I don't think they should be combined. I considered it when I requested that open world and free roaming be merged, but I decided not to. I'll copy my reasoning from that thread.
Hexogen said:
"I've always thought the term "open-world/free-roaming" constituted nonlinear level design, whereas "sandbox" meant nonlinear gameplay. While many open-world games are also sandbox games and vice versa, I think there are at least a few cases where a game falls into one category but not the other. Shadow of the Colossus is a good example. While the world is pretty open and nonlinear, the gameplay is anything but. You have to fight the sixteen colossi in order, and after defeating each colossus you're returned to a shrine, where you then set out for the next monster. "
I think another good example is Garry's Mod. It's definitely not open world, but there are so many different things you can do with the gameplay that I would definitely call it a sandbox game. Also, there are games such as Sim City and RollerCoaster Tycoon which feature sandbox modes that leave you free to do what you want, but neither of those are open world games. So I see "open world" and "sandbox" as two different things. Agree? Disagree?
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