History Main / QuicksandBox

* Capcom's famed Keiji Inafune suggested that the effect of this trope, combined with the Japanese desire to be guided, explains the relative lack of success that WideOpenSandbox titles have had in Japan. There was mention of Western attitudes towards free-roaming gameplay being similar to going deer hunting and bagging a bear instead. [[note]]''GTA'' on the PC does have some popularity with Japanese [[GameMod modders]]. Apparently the sandbox isn't so bad if you can make it look like the gamer's favorite anime. [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential Or least favorite:]] [[http://www.japanprobe.com/2007/09/24/gta-crazy-anime-mod/ Nothing like the scent of dead Pikachu in the morning]]. ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' is also fairly popular.[[/note]]

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'', after you get the four main runes (bombs and [[MagnetismManipulation the power to manipulate metal objects]], [[TimeStandsStill paralyze objects]] and [[AnIcePerson turn water into ice]]) and learn the basic backstory and goal of the game, you're able to do whatever you wish to do, with the only limitation on where you can travel being your own skill and resourcefulness.

** Fallout 3 makes this worse by connecting locations through a maze of subway tunnels, although once through the first time you can usually find a fast travel marker on the other end.
** [[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas New Vegas]] even more so, you can spends dozens of hours without even going to the title city. The final battle at the Hoover Dam is the PointOfNoReturn, however, and the game ends once you complete the main quest.

** In [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI the first game]], you're basically sent out with little idea what to do and especially where to go leading to some early deaths. ([[WithThisHerring "It's dangerous to go alone! Take this!"]])

* Most games in the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' series suffer from this trope; it becomes very easy to become lost in the game world, even in the newer games which tend to be a bit more linear. ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' is probably the most well-known for this, which, due to bugs, intentional design decisions and underestimating players' abilities, gives the player several different routes through the game, and many weapons and items are [[SequenceBreaking skippable]] with some ingenuity. Because there's no clear indication of what to do or where to go, putting the game down for even a day can either leave you with no idea how to progress, or stumbling in the right direction.
** The ''[[VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy Prime]]'' series try avoiding with an optional hint system that shows where the plot will advance.

* ''VideoGame/GarrysMod'' provides the player with access to every asset from just about every modern Valve game the player may have installed, tools with which to put said assets together in just about any way imaginable, and the default maps "gm_construct" and "gm_flatgrass" alongside all of the maps/levels from whatever Source Engine games you have installed. Knock yourself out. Addons available on the Steam Workshop and sites such as garrysmod.org allow for an effectively infinite number of new tools, maps, and assets to play with, both original and ported from other games.

* ''VideoGame/GarrysMod'' provides the player with access to every asset from just about every modern Valve game the player may have installed, tools with which to put said assets together in just about any way imaginable, and a default map entitled "Flatgrass." Knock yourself out. Various addons increase the amount of tools and assets available by an order of magnitude.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'': The game becomes wide open as soon as you collect four party members and [[spoiler: the new airship]] in the second half of the game...in fact, absolutely nothing stops you from tackling TheVeryFinalDungeon except the ridiculously tough battles that you would face along the way.

** Despite statements from the developers on making it easier to find out where to go and fan fears, [[VideoGame/DarkSoulsII its sequel]] is much worse than the original when it comes to this, as all the player is told is to find the four Old Ones and kill them for their souls. Where the player goes from there is up to them, though most get confused as to where to go after defeating the first boss in the starter area, as it gives no indication of what do next.

** ''VideoGame/CuteKnight''
*** ''VideoGame/CuteKnightKingdom'' removed a lot of this starting urgency, and thereby left some players with no idea of what to do.

Efforts to avoid this in sequels may actually be [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks seen as overly-pampering.]] [[TropesAreNotBad Openness is not bad]]; some players prefer the risk of getting lost to being [[{{Railroading}} railroaded]]. Well-designed games would often find remedy in an AchievementSystem which provides inspiration and impulse to the player. Compare AltItis, which largely focuses on differing character abilities and options, and SidetrackedByTheGoldSaucer, which may overlap. Contrast NoSidepathsNoExplorationNoFreedom.

* The ''VideoGame/SimCity'' series have no goal at all other than what the player sets for himself. "Build the highest population city you can" is a pretty popular one.
** Though each game has a handful of scenarios with actual win/lose conditions.

