The Sandbox
Do you enjoy building games and virtual worlds rather than just playing them? The Sandbox is a creator-focused metaverse platform where players own plots of virtual land and use browser-based tools to build and publish their own experiences. Developed by Pixowl and backed by Animoca Brands, it runs on Ethereum with its own SAND token economy and has accumulated over 8 million registered users since launch.
What is The Sandbox?
The Sandbox is developed by Pixowl, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, and originally launched as a mobile game before transitioning to a blockchain-based metaverse in 2020. The platform raised $115 million across five funding rounds and counts Warner Music Group, Ubisoft, Gucci, Atari, and Snoop Dogg among its 400+ brand and IP partners. Animoca Brands took a more direct operational role in mid-2025, with Robby Yung stepping in as CEO and the team consolidating around its core platform priorities.
Season 7 launched on February 25, 2026, backed by $53,000 in SAND rewards, with a notable shift toward community-generated content: over 50% of featured experiences now come from player-built submissions through Game Jams and VoxEdit competitions rather than in-house or brand productions. Season 7 also introduced browser-based play for select experiences, removing the download requirement for the first time.
How Does The Sandbox Work?
Three tools form the creation layer. VoxEdit is a free 3D modeling application for building voxel-based characters, items, and environments, which can be minted as NFTs and listed on the marketplace. Game Maker is a no-code game development environment where creators design interactive experiences using drag-and-drop logic, publish them to their LAND, and make them accessible to other players. The Game Client is what players use to explore and play published experiences across the map.
LAND is the core asset type: a fixed-size plot in a map of 166,464 total parcels. Players build on their LAND or lease it to other creators. During Alpha Seasons, featured experiences are spotlighted across the platform and come with SAND rewards for players who complete quests inside them. Season 5 in early 2025 featured Jurassic World and Teletubbies; Season 6 ran mid-2025; Season 7 adds brands including Atari, Bruce Lee, Terminator, Black Mirror, and Steve Aoki alongside the UGC-led content push.
Game Maker 0.12, released in August 2025, added dynamic NPCs, matchmaking lobbies, and cross-platform multiplayer logic, giving creators the tools to build competitive game modes rather than just exploration experiences.
Digital Collectibles in The Sandbox
LAND, ASSETs, and Avatars are all ERC-1155 NFTs on Ethereum, tradable on the Sandbox marketplace or OpenSea. LAND parcels vary in value by location and proximity to high-traffic areas or brand estates. ASSETs are the individual voxel items creators build in VoxEdit, which can be sold directly or bundled into experiences.
SAND is the native ERC-20 token on Ethereum, with a secondary presence on Polygon and, since December 2025, on Base via Coinbase’s L2 network. SAND powers marketplace transactions, staking, governance through The Sandbox DAO, and creator grants. The DAO approved 38 grants totalling 200,000 USDC to creators across 20 countries in 2025.
SANDchain is a dedicated Layer 2 network built on ZKsync, announced in September 2025. Its testnet is live with mainnet scheduled for 2026. It supports SAND, SAND Points, Creator Points, and Creator Tokens, designed to make transactions cheaper and faster for creators building and monetizing at scale.
Getting Started in The Sandbox
Download the Game Client free at sandbox.game for Windows or Mac. Selected Season 7 experiences also run in-browser with no account required, which is the lowest-friction entry point available. To earn SAND rewards, create an account and complete quests during active Alpha Seasons. VoxEdit and Game Maker are free to download separately for creators. LAND ownership is required to publish experiences; parcels are available on the Sandbox marketplace and OpenSea. Connect a MetaMask or other Ethereum-compatible wallet to manage NFTs and SAND.
Watch The Sandbox in Action
Here’s The Sandbox 101 — a quick overview of how the platform works, from LAND ownership to building and playing experiences.
Where to Go Next
- Explore more metaverse games.
- Learn about blockchain gaming in our FAQ Library.
- Browse all NFT games.