Hey folks, hello again!
Over the past days, there were a few posts I really wanted to write - and finally, they’re done! Judging by the number of views, the post about Godot really resonated with many of you. I even got DMs saying "You are my inner voice."
Thank you - that means a lot! ❤️
Time to Say Goodbye… For Now
I’ve been rushing to finish these final posts about The Sandbox for a reason - it’s time to move on. The club needs to evolve and grow, but sadly, after many conversations with a lot of people from the Sandfam, it became clear: most people don’t really need a club.
Out of 1000 active fans of The Sandbox, only 20 people joined the club in an entire year. Unfortunately, the club can’t survive like that - so we’ve decided to shift direction.
No, the club isn’t shutting down. It’s changing shape and focus.
For a long time, I believed: “Wouldn’t it be amazing to bring together top landowners, designers, developers, and players in one place - to form a super tight-knit community that discovers the secret sauce and uses The Sandbox , VoxEdit and Game Maker to their full legendary potential?”
That was a dream - one that didn’t come true. Sadly.
I still think people didn’t really get the point of the club. It was never just about tech or talking about games and voxels. It was always about bringing together people who shared the same passion.
We deliberately chose a narrow focus on The Sandbox because we thought the community needed a space where people felt at home - where everyone knew each other, exchanged ideas, supported each other, and tackled real challenges together.
This kind of thing actually works well in other communities outside The Sandbox. But Sandfam just isn’t at that stage yet.
And that’s no one’s fault.
It’s just not the time yet. 🤷🏻♂️
Love
I love The Sandbox and its core idea. I’ve been deep into this project for almost five+ years. I made friends here, had a great time, and I’m still rooting for it! I genuinely believe the platform has huge potential - and that someday, even the skeptics will start talking about it again.
It’s a unique project, and I love it for that.
But the platform needs to grow, and the community needs to emerge.
Right now, what we call “Sandfam” is about 30–50 active people trying things out and experimenting. But it’s not yet a full-fledged community - one that can truly build and shape the platform.
Yes, there’s a DAO… but honestly, it doesn’t seem to be working well.
People vote for bad SIPs, and the DAO budget disappears into the void.
Sadly, once again, humanity fumbled the decentralization experiment.
It was predictable.
Maybe, one day, when The Sandbox matures, Sandfam 2.0 will be born - a version of the community that’s more alive. Not just active in retweeting, but in real conversation, sharing, supporting.
That would be a powerful community. 🤝
Is the Club Closing?
Absolutely not. We’re just going beyond The Sandbox - aiming to become a lifestyle community for people passionate about game development.
We want to bring together the best indies, engineers, artists, animators - anyone who sees games as part of their creative or professional life.
The club is not about games. It’s about people, their stories, and their creativity. That’s the culture we want to build here. 🌱
So What Was the Club’s Idea, Really?
Honestly? I'm damn tired of just blabbing about games.
Wouldn’t it be way cooler to have a club where someone like Raphaël Colantonio could hang out - share how he felt during the making of Dishonored, and later, what it was like becoming a guitarist in Weird Wolves with Ava Lee Gore, writing music together?
That’s the kind of community I dream of.
Or maybe Eric Barone, the creator of Stardew Valley, telling how he managed to finish such a project, whether he exercised during development, what he ate, and what kind of music he listens to.
Not sure if you caught the vibe yet - but that’s the kind of club I always wanted to build. 🤟
What About The Sandbox?
I don’t know. I had many more posts planned - about marketing, building and sustaining teams, monetizing games (even under the current conditions), and more. And all abot the Sandbox. Maybe I’ll still write them someday.
But for now, I’m stepping away from my relationship with The Sandbox.
If The Sandbox becomes something truly amazing, then it and the people passionate about it will naturally show up in future threads and posts.
But for now… 👇
What’s Next?
Right now, my main goal is to follow the call of the heart.
Some upcoming posts might be about the history of game outsourcing over the past 15 years (something I’ve experienced firsthand).
Or about the Godot engine, or small indie teams launching games on Steam and their stories.
We might talk about the current state of art communities, game artists, or start threads about travel, hobbies, and so on.
The plan for the club is to be a cozy place for awesome people who are into UGC, game dev, and creativity - and who also live full lives: traveling, raising kids, climbing mountains, playing instruments, doing 3D printing, going to cosplay festivals… Whatever, dudes. That’s what we’ll write about.
People. Stories. Failures and wins. Insights. Creativity and life. 💭
Join the Club
Friends - the club is about people. I can’t be the only one writing cool posts, right? Whether it’s an idea or a story - we’d love to hear it.
Welcome!🖖
Into hiking? Join us and write about your best trails and which boots to buy. Building custom mechanical keyboards? Tell us, I want to learn too!
The world is so much more interesting than just games 🤙
What About Donations?
Yeah, it’s hard to run the club without support. That’s life.
In the coming weeks, we’ll simplify entry to the community. No more NFT rings or anything fancy - just regular donations. (Not sure if we’ll use Stripe or something else, but we’ll figure out a simple solution.)
If you suddenly decide to join the club right now — yes, donations via the rings are still available. It’s currently the cheapest and easiest option for us, and it makes total sense for anyone who's into The Sandbox.
Pick any ring, follow the instructions - and the club doors are open for you. We will get a burst of motivation… and a fresh coffee supply for the coming months ☕✨
Like what we’re doing? Join the club and support us!
