The Sandbox Game Maker 0.11 Update: Detailed Product Features & Updates for Creators

Bring imagination to life faster with new assets, customized templates, and streamlined tools.

The open metaverse is here, and user-generated content (UGC) is at its heart.

At The Sandbox, we’re redefining digital creation, giving the next generation of creators the tools to craft immersive, interactive games and experiences with capacities far beyond traditional short-form content. With over 2,000 experiences published in the past year, The Sandbox community continues to push the boundaries of a creator-driven digital world.

The Sandbox Game Maker 0.11 unlocks even more possibilities in Game Maker and Game Client, making it easier than ever to create and explore immersive experiences. Our vision of uniting brands and creators is coming to life with an expanded Asset Library and enhanced tools, while competitive multiplayer racing is now possible thanks to improved mechanics. With refined 3C (Character, Camera, and Controls), this update elevates team-based gameplay, platforming, and racing, all while streamlining the creative process so anyone can build, play, and connect in The Sandbox.

We’ve separated our coverage of this release into three parts:

Part 1: The Vision of Game Maker 0.11
Part 2: Game Maker 0.11: Detailed Product Features & Updates for Creators
Part 3: Game Client 0.11: Detailed Product Features & Updates for Players

The Sandbox remains committed to refining our ecosystem, expanding monetization for creators, and shaping the open metaverse. The Sandbox 0.11 is just the beginning — what will you create?

Download 0.11 to start creating, and purchase LAND today to publish your experience!

TL;DR

• Smarter Multiplayer: Team Scores, Multiplayer-Friendly NPCs, and Broadcast Target Selection.
• Better Platforming & Racing: Edge Recovery, Custom Avatars at Spawn, and new Rotate Behavior.
• New Customization: Personalized HUDs, alphanumeric puzzles, and new victory options.
• Asset Libraries: Access to new environmental assets and brand assets (Smurfs, Atari, BLOND:ISH, & more).
• New Templates: Tag, Trivia, Idle Clicker, Crash, and Social Platforming game types.
• Productivity Boosts: Picker Tool, Multiple Grid Boards, and Rules Connection Visualizer.

The Sandbox Game Maker 0.11 Release

New Multiplayer Modes

Since the release of 0.8, we’ve been refining Game Maker to offer creators more tools for enhancing multiplayer gameplay. With 0.11, even more multiplayer features will be available, empowering creators to elevate their experiences.

Creators can now set up team vs. team games and use the Team Variable Type to track their collective achievements, fostering strategic play and rivalries. Scores can be tracked within the experience for multiple teams, and variables can be used to create a session result based on their performance. For example, teams could have their own timers and earn bonus time by collecting objects on a race course. When a team’s timer runs, they are eliminated and teleported to the observation deck, creating a heart-pounding sense of urgency.

Quests now leverage a more secure multiplayer Objective System allowing for the communication between multiplayer components, behaviors, and rules to objectives. This transition strengthens anti-cheat measures, ensuring a fairer multiplayer experience. To support creators, there is a migration tool that quickly identifies objectives that need changes and provides helpful hints for fixes. Creators can continue running older experiences on 0.11 without updating objectives or migrating them to the server, as the previous system remains fully functional.

The multiplayer NPC revamp ensures that non-playable characters respond intelligently within multiplayer experiences, offering smoother interactions. This new behavior aims to support all previous NPCs separated in the Prey, Citizen, Healer, and Farmer behaviors, merging them into one unique solution. It is fully customizable and uses a modular approach to stack functionalities. For instance, this allows a flock of chickens to flee when the player approaches in farm simulation games. Future updates will introduce expanded NPC behaviors, enhancing multiplayer interactions with greater depth and engagement.

The new Send Message rule enables broadcast targets to communicate with Specific Tags, Teams, or the Trigger player, transforming how rule logic influences gameplay. Now, triggers like health bonuses can be directed at individual players instead of affecting everyone, allowing for more precise and dynamic multiplayer mechanics.

And, of course, no multiplayer game is complete without the ability to claim victory. The Victory Component has been reconfigured to include new options for creators to customize how an experience ends, with the Victory Types setting allowing an experience to be won by a single player, a team, or every player in a cooperative experience.

Learn more about changes to multiplayer here.

Spark Competition with Platforming & Racing

Two of the most popular game types in The Sandbox, platformers and racing, now have vastly improved mechanics thanks to exciting changes to how avatars move and interact within the Game Client. A new Default Movement Palette introduces features like Edge Recovery, which helps players reach platforms when climbing and jumping over gaps, and Coyote Time, which gives players a few extra milliseconds to jump after they fall. (Be aware that enabling the new Default Movement Palette could allow players to access areas previously inaccessible, potentially breaking an existing level design. Visit the Upgrade Guide for instructions to upgrade experiences or use best practices with new ones.)

In addition to these movement enhancements, Rotate Behavior allows creators to dynamically rotate game elements around their own axis or a designated pivot point. This opens up endless possibilities for more challenging gameplay, such as the creation of platform battle royale games.

The Custom Avatar at Spawn option allows creators to override a player’s default avatar with a unique non-avatar asset, transforming their appearance to better match the experience. These custom designs retain any appropriate animations associated with them. At this stage, only existing animations from assets in a creator’s inventory or Asset Library can be used as custom animations are not yet supported. One way to use Custom Avatar at Spawn would be if a creator purchased a Paris Hilton Tracksuit from The Sandbox Marketplace and wanted to use it in their sports game along with its custom animations. Creators can easily enable this feature, making it perfect for scenarios where each team needs distinct avatars for easy identification.

Learn more about these changes here.

