The Best Sandbox Games for Nintendo Switch

A chill game about using plants to overgrow abandoned wasteland dioramas

The Escapists 2 is a thrilling prison escape game that will put your creativity to the test. As a prisoner, you must sneak your way out of some of the toughest prisons in existence by creating intricate plans and crafting clever weapons. You can even team up with friends to escape together! With a diverse range of levels, crafting items and interactive combat, you'll be hooked in no time.

TerraTech is the perfect game for creative kids who love to build their own vehicles and explore a randomly generated world. Construct powerful machines, bases, and weapons to defend against rival miners, gather resources, and improve your standing with the Mining Corporations. Explore treacherous mountain ranges, luscious grasslands, and huge deserts while building and creating your own unique style. The gameplay is fun and intuitive, and the simplistic graphics don't require high-end hardware.

Astroneer is a sandbox adventure game that allows players to explore, build, and craft in an expansive outer space setting. There are six different planets to explore, with a wide variety of resources to discover and use. Players can create their own goals or just enjoy the relaxing atmosphere of exploration.

Just Die Already is an old people mayhem sandbox game created by the designers of Goat Simulator. You are old and angry and you've just been kicked out of your retirement home. How will you survive in a world that wants you to Just Die Already?

Factorio is an absorbing factory management game. You play the role of a handy person who needs to build a rocket and craft almost anything with little more than spit and elbow grease. Automation is the key to success as you establish production chains and assembly lines to make sure all the hard work is done for you.

Tropico 6 is a city-building game that offers an engaging mix of elements such as ruling your own island dictatorship, sandbox mode with customizable goals, missions, and easy controller support. You can be a big picture person and make decisions that impact the entire island or get into the minute details of urban planning.

Put simply, DEEEER Simulator is a “Slow-Life Town Destruction Game”. You can spend your days enjoying a nice, relaxed frolic here and there together with the other animals around town, or you can choose to relieve some stress and absolutely destroy the town and everything in it.

Terraria is an addictive, systems-heavy, 2D sandbox-survival game that offers exploration, crafting, and combat, where you must defeat enemies and gather resources to build increasingly powerful weapons, armor and housing for NPCs. With pixelated visuals, great controls, and sound, Terraria provides hours of entertainment and is a must-have for Minecraft fans looking for something different in this genre.

Try the demo! A mix between Portal, Zelda and Metroid. Explore, solve puzzles, beat up monsters, find secret upgrades and new abilities that help you reach new places. Playtime 12-25h.