Sandbox Play
When creating these sandbox worlds, you should divide them up into distinct areas to aid the players’ navigation and orientation, much like the “lands” of Disneyland. Disneyland goes through great pains to make each land visually distinct. Take Frontierland: it has everything you would expect in the Old West—watering troughs, wooden cigar-store Indians, wagons, cactus, and even those old video game standbys, crates and barrels. (Frontierland’s main thoroughfare was originally dirt road until guests complained about dusty pants and shoes.) Disneyland even themes the trash cans! For example, Frontierland’s trash cans are painted to look like wood, while Tomorrowland’s are futuristic silver. You always know where you are even when throwing out the trash.
The game Crackdown uses this technique throughout its sandbox world of Pacific City. Not only is each zone themed to aid navigation, but the themes match the criminal gang that...