TL;DR

The Sandbox is a play-to-earn game that combines blockchain, DeFi and NFT technology in a 3D metaverse. This game is a virtual world that allows players to create and customize their games and digital assets with free design tools. Then, the virtual items created can be monetized as NFTs and sold for SAND tokens on The Sandbox Marketplace.

The SAND token is the native token of The Sandbox. This token is used as the basis for all transactions and interactions in the game. SAND can be earned by playing games and contests on The Sandbox or purchased on cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Binance.


Introduction

The gaming industry is investing more resources in bringing their projects on the blockchain, especially in creating metaverses to enhance the gaming experience. Following Facebook's rebranding to “Meta” in October 2021, metaverse games saw a surge in popularity. Metaverse on the blockchain is changing the way people interact with each other and changing the meaning of owning digital assets in games. One of the most popular game projects that offers players a unique virtual experience is The Sandbox. The game unleashes players' creativity by allowing them to contribute to game items and virtual lands that are all based on non-fungible tokens (NFTs).



What is The Sandbox?

The Sandbox is a play-to-earn blockchain game that allows players to build virtual worlds using non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum blockchain. Players can design their own avatars to access various games, environments, and hubs in The Sandbox metaverse. This game can be considered a DeFi version of Minecraft on the blockchain.

The Sandbox, launched in 2011 by Pixowl, was originally a gaming platform intended to rival Minecraft. The game was a hit and generated more than 40 million downloads worldwide. However, in 2018, co-founders Arthur Madrid and Sebastien Borget decided to explore the potential of creating a 3D metaverse on blockchain. Their goal is to allow users to truly own their own creations as NFTs and earn rewards while participating in this ecosystem. The new Sandbox project was released in 2020 and became one of the fastest growing games in the crypto world along with Axie Infinity and Decentraland.

In November 2021, The Sandbox raised $93 million in funding from investors led by Japanese mobile giant SoftBank. The game also attracted more than 50 partnerships, including Atari, gaming company CryptoKitties, The Walking Dead, and hip-hop star Snoop Dogg.

Image from The Sandbox website


How does The Sandbox work?

The Sandbox is a dynamic virtual world with user-generated creations. Players can build and create their own NFTs, including avatars, virtual goods, and even games using VoxEdit and Game Maker. In addition to being able to use virtual items to interact with other players, players can monetize these NFTs by trading on the Sandbox Marketplace.


VoxEdit

VoxEdit is user-friendly software for artists and gamers to create, mount, and animate voxel-based NFTs. Voxels are square 3D pixels that resemble Lego blocks. These pixels can be quickly edited in VoxEdit to create various shapes. For example, users can create avatar-oriented equipment, such as clothes or weapons, or design animals, plants, gaming tools, and items for use in The Sandbox. Then, these virtual items can be exported and traded on the Sandbox Marketplace as NFTs.

Image from The Sandbox website


Game Maker

Game Maker allows users to build and test their unique 3D games in the Sandbox metaverse. Game Maker is a simple program that requires no coding knowledge to use. Users can design and arrange various elements and objects, including NFTs created with VoxEdit, in an environment called LAND. For example, they can edit terrain, place characters and buildings, and select quests from a library of community-developed resources. They can also share their creations in the Sandbox community.

Image from The Sandbox website


The Sandbox Marketplace

The Sandbox Marketplace, which launched in April 2021, is an NFT marketplace for users to trade in-game assets (ASSETS) for SAND, The Sandbox's native cryptocurrency. Then, the ASSETS obtained can be combined into LAND using Game Maker to create unique games. These NFTs can be entities, buildings, consumables, and others that can be used within The Sandbox.

As mentioned, The Sandbox uses several different tokens in its ecosystem for players to interact within the platform, including SAND, LAND, and ASSETS.


What is a Sandbox (SAND)?

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

As a utility token, SAND is used to carry out all types of transactions and interactions within The Sandbox ecosystem. This means that players must have SAND to play the game, customize their avatar, purchase LAND, or trade ASSETS in the Sandbox Marketplace. SAND is also a governance token. SAND owners can propose and vote on changes to the platform through the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) structure.

Additionally, owners can stake SAND in the game to earn rewards, including a share of revenue from all transactions in SAND tokens. Most importantly, staking SAND can increase the chances of finding valuable GEMs and CATALYSTs, which are the resources needed to create higher rarity ASSETS.

SAND can be earned by playing various games and contests at The Sandbox or purchased on cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Binance.


WHAT ARE ASSETS?

ASSETS are user-generated NFTs. ASSETS are voxel assets created with VoxEdit that are then uploaded to The Sandbox Marketplace and converted into NFTs for sale.

ASSETS can be used in the game in various ways. ASSETS can be environmental assets, such as buildings, mobile animals, or cars. ASSETS can also be attached to the avatar as clothing or weapons. For those creating games in Game Maker, ASSETS can be designed to provide a unique gaming experience.


WHAT IS LAND?

LAND is the digital piece of real estate on The Sandbox platform. LAND is a unique ERC-721 token on the Ethereum blockchain. Players can purchase LAND to build their own version of the game on it with ASSETS using the Game Maker tool. They can also combine several LANDS to form an ESTATE with the largest possible size being 24x24.

LAND allows players to monetize their gaming experience. For example, they can charge fees to other players who visit their LAND or play their games, earn rewards in the form of SAND by holding contests and events, or potentially sell or rent special LAND.

There are a total of 166,464 LANDs in The Sandbox. Then, the LAND can be purchased with SAND and ether (ETH) through public LAND sales. You can find the list and confirmed public sale date in the gitbook Sandbox. Alternatively, you can purchase LAND from other users on The Sandbox Marketplace and NFT platforms, such as OpenSea, but the prices will tend to be more expensive than official public sales.

Screenshot from The Sandbox website

How to buy SAND on Binance?

You can buy SAND on crypto exchanges, such as Binance.

1. Log in to your Binance account, then click [Trade] on the top bar to open the classic or advanced trading page. In this tutorial, we will choose [Classic].

2. On the right side of the screen, type “SAND” in the search bar to open the list of available SAND trading pairs. Let's use SAND/BUSD as an example. Click “SAND/BUSD” to open its trading page.


 


3. Scroll down to the [Spot] box, then enter the amount of SAND you want to purchase. You can choose different types of orders to buy SAND (e.g., market orders). Click [Buy SAND] to place an order. Purchased SAND will be credited to your Spot Wallet.


 

Closing

The Sandbox is a user-generated content platform that allows users to create and contribute to this metaverse. Unlike popular play-to-earn games, The Sandbox does not have a predefined game world. This game adopts a flexible approach for users to customize everything with easy-to-use free tools. User-generated content can also be monetized as NFTs or used to enhance the gaming experience.