Sandbox / crafting / building games

[Ave07]

Tropico 3, it has a Latin American setting during the 50s when Communism was taking over has it all buildings, economy, foreign relations with the U.S or USSR.

*edit* just saw your post about it, there is however a Sandbox option with out doing missions and free play if that is what you are looking for.

[Deleted]

Crafting game is all about crafting and building. You start with nothing, search for and collect raw materials, craft tools, construct buildings and lots of different goods.

Which is exactly what Minecraft is, not the CLASSIC game, that's just unlimited blocks to build whatever, Minecraft Survival is the one you want. You spawn in a world with nothing at all, like your shipwrecked, then you begin by gathering raw materials, dirt, sand etc, punch some trees for wood, craft basic tools which then allows you to mine for rarer raw materials and so forth, but beware, once night time comes monsters come out so you can't dawdle to much on your first day, you will need to build a basic shelter. One you get the idea you can start building amazing things, anything your creativity can imagine, from amazing castles, to pixel art, to 1:1 scale starship enterprises to a working 8 bit computer. There's no economy though, but you can farm crops, kill monsters, kill animals, mine for iron, gold and diamonds, single player or with friends.

[Knuffelbert]

Anno was already mentioned, so I'm going to mention settlers. While most parts of the series are okay to good I would recommend part 2 (settlers 2 the next generation has vastly improved graphics and some minor convenient features) and settlers 7 , which has some interesting things.

I liked railroad tycoon for some reason. Heroes of might and magic might fall in your desired genre category as well (sort of).

I'm not sure if the Gothic series would fit as well.

[Wilian]

Caesar 3 is quite awesome, so is Settlers 2 Anniversary and Settlers 3. Anno 1404 is amazing aswell and The Guild-games (These have rather steep learning curve) are entertaining too. Minecraft Survival, not to be messed up with classic, would fit aswell as others has pointed out. Sid Meier's Simgolf is relaxing builder game for some casual fun aswell.

[Gaspode]

Mmm, I remember that in Stronghold you could free-build to your hearts content, getting an economy up and running while building your castle. After you finish your build, you can schedule an invasion and see how your castle holds up...

[Deleted]

Capitalism (I or II) : very old games, but sandbox + crafting. (You can find a Windows 7 version at gog)

[Deleted]

EarthRise has a tone of crafting,. but the game is miles away from Being finished yet

[procne]

I've tried beta version of minecraft and it was as I expected. There was a bit of crafting to make some tools and armor, but after 1 hour all that was left was moving blocks around.

All other aspects (farming, cooking, crafting, hunting) are so simplified that it's utterly boring

[Viperdream]

Try one of the anno games, they are quite fun. It's basically what you are looking for

I recommend anno 1404 is the latest one and the best one imo

[Deleted]

Strange how no one has mentioned Runescape:P

[Deleted]

i used to go on minecraft quite a lot :S yeah sad but then i found one called "terraria" it is awesome !!! it may be in 2d but you can craft ANYTHING !!! guns, swords, bombs and theres loads of things you can do as well. build a house, get an npc to move in all while defending against slimes, zombies, harpies and more !!!

[PACOX]

i used to go on minecraft quite a lot :S yeah sad but then i found one called "terraria" it is awesome !!! it may be in 2d but you can craft ANYTHING !!! guns, swords, bombs and theres loads of things you can do as well. build a house, get an npc to move in all while defending against slimes, zombies, harpies and more !!!

Took this long for someone to mention Terraria?

I am disappointed people.

[KingMMO]

Took this long for someone to mention Terraria?

I am disappointed people.

Me too.

Anyway, Terraria is full of crafting and it sounds just what you want. You start with crappy weapons and a guide NPC who gives you advice but no help in
combat, even slime's can hurt you quite a bit. So what do you have to do? Explore, Dig, and Craft better swords, armor, guns, bows, potions, etc.
Like Minecraft zombies spawn during the night so you need to build a home, although most other monsters always spawn. There is also Boss battles and
events. (example: Goblin attack, Blood moon (Increases Spawn rate and zombies can break down doors))

Look up a few videos to see if you like it, its only $10 for quite a few hours of entertanment.

[procne]

I've seen some Terraria videos and it seemes a bit too concentrated on fighting and building new and better weapons. A bit like runescape - lots of skills and crafting but in the end they all serve one thing - being better fighter. I found a game called "Dwarfs?!" on steam as well, but sadly have problems with running it.
Tried Eve online as well and it gives lots of choices and deep / complex economy but it's kinda grindy with complicated interface, lots of clicking and not very interactive

[Doirdyn]

Me too.

Anyway, Terraria is full of crafting and it sounds just what you want. You start with crappy weapons and a guide NPC who gives you advice but no help in
combat, even slime's can hurt you quite a bit. So what do you have to do? Explore, Dig, and Craft better swords, armor, guns, bows, potions, etc.
Like Minecraft zombies spawn during the night so you need to build a home, although most other monsters always spawn. There is also Boss battles and
events. (example: Goblin attack, Blood moon (Increases Spawn rate and zombies can break down doors))

Look up a few videos to see if you like it, its only $10 for quite a few hours of entertanment.

I'd say countless hours. If you don't cheat, you can easily get 15+ hours of entertainment before you "plateau" gear-wise

[KingMMO]

I'd say countless hours. If you don't cheat, you can easily get 15+ hours of entertainment before you "plateau" gear-wise

"Quite a few hours" is an figure of speech that basically means "quite a while", Sorry I figured people knew that. But anyway yes the game will give you 20+ hours.

[Flanteus]

Civ 5, Stronghold?

I'm waiting on MMO with heavy crafting system myself.... or Diablo 3, right now I'm playing Anno 1404 (next one is 2070) again trying out new scenarios I didn't play last time.

[procne]

Civ 5, Stronghold?

I'm waiting on MMO with heavy crafting system myself.... or Diablo 3, right now I'm playing Anno 1404 (next one is 2070) again trying out new scenarios I didn't play last time.

The only MMOs with heavy crafting system that come to my mind are Wurm and Haven&Hearth. Creators of the latter are working on commercial game similar to H&H which supposedly will be released near the end of this year - Salem.

[Specops]

The Settlers 7? I've been wanting to pick it up, but Steam hasn't had it on sale for a reasonable price lately.

Also, MO has a free 14-day trial...

[Doirdyn]

The only MMOs with heavy crafting system that come to my mind are Wurm and Haven&Hearth. Creators of the latter are working on commercial game similar to H&H which supposedly will be released near the end of this year - Salem.

They are? But they consider H&H in Alpha =|

I tried HnH after reading this thread, but it's so laggy at times, and I feel so hopeless and without direction in what to do