Discover More Game Customization

Creators can apply diamond or square styles to HUD slots and set value states that can be triggered by other rules to change color depending on the value of the variable in the slot. By doing this, creators can hint to players when they need resources, health, and more. Value states can also be used to adjust HUD slot colors from the default blue to help with readability.

Combination Code enables creators to add unique challenges by incorporating alphanumeric codes. This translates to the ability to build in-game puzzles using code-based riddles that players must crack to unlock secrets, progress through the storyline, or access exclusive content. The code can also be set to remain the same no matter how many times a player revisits the experience.

Learn more about customization here.

Kickstart Creation with Assets from Top Brands

Our new Asset Kits organize the Asset Library into various Themes and newly available Partner Assets to help creators build their corner of The Sandbox. These Kits make it easier than ever to find the perfect asset for a project thanks to a streamlined layout and intuitive navigation. Asset Kits were built to evolve over time, with additional collections released regularly, paving the way for more opportunities for creative expression.

Partner Assets give creators access to a wide range of assets from our top brands, including The Smurfs, Chupa Chups, BLOND:ISH, Care Bears, and Atari. Soon, creators will also be able to access collections from Terminator 2042, Madballs, Rabbids, MK2, Jamiroquai, and Playboy.

Themes unveil different environmental assets to build with, including Volcano, Desert, and Bazaar. Whether a player is fleeing an erupting volcano or claiming their right to a swamp kingdom, these assets provide the tools required to build deeper narratives through more captivating worlds.

Asset Kits can be accessed as ready-made templates that creators can build on, similar to our Game Templates, which provide creators with pre-built game logic to streamline development and simplify the creation of specific genres of gameplay, like Horror or Resource Management. Game Maker 0.11 is introducing five new Game Templates inspired by specific genres.

In the Tag Game Template, players infect others by tagging them and turning them into infectors. Players must survive until the countdown reaches zero. The Trivia Game Template is a battle royal version of the trivia game type. Players answer multiple-choice questions by standing on corresponding tiles, with incorrect answers eliminating players as tiles disappear. In the Idle Clicker Game Template, players generate resources by clicking passively over time, using earnings to unlock upgrades and automate progress. In the Crash Game Template, players place bets and cash out before a rising multiplier crashes, risking losing everything if they wait too long. Multi-player functionality for this type will be released a few weeks after launch. The Social Platforming Template gives creators the tools to build a loopable race system with a currency and shop system (however, creators won’t be able to use the leaderboard system). While these Game Templates offer a strong foundation, creators can customize and expand upon them, adding their own personal touches to bring their ideas to life.

Creators can launch their newly developed experiences using Partner and Environmental Assets or Game Templates on The Sandbox Map by acquiring a plot of LAND from The Sandbox Marketplace.

Learn more about Asset Kits and Themes here.

Work Faster with New Tools

We’ve optimized the Game Maker to provide a cleaner canvas with the Rules Connections, allowing creators to visualize the connections between In and Out nodes and toggle connections on and off for a smoother UI. Now, as creators drag and rearrange their canvas, the connections adjust to the rules and they can click on a connection to view the linked rules.

Existing tools have been revamped and new ones have been designed to help with faster creation. The Picker Tool lets creators instantly select any asset or block in a scene and create a duplicate. Copy & Paste Values lets creators right-click to copy all values from a component or behavior, then seamlessly paste them into the same component on a different asset. With the in-editor Block Counter, creators can see exactly how many blocks they’ll be placing and along which axis when placing a group.

Learn more about Tools here.

Organizational Improvements

We’ve made multiple improvements to help creators stay organized when building games. Creators no longer need to stuff all of their game logic onto a single Grid Board. With the ability to use Multiple Grid Boards, complex logic becomes easier to manage, improving both performance and rendering times. Features can be separated across boards for better readability, and Grid Boards can be organized in a hierarchy and freely named for easier tracking.

Actor Count gives creators a clear view of the number of actors and logic assets in their scene directly from the hierarchy panel, allowing them to create pages for interface rules, quest logics, scoreboard systems, or whatever they may need. VFX and audio files are also now organized and sorted into categories for enhanced clarity and management.

Taken together, these improvements make Game Maker more intuitive and accessible, empowering creators of all skill levels to bring their ideas to life with greater ease and efficiency.

Learn more about organization, including Hierarchy updates, here.

And So Much More!

These are just a few of the exciting updates in The Sandbox Game Maker and Game Client 0.11. With every release, we take another step toward our vision of a vibrant, social gaming metaverse where creators and players can build, explore, and connect in new and exciting ways.

These improvements don’t just enhance the Game Maker; they empower the creator community to push the boundaries of creativity with more efficient and productive workflows. The advancements in avatar movement, platforming, and multiplayer open the door for more complex, challenging, and engaging experiences that players will love. Future updates will introduce persistence, matchmaking, new combat systems, and even mounting mechanics for vehicles and creatures!

Our product is designed to enable the building of a metaverse filled with diverse experiences, and this is just the beginning. The Sandbox map continues to grow, with thousands of creations waiting to be explored, and we call upon all creators to contribute to it.

Read the Documentation for more in-depth coverage, and check out the changes in Game Client 0.11 here. For the upgrade guide, click here.

Download Game Maker 0.11 today!

Join the Builders’ Challenge

There‘s never been a better time to start building! The Builders’ Challenge is returning on February 26 for a four-week event for creators to showcase their talents, craft engaging experiences, and earn substantial rewards.

Rewards are directly tied to engagement, with each visit earning the game’s creator SAND, up to 50,000 SAND per experience!

Creators must publish their experience to The Sandbox Map directly on their plot of LAND and update their experience to 0.11. Don’t have LAND? Purchase a parcel here.

We’ll be sharing more details about the challenge in the coming days.