I chose sandbox because I like this type of game. I'm not into the whole “reading and clicking” thing - when I play a game, I want to actually
feel like I'm playing it. I'm not someone with X years of game dev experience, I just decided one evening that I wanted to make a game - and so I did. I picked Ren'Py because it's the easiest game engine out there, and while creating KOOTH, I'm learning it along the way. If I had the skills, I’d honestly go for a different engine and make something more like a third-person RPG rather than a VN.
As for grinding - there’s a week of in-game time between sleepovers. I tried to design it so that the player has that week to earn money for a certain item and then start the next scene. There are 3 levels of the pizza delivery job, which increase the number of houses to deliver to and the size of the tips. The studio created by the characters near the end of this version of the game will also provide additional income.
Message to all sandbox game haters: Leave this thread and go find a game that
isn’t sandbox, something that will give you more fun than KOOTH. Cheers!