantly contributes to its value. CATALYST is an ERC-20 token and using it also increases the slots for using the GEM tokens to improve the attributes of the assets.
We’re unsure how beneficial this token would be for the developers and how it will be acquired but, one thing is for certain CATALYST tokes will be one of the most scarce and valuable currencies within the ecosystem.
Can you earn money with The Sandbox?
The Sandbox is an immersive metaverse that offers countless lucrative opportunities for its players to make some profit. From flipping the land to trading unique assets on the marketplace, there are tons of opportunities for enthusiasts to make a living by investing their time in The Sandbox universe.
Creating Voxel ASSETs
The Voxel software provided to the users within the metaverse enables them to create sophisticated 3D elements and mint them into ASSET NFTs. The VoxEdit 3D-rendering application is accessible to the users of The Sandbox and it can be utilized to create, animate, and mint NFTs.
All the ASSETs made using the Voxel software can be sold on the marketplace to turn a profit. While the application is easy to use and doesn’t require an abundant knowledge of 3D rendering, there’s a huge demand in the market for pre-rendered ASSETs that can be deployed right away on the land parcels.
Artists and game developers could leverage this opportunity to create unique ASSETs which could include anything from a skyscraper to a tiny piece of home decoration. In the rapidly growing economy of the metaverse, ASSETs will be the most crucial element and for enthusiasts, trading such ASSETs would be quite lucrative in terms of monetary gains.
Monetize Experiences on LAND
Landowners can utilize the opportunity to deploy game experiences on their parcels and charge other players in the shape of entry fees and microtransactions. From advertising for major brands in the market to creating a fascinating gaming experience that intrigues people from all over the globe, there’s an opportunity for enthusiasts to earn lucrative rewards by monetizing their owned piece of the land parcel.
Moreover, while flipping the land for a profit is a decent strategy, utilizing the land for monetary gains in the long term is an even better idea. Once the concept of virtual worlds such as The Sandbox has penetrated the minds of non-enthusiasts, there would be countless opportunities to turn a profit from the metaverse.
Renting Out LAND
The Sandbox is equipped with peer-to-peer trading which allows land owners to lease their land parcels to other users and charge them rent in any way they desire. Since there’s a limited number of land parcels within the metaverse, newcomers will require a place to call home and in such scenarios, renting out your owned land parcels and estates could be extremely lucrative.
Renting your land to other users would also mean that the interested parties will be deploying fully functional games on the land parcels which would attract players and drive up the value of the land. For land owners who aren’t too keen on the hassle, renting out is a decent method to see some profits.
Giveaways
From time to time, The Sandbox team announces various $SAND token giveaways to its users. By interacting with the metaverse and completing all the prerequisites, players have a chance to get a piece of the reward pool. Last time, the developers announced a giveaway of 200k $SAND tokens, and hundreds of players who filled all the requirements enjoyed their rewards.
The earned $SAND tokens are redeemable and players can use an Ethereum-supported crypto wallet to receive the money in their real-life bank accounts. Although these giveaways take quite some time to arrive, the rewards provided by the developers are well worth the wait. These giveaways in The Sandbox ecosystem are one of the easiest methods of earning lucrative awards.
Ambassador Program
The developers of The Sandbox metaverse used an innovative method of marketing the metaverse to the world by introducing the Ambassador program. Enthusiasts can join the Ambassador Program and raise awareness about the metaverse and the plethora of interesting games within the metaverse.
Members of the program are dubbed the face and the voice of the metaverse and they’ll play a vital role in making the metaverse a success. While the Ambassador Program is closed to the public at the moment, enthusiasts could apply for it in the future to become the Ambassador of the metaverse and earn lucrative rewards in return.
What is the Best Wallet for The Sandbox?
The Sandbox features a native marketplace where users can trade the in-game assets but first, a user is required to create and connect a crypto wallet to The Sandbox ecosystem. Currently, The Sandbox supports MetaMask, Bitski, and Coinbase wallets. Among these, MetaMask is the best choice since it is the most safest and reliable option.
MetaMask is recognized globally by all the major Decentralized exchanges and aside from The Sandbox, MetaMask can be used with all the top-notch blockchain applications on the market. Another prominent aspect of MetaMask is that its easy-to-install plugin works on both PC and mobile phones which makes it truly the best wallet for The Sandbox.
