Alpha Beta Gamer

Unturned 2 is a first person, online zombie survival sandbox game, much like DayZ or Rust, but a little simpler and easier to get in to, and with a lot more blocks.

You and your friends (and enemies) can play together, scavenging for supplies, living of the land, trading with other players and fortifying locations – all while trying to survive the constant threat of zombies and bandits. The Fortification options are impressive, with you able to build massive Rust-style fortresses, complete with barricades and traps.

The Minecraft-esque visuals work really well in Unturned 2, making a picturesque blocky world to explore and survive in. The charming looking character models are excellent and will catch you off guard – it’s hard not to automatically trust other players when they look so cheery (it’s a strange experience being mugged by a bandit that looks like a Lego man!)

Unturned 2 is being developed entirely with the community in focus, and lots of features are based entirely on feedback. Even in beta form, it’s an impressive game, a fun and pleasantly cheerful take on the zombie survival sandbox genre, a great place to survive a zombie blockpockalpse.

Download the Beta, Free

In Sandmason you are a mine worker, stuck deep in an underground cave system where strange things are afoot, with only your hi-tech mining tools to aid your escape. These mining tools allow you to dig through soft rock and build on anything in this fully dynamic environment, allowing you to solve puzzles and create deadly traps.

The digging and building in Sandmason is the main draw and offers with total freedom to aproach obstacles and enemies as you see fit. You also have the ability to create force fields, use ninja ropes, jetpacks and other items, as well as unlocking perks and levelling up your character by finding hidden treasures.

The games multiplayer component is very different but just as much fun. While the single-player mode is more about adventuring and solving puzzling problems, the multi-player mode is all about fast-paced action and destruction. The dynamic environment and many different weapons, tools, and tricks allow endless tactical possibilities to beat your enemies. Co-op is also planned for a future release, so you’ll also be able to go spellunking with friends through Sandmasons Mysterious caves.

Comparisons are bound to be drawn to Minecraft, but the only similarity is that you can dig through rocks and build structures, this really has more in common with Portal, full of interesting puzzles and exploration, rewarding lateral thinking and experimentation. Give it a go, you’ll dig it.

Play the Alpha Demo, Free

Cubic Castles is a great new massively multiplayer building/terraforming game that mixes of Minecraft and Animal Crossing and adds a dash of 3D platforming/exploration to create a fun, easily accessible MMO that everyone can enjoy.

Although technically it’s an MMO, there’s no messing about with filling out personal details and email addresses, just download, choose a name and play. It’s made by three former PopCap developers who got together to make a unique, fun & light-hearted MMO. They seem to of succeeded too, the world that they’ve created is full of warmth and charm, and the things you can build are only limited by your imagination.

The world map is divided into areas, with each player having their own realm, signified by a castle on the map, where you can build, craft and fully personalise your space. You can visit other players realms or go mining and scavenging for more building materials to shared areas of the map. There are also plenty of customisation for your character options and there’s even a shop that you can buy new items, rooms, clothes or even another castle, all with in-game currency (Cubit Blocks which you find throughout the game).

Even in the Beta stages it’s a well polished, well designed, easily accessible game full of customisation, crafting and character. Popcap will be kicking themselves that they let those three go…

Play the Beta, Free (Windows & Mac)

Untold Universe is a Massively Multiplayer Sandbox where you’ll be able to travel through an infinite universe full of voxel based-planetoids for you to explore and exploit.

The small planets of Untold Universe look excellent, like Minecraft versions of Super Mario Galaxy’s or Universim’s planets. You’ll be able to gather resources from these planets and use them to build anything from factories to spaceships which you can use to explore the galaxy.

Untold Universe is still in early Alpha, so some features are still a little basic (especially the character models), but it will be constantly built on and improved, with the devs very keen to hear player feedback.

Sign-Up for the Alpha

Nexus Sea is a very cool voxel based First Person Shooter/Tower Defence game that tasks you with defending the Nexus (base) from waves off enemy assault.

Before each wave of attack you can purchase turrets, ammo and weaponry to defend the Nexus with. It’s still very early in development, but already there’s a nice selection of weaponry, including handguns, shotguns and Katanas.

Gameplay is fast paced and hectic once the enemies start spawning, with you running from enemy to enemy, trying to prevent them from damaging your turrets as well as the nexus. The prototype is pretty short (the next update will add more levels), but it does present a good challenge and there’s plenty of room for experimentation with different loadouts.

It’s still early in development, but with it’s frantic gameplay, excellent soundtrack and wonderful voxel based visuals, Nexus Sea is definitely one to watch, especially with the more fleshed out Alpha due to arrive in a few weeks time.

