A game is referred to as a sandbox or sandboxy when it gives you a starting position and then lets you do as you wish. It's opposite is a scripted game which is one where you are forced in a greater or lesser degree to follow historical decisions. Most battle games are sandboxes in that they put you in the starting position and then it's up to you. However, if there are reinforcements, they likely come on a completely scripted schedule. (That's not always the case. The Guns of Gettysburg has a completely random reinforcement schedule.) Often the comparison between scripted and sandbox games is looked at more in the strategic level.
Here's some examples of games more on the sanbox end of the scale:
- Triumph and Tragedy
- Cataclysm
- Gus of Gettysburg
