I get the sense that our creator community has struggled to make money for so long that we think it’s normal to expect high-quality content on little to no budget.
Like many (most?) creators, I lost money on every experience I’ve published.
Saying 3-day conferences are worth $50K and $100K while saying competition-based creator RFPs lasting years is only worth $10K seems backwards to me. It feels like an unnecessary win-lose.
This SIP’s budget gives all of us a chance at that win-win, and it shouldn’t be a surprise to any seasoned Sandbox creator that most of us quoted $30K.
Ah. Yeah I can respect that rationale. I myself think the DAO should definitely have its own educational experience. I can understand why you think it’s pointless.
While I respect the ongoing SIP-32 initiative and the creative proposals for DAO education, I personally believe that creating a reusable, open DAO asset kit may have a more lasting impact than building a one-time educational experience.
Instead of just developing one immersive experience about DAO governance, we could focus on releasing a “DAO Builder Pack” that includes modular assets and logic templates that can be used across various projects. This would empower creators to build their own DAO-themed experiences and expand participation in a more decentralized way.
Suggested components might include:
DAO HQ voxel assets (e.g., voting halls, stages, speaker podiums)
UI templates for proposal voting and quest onboarding
NPC dialogue packs explaining DAO onboarding steps
Interactive SIP dashboards and reward trackers
Questboard templates tied to DAO actions and roles
These tools would not only support education but would also allow the community to integrate DAO mechanics naturally into gameplay across many different experiences. This feels more aligned with the decentralized spirit of the DAO itself.
I hope this perspective is helpful and would love to hear what others think!
Alternative Suggestion:
Instead of focusing on a single educational experience, I believe a more impactful and long-term approach would be to propose a system where promising studios plan, oversee, and budget the creation of a DAO asset pack, while the actual asset production is widely distributed to external creator communities.
This way, more creators can get involved, and the results can be reused across many projects. While the new features in Game Maker 0.12 are impressive, I’m still unsure how meaningful or far-reaching this specific educational experience will be.
It would be great if the DAO could focus on initiatives that support broader community growth and foster sustainable participation through reusable content.
I think we can do both. The next RFP can be to produce a reusable, open DAO asset kit. And the best part: it could include assets from the SIP-32’s DAO Educational Experience.
It may seem meaningful as a form of support for studios or teams that are on the verge of leaving The Sandbox,
but I don’t think it contributes — even slightly — to solving our core problems.
In the end, it feels like support is only being given to those who happen to be among the last ones remaining.
It’s a bit disappointing.
In my opinion, SIP-32 isn’t about supporting studios, it’s about expanding the DAO’s portfolio. The win-win happens when we do that with a reasonable budget where studios don’t have to choose between losing money and building the ecosystem. We have enough budget to do both ($4M USDC).
As for the core problem…each of us has a different idea of what that core problem is, and each of us has a different skill. To be a DAO is to consider someone else’s idea of what that core problem is, and how their proposal uses their skill to solve it.
I vote yes on most proposals because we have a large enough budget to solve many different problems using many different skills.
Over the last 10 weeks, we’ve built more than a teaser.
A fully visualized racing world A unique cast of voxel legends A teaser that blends narrative, style, and fun A full PDF with plans, mechanics, and pitch-ready assets
And now — the cinematic teaser is making its rounds:
Hey! I think the point of no code tools is low-cost and speed.
A real indie game can be made for $30–40k over the course of a year.
We had the Game Maker Fund, which unfortunately failed as an initiative. But because I genuinely love the platform, I want it to survive as long as possible. And I’m fully aware of what it actually costs to build a decent game — with a few weeks of hard work, it’s not that expensive (if you hire artist per asset not per month).
As for the core issues, the majority of devs agree on the same fundamental problems. So when I see large amounts of money spent on experiences that will be played once or twice, it just feels…questionable. That’s why I’ll vote for a game that deliver value within a fair budget.
And to those who are trying — I see the effort, and I know it’s hard work. The challenge is that with the current tools, especially Game Maker, it’s really difficult to build something that attracts people from outside. That’s why I don’t see much point in spending a lot on most of the SIPS, at least until the toolset expands (game maker mostly)
Seriously beautiful voxel art. But how does this help retain a player for more than 60 seconds in a game if we can’t drive or enter vehicles?
Not judging from some high tower, I’m fully in on The Sandbox, and my concerns have always been the same: we need better tools in Game Maker, more fluid gameplay, and a younger generation that can legally play and build [Web3 is not helping]. Right now, anything that’s not pushing Game Maker forward just feels kinda meh to me.
That may be the point, but it doesn’t make experiences cost less than $10K.
it’s not that expensive (if you hire artist per asset not per month).
I hired both of my experiences artist per asset. Both cost more than $15K. What I believe you’re thinking of are 1 or 2-person volunteers who fulfill multiple roles out of necessity.
at least until the toolset expands (game maker mostly)
Agreed. I’m not sure there is a SIP we can proposes to fulfill this need. If you have a recommendation, I’d gladly help write it with you.
Hey Sandbox friends! We’re thrilled to be here and truly honored to have the opportunity to build something meaningful for the DAO. As shared in our proposal, we’re excited to create an engaging, story-driven game that introduces and explores the ins and outs of DAO governance in a fun and immersive way. Let’s make learning unforgettable—together!
The theme for the game is the Metaverse itself, trying to showcase that every world and every idea can come to life, and active participation in the DAO can help accomplish that. To represent this, four distinct areas will be created: The CItadel of Ideas Valley of the Vote Temple of Delegates Dome of Impact
The idea behind these diverse concepts is to create storylines, quests and decisions for the player (some are self-contained to the area, some have repercussions or are intertwined with others) allowing for independent starting points for each one while avoiding monotony.
We’re AndyGraga and FlamanTornado, two passionate creators. We’ve snagged a few shiny awards from Game Jams and VoxEdit contests and cooked up a couple of experiences you can jump into right now. Power Plant Panic and Ruby & Emerald. They’re fun, weird, and slightly addictive—just like us.
We’re very excited to bring our ideas to life in The Sandbox with the DAO. If selected, you can bet we’ll pour every pixel of passion into crafting a game that’s not just fun, but unforgettable. We’re all ears for questions, suggestions, wild ideas, and plot twists from the community.
Thank you all for the opportunity and your trust. Dankoyy, Creative Crawl, and MetaWorlds have already begun storyboarding and designing. We’ll keep everyone up to date!
SIP-32 Update History
Update #1: SIP-32 accepted by DAO, begun Milestone 1
Congratulation @Lanzer@dankoyy and @creative Crawler, you are designated by the community to build the experience for The Sandbox DAO. I will reach out by email to give you more details about the next steps, before the milestones can officially begin!
Update from the BOOSTDRIVE team:
A fully visualized racing world
BOOSTDRIVE isn’t just a game.
Hey Sandbox friends! We’re thrilled to be here and truly honored to have the opportunity to build something meaningful for the DAO. As shared in our proposal, we’re excited to create an engaging, story-driven game that introduces and explores the ins and outs of DAO governance in a fun and immersive way. Let’s make learning unforgettable—together! 
The CItadel of Ideas
Valley of the Vote
Temple of Delegates
Dome of Impact