* ''VideoGame/StardewValley'', the SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'', often causes this to new players. The player is given a small bit of exposition, but it drops a ''lot'' of content available to you at once. (Various character stats, exploring the mine, farming, foraging, unlocking the bus, relationships, fishing, unlocking more areas to explore, rebuilding the community centre) Virtually no explanation is given to you as which of these is important or even ''how'' you can go about doing this, or ''when''. The sheer amount of content available at the start, as well as [[EarlyGameHell your tiny wallet]] can make players feel almost ''stressed''.

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* ''VideoGame/TheSims'' series can be summed up as "You die, you lose. [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential Maybe.]] Start playing." [=TS3=] did at least have a rolling tutorial that gave you the option of learning how to do things if you activate them with the tutorial section unread. The Sims 3 characters that are old enough have wishes and lifetime wishes, which give you points and increases their moodlets when completed.

You suddenly find yourself paralyzed, you can't figure out where to go next. You wander aimlessly, sometimes for hours, until you're able to find a goal.

* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}''. You are thrown into an enormous world without any defined goals at all - players can build huge structures, mine valuables from the ground, slaughter monsters, explore landscapes, become nomadic, construct railroads, seek out the [[spoiler:Ender Dragon]] or do practically anything else. This was even worse before the game came with a list of achievements that encourage new players to learn the basics of mining, farming, construction, and combat. Then there's the sheer size of the map: you can wander in one direction and go on for hours never finding an end to it all; in one interview Notch said the potential size of the gameplay world can go up to eight times the surface area of '''Earth itself''' (although there isn't any major difference between different sections of the map). Not to mention the various environments all over the place (it is possible to see a snow biome right next to a desert in this game before the 1.8 update) giving you a variety of resources to use in building your desired constructions.

* This is a rather common trope with Metroidvania games; since many of them give you a very broad goal or just drops you into the game world without much of a hint.

** Its sequel, ''VideoGame/{{Warband}}'', gives players the option to do a starting quest that has a small, simple storyline and conclusion, introducing them to some of the mechanics and the setting...at which point they are again dumped into the world and left to their devices.

* ''[[VideoGame/JustCause Just Cause 2]].'' It's very easy to get lost, but the sheer amount of non-story related things makes it possible to have oodles of fun while completely ignoring the story.

Efforts to avoid this in sequels may actually be [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks seen as overly-pampering.]] [[TropesAreNotBad Openness is not bad]], some players prefer the risk of getting lost to being [[{{Railroading}} railroaded]]. Well-designed games would often find remedy in an AchievementSystem which provides inspiration and impulse to the player. Compare AltItis, which largely focuses on differing character abilities and options, and SidetrackedByTheGoldSaucer, which may overlap. Contrast NoSidepathsNoExplorationNoFreedom.

Efforts to avoid this in sequels may actually be [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks seen as overly-pampering.]] [[TropesAreNotBad Openness is not bad]], some players prefer the risk of getting lost to being railroaded. Well-designed games would often find remedy in an AchievementSystem which provides inspiration and impulse to the player. Compare AltItis, which largely focuses on differing character abilities and options, and SidetrackedByTheGoldSaucer, which may overlap. Contrast NoSidepathsNoExplorationNoFreedom.

* ''Franchise/TheSims'' series can be summed up as "You die, you lose. [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential Maybe.]] Start playing." [=TS3=] did at least have a rolling tutorial that gave you the option of learning how to do things if you activate them with the tutorial section unread. The Sims 3 characters that are old enough have wishes and lifetime wishes, which give you points and increases their moodlets when completed.

* Once the ''[[Franchise/SaGaRPG SaGa]]'' games went onto consoles, every single one suffered from this. ''VideoGame/{{SaGa Frontier}}'' plays the trope straight and averts it because of AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: Lute and Blue had the most "open" quests (and Blue had "learn magic" as a guidepost), while the other five playable characters had relatively linear stories. Depending on who you chose to play as, you had your pick of linearity.

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* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' is possibly the only game to encompass geology, weather patterns, genetics, city building, tactical combat, individual psychology, item crafting and the effects of a punctured lung all in the same game setting. This is made worse by the fact that the author is continually adding new features to the game, making it much more complicated every year. This causes most prospective players to quit in the first week. Once you can make it past the learning stage, [[EarnYourFun the game is immensely fun]]. Consulting [[http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Main_Page the wiki]] regularly is pretty much mandatory for new players, and even veteran players still check in every so often.
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