Don't Starve vs Ylands
Don't Starve
Don't Starve is a pretty dreary and dark survival game set in a rich world filled with plenty of animals/game to hunt, monsters to kill, and resources to gather. With a gothic-like theme, the game's best feature is perhaps the way it hands the reins to its players and let these players decide what sort of survival game they'd want to play and how difficult will the game be. You can literally customize everything in the world you'll be playing in, ranging from the weather, how frequent lightning strikes, how long a season lasts, how much resources are spawned and many more.The game also has a very nice selection of characters that you can gradually unlock as you play the game. Each character will even have their own specialty that you can then make use of when the situation calls for it.
Don't Starve is a survival game that's as punishing as it is vicious. Expect to die a lot in the game and turn all those deaths into useful lessons that you can then build upon. If you fancy surviving with your friends in tow, then you might want to get the multiplayer version of the game, Don't Starve Together, instead.
Ylands
Ylands is a sandbox adventure game that has a gameplay that's a lot like a massively expanded version of Minecraft with a lot more resources for you to gather, items to craft, and amazing things to build. Instead of being "just a game", Ylands is more like a platform, much like Roblox is, where players are given the tools to create whatever worlds or games they like, be it a fun go-kart racing game that's inspired from Lega Racers or even a watery world where epic pirate-themed naval battles can take place. The worlds are completely interactive as well and every action you do will modify, no matter how slightly, the game environment of that segment of the world you happen to be in. In fact, if you change a terrain and populate it with an entirely different diversity of flora and fauna, you can basically change the climate system there.Unlike Minecraft though, Ylands has opted for a more polygonal appearance which gave it the extra leverage it needed to overcome the painful dismissal and degratory label of being simply a "Minecraft clone" - which admittedly, Ylands is most definitely not. The game has so much going for it and players truly have all the freedom within the game's pretty wide parameters to literally create anything they like. Of course, the game also supports sharing, so you can let other players in Yland enjoy that (for example) crazy maze-running game you've just made!
Ylands is most certainly impressive to say the least. However, due to its indie origins, not many players know about the game, let alone buy it on Steam. So, if you really like Minecraft-like sandbox games, you simply must give this game a try, and if you've had a great time there, be sure to recommend it to your friends or even buy it for them as their Christmas/ birthday gift!