How to Get Started with The Sandbox
To enter the immersive gaming metaverse of The Sandbox, the first step is to create an account on The Sandbox website using the MetaMask wallet. Next up, download The Sandbox Game Maker Alpha application and install it on your Windows or macOS-powered devices.
Once the application has successfully been installed on the operating system, players can launch The Sandbox application and log in using their credentials. Afterward, players can navigate the plethora of scenarios offered in the ‘Drafts Gallery’ tab and play the one they desire the most.
Upon joining the pre-rendered environment, players can interact with the various elements and engage with quests to earn in-game rewards and enjoy their time in well-built 3D games.
The Sandbox Gameplay: What can you do inside it?
Enthusiasts often wonder about the activities that players are allowed to do within the gigantic metaverse. Well, The Sandbox offers a playground for its users to do anything and everything within the metaverse. Whether its engaging with other metaverse-enthusiasts or raging the fight against a herd of enemies, there’s no limit to what a player is capable of inside the metaverse.
But, for those wondering, the following are some of the essential mechanics of The Sandbox metaverse:
Experience Unique Games
The Sandbox allows its developers to deploy unique and sophisticated games in the metaverse that gamers haven’t experienced before. Much like in Roblox, players can browse through a plethora of games and play unique titles to gain experience in some of the most sophisticated games ever developed.
Play Against AI
The pre-built game scenarios within The Sandbox metaverse allows its player to engage with the environment and play against AI to beat the challenges and complete various quests. Players could be using a sword and besieging a city or they could go all gun-blazing with an M16 in their arsenal. It’s up to the developers to design the levels sophisticated to enable players to take advantage of the game’s functionality and interact with as many in-game assets as possible.
Develop Games
The Sandbox game maker allows its users to create fascinating games and upload them on the metaverse for others to play. For those who cannot develop AAA titles in the real world due to a variety of reasons, The Sandbox offers them the opportunity to put their skills to good use.
Roam Around
The open-world nature of the virtual Sandbox map allows players to explore every inch of the metaverse and discover sophisticated creations of the developers. Each land parcel within the metaverse features a fascinating theme of its own to attract players and enthusiasts who love to roam around and learn the secrets of the universe and utilize the opportunity to cater to their desires.
Communicate with Other Users
Peer-to-Peer interaction is heavily emphasized by the developers and they have deployed various means of communication for players to utilize and engage with each other. Roaming around the gigantic metaverse could feel lonely at times but, there’s always an opportunity to meet enthusiasts in the virtual world and make your experience enjoyable.
Bottom Line
In a short span of time, The Sandbox managed to become the most popular metaverse within the blockchain space. Millions have invested their time and money into this NFT-based project and early investors are already reaping the rewards of their timely investments.
The Sandbox not only manages to attract crypto-enthusiasts but also appeals to mainstream gamers as well. While there are a few major issues plaguing the metaverse such as high gas fees and the fragile structure of decentralized governance, The Sandbox is most likely to be worth millions within the next couple of years.
FAQs
Is The Sandbox a good investment?
Initially, each land parcel in The Sandbox platform was sold for merely $48 dollars in 2019. However, the prices of these land parcels skyrocketed in a couple of years and now, the price of each land parcel in the metaverse is upwards of $5000. For those wondering, The Sandbox is without a doubt, an excellent investment.
Is Sandbox Play-to-Earn?
The ecosystem of The Sandbox rewards its users for engaging with the in-game elements of the metaverse, making it a play-to-earn (P2E) NFT-based application. In the metaverse, players get awarded with $SAND tokens for completing various quests and daily objectives within the metaverse. These $SAND tokens can be redeemed in your pocket for real-world monies.
How does Sandbox make money?
The Sandbox makes lucrative earnings by selling fungible and non-fungible tokens to its users. Everything from land sales to premium NFTs to gas fees, there are many factors that contribute to the earning of the metaverse. Moreover, The Sandbox has partnered up with some of the biggest names in the industry including Atari, Snoop Dogg, Galaxy Interactive, and many more.
Is The Sandbox popular?
The Sandbox is the most popular metaverse based on blockchain technology. An estimated 1 million players actively engage with the metaverse each month, making The Sandbox the most popular metaverse on the market. Even though the metaverse has a long road ahead of it in terms of functionality and decentralization, The Sandbox is already soaring in success and attracting players from all over the globe.
