I have a notion that it&#x27;s possible to have a &quot;somewhat directed sandbox&quot; game. I&#x27;m working on a combat&#x2F;survival open world game with a procedurally generated tech tree to go along with the procedurally generated world. There is a &quot;difficulty direction&quot; (down) and the farther you go that way, the environment becomes exponentially more difficult, while the items&#x2F;powerups become exponentially more powerful. (With the environment gaining power faster than the player, of course.)<p>This gives just enough structure for players to escape the Second Life trap. (What happens to people who have no needs&#x2F;problems in a virtual world? They go right up the Maslow Need Hierarchy -- to Sex.)<p>Hopefully, this will provide the right kind of structure to let players game-balance the game themselves. (And give them enough scope to invent their way into and out of corners.)