The Sandbox review (iOS / Universal)
July 17, 2012♫ “Exit light, enter night, grain of sand…”
10 word description: Create or destroy your own universe. Story and Free modes.
10 word review: Original and interesting god game. IAPs annoy more than usual.
You will like this if you enjoy: Construction, destruction and throwing money at pixels in order to progress.
The good news: Original gameplay. Impressive elemental & physics effects. Free mode unlocks very early.
The bad news: I hit the IAP wall on puzzle 13 in story mode. I needed snow (for the puzzle) which costs 2000 mana to unlock and I only have 640. Options – wait days to earn enough free mana or start spending money on it.
Arcadelife verdict: If you’re happy unlocking a few elements and playing around with those in free mode while you wait (days) to acquire enough mana to progress through story mode, then you won’t have a problem with this game. If you are very good at drawing on a touch screen with your finger then I think you will enjoy messing around with The Sandbox. Finally, if you’re happy throwing real money at this game then, again, you will probably enjoy it, although I am not recommending that course of action.
The odd mix of artistic landscaping and science project is a good concept for a game. Personally, I wish this was not a freemium game as I’d be happy to spend money once on a version that didn’t have any IAPs.
Arcadelife rating
Visuals – 7.5/10
Audio – 8/10
Controls – 8/10
Content – 7/10
Fun – 7/10
Final rating – 75/100
Rating categories explained here.
Version reviewed by Arcadelife is 1.04
BulkyPix / The Sandbox website link
