[2021] Where or what is the absolute core of the game?

Originally posted by slaideri: Of course if it is not a survival game but a sandbox game, then anything goes. But a sandbox is not a game the devs made. Just like it is with literal sandboxes and their builders: the builders do not make nor plan the games kids will play in the sandboxes.

It is convenient to call a game a sandbox. But I would like to remind people, both players and devs, what building a sandbox literally means. It means falling short, failing at making a game.

A sandbox is not a game. It delegates the job of game making to its players.

To make a sandbox game is to make the box; To fill it with sand, To add in toys to play with and sculpt the sand, to provide the player with numerous options for fun and let them determine which fun they want to engage with.

The end goal of a video game is to provide fun and entertainment to a player; If that goal is achieved, if the player has fun and is entertained, The game has accomplished what it set out to do- And is by definition, Not a failure at what it set out to do.

Providing a player multiple avenues to reach the state of having fun/being entertained is NOT a failure; And it's rather narrow minded to consider it as such, as by that narrow view, The vast majority of video games over the course of history have failed.