What Is Sandbox?

Introduction

The gaming industry is investing more resources in moving its products to the blockchain, particularly in the establishment of metaverses to enhance the game experience. The popularity of metaverse games soared following Facebook's rebranding as "Meta" in October 2021. Blockchain-based metaverses alter how people interact with one another, and reshape the ownership of digital goods in-game. The Sandbox is a popular blockchain game project that offers players a unique virtual experience. It enables users to contribute to gaming objects and virtual land using non-fungible tokens (NFTs), allowing them to express their ideas. The Sandbox is a game virtual world built on the Ethereum blockchain. Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, let players to create, control, and sell their game experiences. Regarding our utility token.

Non-fungible Token (NFT)

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are cryptographic tokens that represent a single asset. Tokenized representations of digital or physical assets are used in NFTs. Within a blockchain network, they serve as verifiable proofs of legitimacy and ownership. NFTs are incompatible and introduce scarcity into the digital domain. Fungibility is the quality of an object whose constituent components may be swapped out and are essentially interchangeable. For instance, all fiat money is fungible. For a medium of exchange to work, every individual unit must to be interchangeable with every other identical individual unit. You can swap a genuine one-dollar bill for another one. Unique digital goods and collectibles can be created and owned using decentralized applications (DApps) and NFTs. Although NFTs can be exchanged in public markets that bring buyers and sellers together, it's crucial to remember that each NFT has a distinct value. Various frameworks have been created to help in the issue of NFTs. ERC-721 is the most significant, since it is a standard for the issue and exchange of non-fungible assets on the Ethereum blockchain. ERC-1155 is a more current, enhanced standard that permits both fungible and non-fungible tokens to be included in the same contract.

The standardization of NFTs allows for increased interoperability, allowing for the easy transfer of unique assets between applications. NFTs have the potential to play a significant role in a new blockchain-based digital economy. They have the potential to be employed in a wide range of sectors, including video games, digital identification, licensing, certifications, and fine art, and they may even allow for partial ownership of objects. Storing ownership and identifying data on the blockchain would increase data integrity and privacy while also lowering commerce and global economic friction.

If you’d like to read more on NFTs, check out our Blockchain Use Cases: Game article

What is the Sandbox?

The Sandbox is a blockchain game in which players use non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum blockchain to create a virtual world. Avatars may be created by players in order to access The Sandbox metaverse's numerous games, locations, and hubs. Consider it a DeFi-powered blockchain version of Minecraft. Pixowl introduced The Sandbox in 2011 to compete with Minecraft as a mobile game platform. With over 40 million downloads, it became an international success. However, in 2018, co-founders Arthur Madrid and Sebastien Borget decided to study the potential of building a blockchain-based 3D metaverse.Their goal was to provide users with the ability to truly own their creations as NFTs and earn rewards while participating in this ecosystem. The new Sandbox project, along with Axie Infinity and Decentraland, was released in 2020 and quickly became one of the fastest-growing games in the crypto world.

In November 2021, Sandbox got $93 million in investment from investors led by Japanese mobile giant SoftBank. Over 50 partnerships were also formed for the game, including Atari, a well-known gaming company, CryptoKitties, Adidas, Snoop Dogg, and The Walking Dead.

Image from The Sandbox website

How does The Sandbox work?

Sandbox operates as a virtual environment that is independent of your computer and network. It's essentially a closed testing environment. Sandboxes, for example, are used by software developers to test new codes and avoid programming errors. Sandboxes are used in information security to test and run malicious programs. In practice, a sandbox executes files, attachments, URLs, and programs to determine whether they are malicious or not. Simply put, a sandbox is a secure area where files, attachments, URLs, and programmes can be tested before being delivered to the end user.

This verification typically takes anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. The primary benefit is that whatever happens in the sandbox stays in the sandbox. Because of this, as well as its high analysis capacity, the sandbox becomes a useful weapon against zero-day exploits, which are malicious threats that have not yet been identified by security software. The Sandbox is a dynamic virtual world filled with user-generated creations. Using VoxEdit and Game Maker, players can build and create their own NFTs such as avatars, virtual goods, and even games. They can not only use the virtual goods to interact with other players, but they can also monetize these NFTs by trading them on the Sandbox Marketplace.

VoxEdit

VoxEdit is a 3D modeling and animation program that can be used to create voxel-based assets for The Sandbox, a gaming platform where users can create, sell, and buy game assets, create and play video games, and invest in the blockchain-powered metaverse.

VoxEdit is a simple software that allows artists and players to create, rig, and animate voxel-based NFTs. They can be quickly modified in VoxEdit to form various shapes. Users can, for example, design avatar-oriented equipment such as clothing or weapons, as well as animals, greenery, game tools, and goods to use in The Sandbox. As NFTs, these virtual goods can be exported and traded on the Sandbox Marketplace.

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The Sandbox Game Maker

Game Maker allows users to create and test their own 3D games within the Sandbox metaverse. It is a simple program that does not require any coding knowledge. In the LAND environment, users can design and organize various elements and objects, including the NFTs created with VoxEdit. They may, for example, change the environment, install characters and structures, and curate quests from the resource library generated by the community. They may also show off their work to the rest of the Sandbox community.

The Sandbox Marketplace

The Sandbox Marketplace, which debuted in April 2021, is an NFT marketplace where players may exchange in-game assets (ASSETS) for SAND, The Sandbox's native cryptocurrency. Using Game Maker, the ASSETS gained may then be mixed with LAND to create new games. These NFTs can be creatures, structures, wearables, or other items that can be utilized in The Sandbox.

The Sandbox's ecosystem, as previously stated, provides numerous distinct tokens for players to use to engage with the platform, including SAND, LAND, and ASSETS.

What is Sandbox (SAND)?

Sandbox (SAND) is the native token of The Sandbox. It is an ERC-20 token with a 3 billion SAND circulation supply.

SAND is a utility token that can be utilized in any Sandbox ecosystem transaction or activity. This means that in order to play the game, design avatars, purchase LANDs, or exchange ASSETS on the Sandbox Marketplace, users must have SAND. SAND is a governance token as well. Using a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) structure, SAND holders can propose and vote on platform changes. Holders can also stake SAND within the game to gain perks such as a portion of all SAND token transactions. Most significantly, staking SAND enhances your chances of discovering precious gems and catalysts, which are game materials needed to create rarer items.

You can buy SAND on crypto exchanges like Binance. 

What Are Assets?

ASSETS are NFTs created by users. They are VoxEdit voxel assets that are uploaded to The Sandbox Marketplace and converted into NFTs for sale. In the game, ASSETS can be used in a number of ways. They can be physical assets, such as a building, a moving animal, or a car. They can also be used to outfit or arm avatars. ASSETS can be designed to provide unique gaming experiences for those creating games in Game Maker.

What Is Land?

LAND is a type of digital real estate in The Sandbox platform. It is a unique ERC-721 token on the Ethereum network. Players can purchase LANDS and use the Game Maker tool to create their own versions of games using ASSETS. They can also combine multiple LANDs to form an ESTATE, with a maximum size of 24x24. Players can monetize their gaming experience with LAND.They can, for example, charge other players who visit their LAND or play their games, earn SAND rewards by hosting content and events, or possibly rent out or sell their personalised LAND. There are 166,464 LANDs altogether in the Sandbox.The Sandbox contains a total of 166,464 LANDs. They are available for purchase with SAND and ether (ETH) via public LAND sales. You can also buy LAND from other users on The Sandbox Marketplace and NFT platforms like OpenSea, but the prices will most likely be higher than the official public sales.

Summary

I hope you now understand what is Sandbox.