As the last project that the late Akira Toriyama was involved in, it's an honor to play Sand Land and feel Toriyama's style and storytelling throughout the game. One of its biggest selling points is desert driving, and players will have the opportunity to hit a lot of things with their vehicle to get new materials that they can use in the game.
What to avoid while driving in Sand Land
Let's start this guide with the things you shouldn't hit with your vehicle. This isn't a hard and fast rule, there's actually very little in the game you can't hit – and the things you can't hit you can usually drive and fly into the air.
Big rocks
You can't drive over these, you'll just hit them and stun your vehicle for a second. If you try to drive over the very edge of one, you might just hit it and get redirected a bit.
Boulders of rock
During the beginning of the game, when you're chasing people to steal their water, you can hit rocky boulders without causing any real damage to yourself or Centaur. Beelzebub does a little “Ow!” noises if you run through them in that scene, but you don't take damage there.
Outside of that moment, it's best not to tempt fate.
Flat rocks
Rocks or boulders closer to the ground can be run over without any consequence, but they can make your journey less smooth and send you flying (depending on the height of the one you decided to try and hit). We're not saying definitely don't hit them, they're really a lot of fun to drive, but there's no benefit to driving over them.
Cliffs
There are no barriers in Sand Land. Think Rainbow Road in Mario Kart. You'll just go over the edge, and end up back where you were originally. The same thing will happen if you're out of your vehicle and just exploring – however, depending on the height of the drop, you might just drop to the next floor down. I did this when I ran up the stairs to go and talk to Lucifer at the start of the game and I was pretty pleased that the drop didn't kill me.
Anyway, Cliffs. You're not playing GTA, there's no crash or explosion, you'll just have a little fading moment while the game resets your position.
And, of course, if you try to hit the bottom of a cliff, you'll just bounce back a little.
Related: How to repair a vehicle in Sand Land
What you can and should hit in Sand Land
As you drive in Sand Land and take in the scenery, you'll find various things that you can hit with your vehicle to get materials. These include enemies, trees, wild animals… And many of these will attack you if you get too close though. Except the trees.
Trees and other plants
Hitting a dead tree with your vehicle will give you Plant Matter. You can also find this material from some other plants, but there are so many dead trees around.
Funny, if you hit a cat, you… Get a cat. You can use Plant Materium and Catus materials later to craft items like Cactus Silk and Vegetable Oil.
Raptors
You will encounter various raptors throughout the game, especially while you are driving. By killing these creatures, you can get several different crafting materials that are very useful to have.
For example, early in the game you will encounter smaller red and green raptors. The red raptors will drop a Raptor Scale upon their death (like other types of raptors), and the green or “Gem” raptors will drop a Bright Green Scale.
Scorpions
This isn't Animal Crossing, you won't get stung as you keep ramming the scorpions with your car. I think all those scorpions stinging me in ACHN has made me a little biased towards them….
Anyway, these little yellow guys are a little harder to spot than the raptors, but I noticed they were hanging out closer to the cliffs and there were a ton of them by the cacti. Raptors roam a little more freely, it seems.
The annoying thing about scorpions is that they burrow underground and wait for you. I enjoyed driving in circles and occasionally hitting them to add some flavor to my game.
Related: All Sand Land materials and how to get them
Other items found while driving in Sand Land
Another great thing to watch out for while you're traversing the Sand Waste are loot boxes and chests. These small boxes can be difficult to spot when they are alone, but many of them are located among the wreckage of other vehicles and machines that were lost in the desert.
In these boxes, you can find a wide variety of crafting materials, so it's best to start looking for them as early as possible in the game. You may find Shock Absorbing Rubber, B-Grade Steel and other B-Grade art materials, Alloys, Standard Springs and other Standard processing materials, and more.
You will also find various caves while driving in Sand Land, and you will need to get out of your vehicle to explore these areas. While running around whatever cave you've found, you'll be able to find even more art materials and some other helpful items, too. Oh, and the cave cobras. Don't forget about those.
Driving is a really enjoyable part of Sand Land and it's obvious that a lot of effort has gone into these parts of the game – which is great, as traveling between locations in RPGs can often feel really repetitive. Enjoy scouting for more art materials across Sandland and drive as fast and wild as you want.
Looking for more Pro Game Guides Sand Land content? Check out our guide on How to climb hills in Sand Land and How to defeat the Geji Dragon in Sand Land.
