I never got to play that game Sega made out of sand Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. I never got to play that game Sega made out of sand Been there, dune that. Feature by Christian Donlan Features Editor Updated on 11 Oct 2019 11 comments A few years back I remember reading a few news pieces about a new arcade game Sega had made that used sand. It was a kid's game, available in a bunch of sites in Japan. A trailer was released and it was pretty clear that this was never going to make it to Europe. It never did. What a crying shame. Seriously, this game looks wonderful. You have a little tray of special sand that doesn't stick to you and get annoying. You move the sand around and an overhead projection system of some kind reads the sand and turns it into landscapes in real time. Dig a trench and the projector will turn it into a river. Dig a mountain and you'll get grass on the slopes and all that jazz. This is very special, I think. There is something about games that seem to focus on playing rather than anything like rules. There is something about games that encourage you to lose yourself in the moment. I can still imagine picking up lumps of sand and making boulders, spending hours on a landscape and then sweeping it away. It broke my heart a little that the game never came over here. But I feel like I got to play something very like it, anyway. From Dust takes the pleasures of material physics and gives you a nice chunk of real-estate to work with, allowing you to bring in tidal waves and volcanoes too. And then there's Toca Nature, perhaps my favourite of all Toca games. Toca Nature gives you a little slab of land and you can do whatever you want with it. You can raise mountains, dig rivers and seas, and plant trees. There's lovely stuff about the interaction of different ecosystems going on, but really I can just play it for hours ignoring all that, exploring, sculpting, channeling. We've spent a lot of this week trying to get at what Sega means to us, what we take away from the games we've played and the memories we retain. But this game, this sand game that I have never played and will never play, that has no blue skies, no rollerskaters or hedgehogs, seems to get at the heart of what I love about Sega most of all. They see potential everywhere. The game never ends. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More Features Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. 14 Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Feature What games get wrong about horses And what they could do about it. 34 Feature Shout out to all the Overwatch supports - where would we be without you? Merci. 55 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Sennheiser's legendary HD 599 open-back headphones are just £70 at Amazon in the Prime Early Access Sale Comfortable with neutral sound and a wide sound stage. Preview Football Manager's new Console edition is the best you'll get without a PC Getting Touch-right. 1 Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 61 Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store