Ylands

Ylands is a sandbox game where you can create anything you want out of basic blocks and elements. Free to play, it lets you play with friends and build your own heavenly worlds. Download Ylands, explore the world, or create your own games within it!

Graphics 4/5

Sandboxes are rarely about visuals, but it’s not considered a problem. Ylands is a great step ahead when compared to Minecraft, Roblox, and other sandboxes that let you create more games. There is always a conflict: the more elaborated visuals the game features, the less freedom it provides. But this time the balance is right: green leaves, transparent blue sea and realistic moves are combined with thousands of items and materials to craft and obtain.

Gameplay 5/5

The Ylands takes place on an island, one of an entire archipelago. Starting as just a survival, it then unfolds into an entire expedition. The world to explore is large and surprising: there are various plants and trees, birds and mammals, fishes and other sea creatures. And there are humans – or, at least, have been there, so you can run into ruins, find artificial items and sometimes even use them.

Exploration is the focus, but it takes resources. Get warm clothes to explore the colder zones of your island. Build a boat (or at least a raft) to venture out to other islands. Invite friends or random players to accelerate the exploration process and build civilization together.

Last but not least: there is a workshop that lets you create your own mini-games within Ylands. That’s the element that reminds rather Roblox or Garry’s Mod than Minecraft. And it’s considered one of the strongest pros of Ylands.

Controls 5/5

The app is only available for PC (mobile devices also feature Ylands, but iOS or Android version is cut and limited). So, the default inputs are keyboard and mouse. As it features a third-person view, the controls are similar to other action and survival games, with WASD to move, E to interact, mouse to look around, and so on.

Replay Value 5/5

Sandboxes are among the most replayable games, due to their infinite creative potential. If you are playing alone, though, the game may soon become dull. Collaboration games, on the contrary, keep inspiring you to craft new items and build a greater civilization on your islands. And if you master the Workshop, you’ll unlock more fun in it.

The Bottom Line

Ylands is free, though there are paid extras. For example, the Exploration pack ($19.99) adds more islands and turns the pure sandbox into a survival. It adds an exclusive costume and a pet that accompanies you in your travel. Other items you can buy for money are also mostly cosmetic and don’t impact the gameplay, as all really necessary items are free.

Ylands is one of the most promising sandbox games and platforms for creating your own games. With rich toolboxes and workshops and incredible good visuals (for a sandbox game) it just needs a little more hype to get really popular.

• Graphics 4
• Gameplay 5
• Controls 5
• Replay Value 5

Pros

Great visuals and sounds;
Incredible lots of items and materials to mine and craft;
Island-based structure;
You can create your own Ylands-based games in Workshop;
Basically free.

Cons

Not much fun to play alone;
Exploration mode is available as a paid DLC pack;
Mobile versions are severely limited.