Meet the FOCGER: Red, Ponziland

so Cambria pulled a fresh investment and minted out their Island NFTs in minutes?!

In this episode BENZZZ, founder of the risk-heavy MMO, shares how they secured a top-up investment led by Bitkraft / Sky Mavis and sold out its Island Land NFT mint in minutes while most of crypto gaming struggles to raise. We dig into why investors chose to double down on Cambria based on real in-game signal from janky early builds and Season 1 → Season 2 progression, how designing around real loss, frustration, social bonds, and drama creates emotions web2 MMOs can’t, and what actually happened behind the scenes of the Island mint—over-allocation, priority vs FCFS, second-chance allocations, and the tension between rewarding day-ones vs bringing in new holders. Ben breaks down Island NFTs and their “islands + islets” model as a social landlord–tenant economy and another risk-to-earn game mode rather than passive yield, walks through their approach to sinks, rotting resources, seasonal resets, and Royal Favor to avoid DeFi-fication, and explains why top-tier islands are more about status and social gravity than raw multipliers. We go deep on inspirations from RuneScape Construction and Club Penguin igloos—player housing as social space, flex zone, and utility hub for prep, pets, trophies, and hosting—and finish with a candid look at what it feels like to be a crypto game founder in 2025: building in a shrinking ecosystem, separating core game and progression from pure token speculation, and still being obsessed with shipping weird, social, onchain-first systems even when the tide is out. ⏱️ Timestamps 00:47 – Why investors doubled down on Cambria (top-up raise in a down market) 04:29 – Behind the scenes of the Island NFT mint: surprises, missteps, and second chances 10:30 – Island NFTs 101: islands, islets, tenants, and value accrual 17:47 – RuneScape Construction, Club Penguin igloos, and why social housing matters Later – Sinks vs inflation, rotting resources, alliances and betrayal between islands, and the mental load of founding in crypto gaming Links: https://x.com/FOCGERS [https://x.com/FOCGERS] https://x.com/playcambria [https://x.com/playcambria] https://x.com/cyberpunk [https://x.com/cyberpunk]

Meet the FOCGER: Red, Ponziland

00:24 path to @ponzidotland 02:52 creating Modrinth, 2nd biggest OS platform for Minecraft content (+ how they unlocked monetization via ads) 10:06 why build a crypto game 21:26 bots / automatization in Ponziland 24:20 perks of being fully onchain 28:32 biggest challenges in the onchain game space 35:24 sources of inspiration in crypto gaming (GLHF 🫡) In this episode of Meet the FOCGER, I chat with Red (@knownas_red [https://x.com/knownas_red]), co-founder of RuneLabs and builder of Ponziland — the degen land-grabbing simulation where players buy, nuke, and tax each other in a fully onchain economy. Before diving into crypto gaming, Red helped shape the Minecraft modding era by building Modrinth, now the second biggest open-source platform for Minecraft content (70k+ mods!). We talk about how that open-source, player-driven spirit translates into FOCG design, what it means to “roleplay as a Ponzi operator,” and how fully onchain tech like account abstraction and paymasters makes fast, frictionless gameplay possible. Red also shares deep thoughts on automation in games, why many FOCGs still feel like tech demos, and why failure is the most important contribution to the onchain builder community. Links: https://x.com/@focgers [https://x.com/@focgers] https://x.com/@knownas_red [https://x.com/@knownas_red] https://x.com/@ponzidotland [https://x.com/@ponzidotland] https://x.com/@RuneLabs [https://x.com/@RuneLabsGG]_ https://x.com/@Starknet [https://x.com/@Starknet] https://x.com/@ohayo_dojo [https://x.com/@ohayo_dojo] https://x.com/@cartridge_gg [https://x.com/@cartridge_gg]

