Falling-sand game

A falling sand game is a genre of video game and subgenre of sandbox games using a two dimensional particle game engine.

A user-created sandbox in The Powder Toy

The user can interact with (e.g. place and remove) particles on a canvas which can interact with other particles in various ways, which can lead to complex emergent behaviour.[1] As Sandbox games, they generally have an emphasis on free-form gameplay, relaxed rules, and minimal goals.[2]

History
Title Year Platform Details
Falling sand game 2005 Java Also called "Hell of Sand" or "World of sand". May be the first game of its type[3][4][5][6]
wxSand 2006 Windows The first standalone version[7]
Powder Game 2007 Java, HTML5, Android, iOS Multi-platform with liquid simulation[8]
This is Sand 2008 Flash Added changing the colour of the sand[9]
The Powder Toy 2010 Windows, Linux, OS X, Android Has liquid simulation[10][8]
The Sandbox 2012 Flash, Windows, Android, iOS A whole game franchise going into 3D as well[11][12]
Noita 2020 Windows A hybrid of "falling sand" style game with a Roguelike[8][13]

The first known popular example in the "falling sand" genre was a web-based Java applet on the Japanese Dofi-Blog in 2005[3][4] which was later expanded and rehosted as the "Falling sand game",[4] which kick-started the genre as a trend and gave it its name.[14][5]

The genre is not limited to free play canvas-style games; games such as the Powder Game contain additional mechanics, such as pressure based fluid simulation allowing for example water equalisation, and RPG elements such as controllable characters.

Noita blends the traditional sandbox physics with Roguelike RPG mechanics, with sophisticated playable characters and enemies.[15][16][13]

References
  1. bittker, max. "making sandspiel". maxbittker.com.
  2. "The History and Theory of Sandbox Gameplay". www.gamasutra.com. 16 July 2009.
  3. "DOFI-BLOG どふぃぶろぐ". ishi.blog2.fc2.com.
  4. "Overview". Falling Sand Game. Archived from the original on 2009-04-23.
  5. "Falling Sand Game". boredhumans.com.
  6. Carless, Simon (2005-12-24). "Welcome to the World of Sand". GameSetWatch. Retrieved 2011-06-21.
  7. Quilty-Harper, Conrad (2006-02-15). "Falling Sand: The Sequel". Joystiq. Retrieved 2011-06-21.
  8. Cox, Matt (10 October 2019). "From falling sand to Falling Everything: the simulation games that inspired Noita". Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
  9. Donahoo, Daniel. "Digital Play: This Is Sand". Wired.
  10. "Explosive fun for students". edgalaxy.com.
  11. "the sandbox". metacritic.com.
  12. "The Sandbox gaming platform receives $2.5m investment". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2019-10-06.
  13. "Sand Physics Go Wild in Noita". techraptor.net.
  14. "Time Killer: The Sand Game (It's Great Fun)". PC World. Archived from the original on 2008-10-28.
  15. "Noita: a Game Based on Falling Sand Simulation". 80.lv. 5 April 2019.
  16. "Noita wiki - Falling Sand Game". gamepedia.com.
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