Thanks! I've never played minecraft, I was just wondering if maybe the distinction is between sandbox and simulation? I'm probably getting the terms wrong but the games do seem very different in their goals and how they engage the player.

Perspective.

Simulation games tend to be top-down and focus on controlling large swaths of things from an abstract point of contact.

Sandbox games tend to be perspective-based and focus on controlling some single person or group of persons from an intimate point of contact.

Or, more pithily: In a simulation game, you pan; in a sandbox game, you walk.