Meet the FOCGER: POW! fully onchain game is breaking UOPS records

02:52 roleplaying as a blockchain operator 05:36 grinding @POW_sn until 4 AM 13:41 how @Starknet handles POW!’s 273 UOPS 16:51 endgame for POW! (+ prestige mode) 26:14 future ideas (app that uses Bitcoin 👀) In this episode of Meet the FOCGER, I sit down again with Brandon (@BrandonR505 [https://x.com/BrandonR505]) — the builder behind POW! and Art / Peace, two of the most important experiments in Starknet’s history. POW! isn’t just another clicker game; it’s a meta blockchain simulator where you roleplay as an L1 + L2 operator, mining blocks, building dApps, and literally learning how crypto works while you play. We talk about the insane onchain numbers (273 user ops per second 🤯), how Starknet’s batching and paymaster system make it all possible, and why this “idle miner” ended up breaking records for crypto gaming. Brandon also shares thoughts on the upcoming prestige mode, community feedback that shaped POW!, and teases the team’s next move, a mysterious app that uses Bitcoin 👀 Links: https://x.com/@focgers [https://x.com/@focgers] https://x.com/@POW_sn [https://x.com/@POW_sn] https://x.com/@BrandonR505 [https://x.com/@BrandonR505] https://x.com/@art_peace_sn [https://x.com/@art_peace_sn] https://x.com/@Starknet [https://x.com/@Starknet] https://x.com/@StarkWareLtd [https://x.com/@StarkWareLtd]

Meet the FOCGER: Jokers of Neon fully onchain game

01:26 path to onchain gaming 05:45 why build a crypto game 11:50 perks & constraints of onchain 14:57 game economy 16:40 @Starknet / @cartridge_gg / @ohayo_dojo tech stack 23:50 go to market approach In this episode of Meet the FOCGER, I sit down with Santiago and Nico, co-founders of Caravana Game Studio, the team behind Jokers of Neon — a roguelike card battler often dubbed “Balatro onchain.” We dive into their journey from Starknet dev projects like Starklings.app to building one of the most playable fully onchain games live today. They share how @Starknet’s speed and @cartridge_gg’s Dojo engine made it possible to go fully onchain, the vision behind permissionless modding, and how NFT cards + tournaments will shape the mainnet launch. We also talk about Eternum, Gigaverse, and the rising wave of FOCG builders defining Starknet’s gaming scene. Links: https://x.com/@focgers [https://x.com/@focgers] https://x.com/@jokers_of_neon [https://x.com/@jokers_of_neon] https://x.com/@caravanastudio [https://x.com/@caravanastudio] https://x.com/@Starknet [https://x.com/@Starknet] https://x.com/@cartridge_gg [https://x.com/@cartridge_gg] https://x.com/@ohayo_dojo [https://x.com/@ohayo_dojo]

He ships some of the most experimental games on Starknet?! Meet Brandon of Art/Peace and POW!

00:58 discovering crypto / @StarkWareLtd  02:53 why build on @Starknet / @ohayo_dojo  07:57 teasing @POW_sn clicker game ➕ @focfun app engine In this episode of Meet the FOCGERS, I sit down with Brandon (@art_peace_sn [https://x.com/art_peace_sn] / @BrandonR505 [https://x.com/BrandonR505]), the mind behind Art/Peace, Starknet’s living graffiti wall turned cultural phenomenon. We talk about his journey from Coinbase infra work to StarkWare, why Starknet’s dev tooling + community makes it the best place for fully onchain games, and how Art/Peace brings projects like Eternum and Ponziland onto the same canvas. Brandon also teases his upcoming POW clicker game and foc.fun app engine, designed to make building casual onchain apps fast and fun. From the challenges of onboarding players to the alpha hidden in pixel art wars, this convo shows why he’s one of the most experimental builders in the Starknet gaming scene. Links: https://x.com/@focgers [https://x.com/@focgers] https://x.com/ [https://x.com/]@BrandonR505 [https://x.com/BrandonR505] https://x.com/ [https://x.com/]@art_peace_sn [https://x.com/art_peace_sn]  https://x.com/@POW_sn [https://x.com/@POW_sn] https://x.com/@art_peace_sn [https://x.com/@art_peace_sn] https://x.com/@focfun [https://x.com/@focfun] https://x.com/@starkware [https://x.com/@starkware] @starknet