Download the Prototype, Free

Build and Defend is a top-down/3rd person multiplayer rogue-like sandbox game where you have to find resources, build a fortress, set-up defences and discover technologies to aid your survival against the hordes of enemies. As you progress, you’ll upgrade your fortress and defences to fight off the increasingly aggressive and powerful waves of enemies, you’ll get some respite during daylight, but when darkness falls they’ll attack in swarms.

Build and Defend pairs Zelda‘s combat mechanics with Minecraft‘s buildings and crafting, then adds multiplayer, Horde mode and some tower defence elements. This combination of game-styles works well and the distinctive art style which uses 2D pixelated characters in a 3D world gives it a lot of charm. Also, the old-school retro sound-track is amazing!

Download the Free Beta Demo or purchase the full Beta

Spark Rising is a highly customisable build and battle sandbox game where you create fortresses and engage in massive battles. You’ll the ability to create almost anything imaginable in-game, including units such as mechs, aliens, zombies, dinosaurs, monsters and robots, as well as a host of vehicles, artillery and defences.

To demonstrate the variety of creations available to players and to showcase the gameplay options, game developers - Wicked Loot - have released 3 different Alpha Demos, each with a different theme. It’s not possible to fully build and create in the Demos (though the second demo does allow some building functions), but they’re great fun none the less and offer a great demonstration of the gameplay, carnage and voxel based destruction.

The first Demo released was Retro Rising RAMPAGE (RRR), a fast-paced FPS arcadey homage to 8-bit NES era, with you playing as a Mega Man-esque character, fighting off shy guys. The second demo - Gaiden 2: Build Play - allows you access to some of the building mechanics, with you building a fortress and battling in it. Last but not least, there's Titian Rising which has just been released, is by far the most spectacular of the three, with you fighting off a massive Titan which can completely destroy the voxel based terrain.

All three Pre-Alpha Demos offer up unique and entertaining experiences, whether it be retro charm, building fortresses or the spectacle of fending off a massive Titan. Each one’s a great showcase for the vast possibilities that in a game that both nurtures creativity and embraces destruction.

Download all three Pre-Alpha Demos Free

Blockscape is a true next generation voxel based sandbox game where you can mine, build, craft and shape the world as you see fit. The mining and building tools available are very intuitive, and offer a variety of different shapes and sizes, not just the standard Minecraft sized block.

It’s currently in Open Beta stage 1, which just involves the building/crafting and exploring of your island. However, Stage 2 will bring more gameplay modes into play, such a God mode, Survival/RPG mode and Defence mode (Tower defence).

With it’s stunning visuals, and vast array of crafting tools, Blockscape is shaping up to be something special. Not just another Minecraft knock-off.

Play the Beta, Free

Bokida (Spotted by Indie Statik) is one of the most experimental, playful and satisfying sandbox games you’ll ever play. It offers a vast, beautifully stark and peculiar environment for you to explore, littered with strange black monoliths, temples and stunning scenery.

The main hook for Bokida though, is the build and destroy mechanics, allowing you to build massive structures, then cut through them at any angle, slicing off chunks or making the whole thing collapse.

Building is great fun, and remarkably easy to do (far easier than Minecraft for example), you can build whatever you like with no restrictions, with structures you build will also allow you to access every part of the massive terrain.

These structures can then be sliced and diced at any angle (Metal Gear Rising style), pushed, or deleted section at a time, allowing you to demolish your structures quite spectacularly or sculpt them into digital works of art.

Bokida is a wonderful combination of the building mechanics of Minecraft, the slice and dice destruction of Metal Gear Rising and the beautifully stark aesthetic on Unfinished Swan. It offers a fantastic toy-box of tools to play with in one of the biggest, beautiful and fascinating sandbox terrains we’ve ever seen.

Play the free Prototype and vote for the full game

Spark Rising is a Build and Battle sandbox game, that crosses the voxel building sandbox gameplay of Minecraft with the massive battles of Star Wars Battlefront.

Build fantastical floating islands, fortresses, and creatures and then use them in battle. Win battles and conquer battles throughout the galaxy, eventually using a 4X strategy mode to fight for territory against other players.

The game has already had a successful Kickstarter campaign and been Greenlit on Steam, The dev has just released an Alpha Demo that sees you fighting an a retro 8-bit inspired world, with a Mega-Man style blaster and fighting against Shy Guys who fire Bullet Bills at you. Although there is no build mode in the Alpha Demo, It’s impressive that the entire level (including the player character and enemies) has been crafted by the in-game building tools that will be in the final release.

Spark Rising is shaping up to be an excellent game, a massive toybox where you can build whatever you like then blow it to smithereens. Minecraft: Battlefront.

Play the retro 8-bit inspired Alpha Demo

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