The Sandbox is a pioneer in the movement to incorporate blockchain technology into the gaming sector. Created in 2011, The Sandbox is an play-to-earn game that allows users to be both creators and players, with the ability to monetise their in-game assets and earn SAND tokens.
Powered by the SAND token, the Sandbox’s native token serves as the foundation for all transactions and interactions. SAND tokens can be obtained by playing games, selling digital assets on the Sandbox Marketplace, participating in competitions, or buying it through a reliable exchange.
What is The Sandbox platform?
The Sandbox is an Ethereum-based play-to-earn gaming ecosystem and metaverse that allows players to create, share, and monetise in-world assets and gaming experiences. The platform combines the powers of decentralised autonomous organisations (DAO), DeFi and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
The Sandbox metaverse offers players a space to interact with one another and the games they have created.
The Sandbox is made up of three main components:
- VoxEdit, which allows users to create and animate 3D objects in the metaverse (i.e. animals, people, tools, etc). These are known as ASSETS and utilize the ERC-1155 token standard which allows both fungible and non-fungible (NFTs) to be minted at the same time.
- The Sandbox Game Maker, where users can create 3D games for free.
- The Sandbox Marketplace, where users can sell their ASSETS for SAND tokens.
Who created The Sandbox?
Initially developed as a mobile gaming platform by Pixowl in 2011, The Sandbox was intended to be a competitor to Minecraft. It quickly grew very popular and soon had more than 40 million downloads worldwide. However, in 2018, the co-founders Arthur Madrid and Sebastien Borget decided to explore the potential of creating a 3D metaverse on the blockchain.
The new and improved platform allows users to truly own their creations, in the form of NFTs, and earn rewards while participating in the ecosystem. The Sandbox team introduced the new Sandbox project in 2020 and it became one of the fastest-growing games in the cryptocurrency world, alongside Axie Infinity and Decentraland.
The following year, the platform raised $93 million and attracted over 50 reputable partnerships, including CryptoKitties, Snoop Dogg and The Walking Dead.
How does The Sandbox work?
The Sandbox is a dynamic virtual world filled with user-generated content. Players can create and develop their own NFTs, including avatars, virtual goods, and even games, using the platform's VoxEdit and Game Maker. They can also interact with other players as well as monetise these NFTs by selling them on the Sandbox Marketplace, fueled by the SAND token.
The Sandbox's VoxEdit
VoxEdit offers artists and players user-friendly software to create, rig, and animate NFTs. The NFTs are in voxel format, square 3D pixels that look like lego blocks, which can quickly be edited to create different shapes. Users can design and create everything from animals and game tools to avatar-oriented weapons and clothing to any goods that you can use in The Sandbox.
All these virtual goods can then be exported and traded as NFTs on the Sandbox Marketplace for SAND tokens.
The Sandbox's Game Maker
The Game Maker is designed to allow users to test their 3D game creations within the metaverse. With no prior coding experience needed, the program allows users to design and organise various objects and elements in a space called LAND (including the VoxEdit NFTs).
The Game Maker allows users to curate quests, place buildings, and characters, edit terrains, etc. Users can then share their designs with the greater community or sell them on the Sandbox Marketplace.
The Sandbox Marketplace
The Sandbox ecosystem with its very own NFT marketplace was launched in April 2021 and creates a space where users can trade ASSETS (in-game assets) with the native token, the SAND token.
The ASSETS (NFTs) can be anything from wearables to buildings to entities, and can then be used within the platform in The Sandbox game and incorporated into LAND to create unique games using the Game Maker. The Sandbox's marketplace is accessible to all users on the platform.
What are SAND tokens?
Sandbox, referred to as SAND, is an ERC-20 token with a supply of 3 billion. The token functions as a utility token, governance token, and can be used for staking.
SAND as a utility token facilitates all interactions and transactions within The Sandbox ecosystem. In order to take part in the activities available on the platform, from playing the games to buying LAND, trading ASSETS or customising avatars, users will need to own SAND. The LAND tokens are ERC-721 tokens while ASSETS are user-generated NFTs.
The native token also functions as a governance token within the Sandbox ecosystem, allowing SAND token holders to vote on changes made on the platform through the Sandbox DAO (Decentralised Autonomous Organisation) structure.
Lastly, the token can be staked on the platform, allowing holders to earn rewards and a share in the revenue from all SAND transactions. Staking offers the bonus advantage of allowing users to increase their chances of finding valuable game resources designed to boost ASSETS' rarity, known as GEMs and CATALYSTs. These are valuable when looking to create assets and play games.
There are two ways to acquire SAND: either through playing games and contests in The Sandbox, or by purchasing it on a cryptocurrency exchange.
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