Work on a new version of the game, originally called Universe Sandbox², began in 2014. Since then, he has hired eight additional designers for the company. Dixon worked full-time on the project since 2010, founding the company Giant Army the following year.
Universe Sandbox was designed by Dan Dixon, who released the first version in May 2008. The original Universe Sandbox was only available for Windows-based PCs, but an updated version was released for Windows, macOS, and Linux in 2015.
Using Universe Sandbox, users can see the effects of gravity on objects in the universe and run scale simulations of the Solar System, various galaxies or other simulations, while at the same time interacting and maintaining control over gravity, time, and other objects in the universe, such as moons, planets, asteroids, comets, and black holes. Universe Sandbox is a series of interactive space sandbox gravity simulator educational software video games.
