Alien Worlds Co-Founder Sarojini McKenna on DAOs Disguised as Vegetables

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree – or the code from the DAO. Half way through our conversation Saro looks me in the eye and says the code for Alien Worlds is pretty much the same as laid down for the proposed Liberland governance foundation, a micro nation sitting on the Danube between Croatia and Serbia and in need of a DAO to manage its affairs.

“It’s all about the DAO, or the Decentralised Autonomous Organisation.”

In a time when play to earn is the echo that follows gamers around, Alien Worlds is converting people to mass adoption through strategy and governance. It’s like sneaking extra shredded vegetables into children’s dinners; they don’t even know they are eating it.

Let’s start with the basics. Alien Worlds is a metaverse with seven planets. Launched in 2020, it’s the biggest game on WAX and possibly on blockchain and last month it flip flopped in and out of first and second place in all dApps globally with PancakeSwap.

It happened quite quickly and then some. First of all, Alien Worlds was the first game on blockchain to break through 100,000 users, then one million users, then two million. Now it’s surging at 2.5 million users. It is literally limitless.

A blockchain game using NFTs to enter and operate in the metaverse, Alien Worlds allows people to earn Trillion. Holding Trillion gives players a strategic advantage in the game. Trillion can also be cashed out, and there are many videos on Youtube showing you how to do this, but Saro is less interested in that aspect. This is definitely about the hidden vegetable approach.

“We created our metaverse, which is a boundary in space, divided into seven planets. When people land on these digital worlds they use NFTs to mine the fungible token, Trillion.”

Entry is simple, players need to get a WAX wallet and then head out to where they’d like to mine. The land has already been sold to more than 3400 users but it’s possible to rent land to mine in order to earn Trillion. Choices are made at this stage as different lands yield different returns.

On the WAX planets people mine Trillion, on the BinanceChain planet they go on missions – the different blockchains offer different gaming mechanisms and more will be added over time.

“You got to pick your strategy.”

This also applies to how long you want to stay in the game. Saro points out that some people like to be there all the time, others pop in and out, so picking the right strategy is important.

“Some tools give a bigger payout and if you only dip in and out you need those ones. Right now, it’s just mining but we are building fighting scenarios too where you can send in your minions and weapons and challenge another player to a battle.”

As Sarao explains the setup, she also points out all the data is on the blockchain and is transparent.

“The smart contracts and data are visible so players can see which parts of the metaverse are attracting the most attention. People can offer gaming contracts and already have, hosting their own mini competitions. That’s what excites us – the metaverse taking on a life of its own.”

The community has set up its own telegram channels, discord channels and websites. There are conversations happening off-planet and in the metaverse and this is where Saro sees the most febrile innovation occurring.

“Each planet is competitive to the others and each planet has its own DAO.”

Now we are getting to the nub. This is not just a game to mine Trillion, this is a game to mine Trillion and stake it to a particular planet. The six planets are competing for the scarce Trillion; the bigger the planet (the more users, the more Trillion staked) the more Trillion it attracts in daily inflation.

All the Trillion goes first to the planets and is then shared by games or by mining and using a complex system of algorithms and calculations, in conjunction with the different NFTs, to determine final values. It is complex but there is a blueprint, open source of course for anyone who wants to read it.

Back to the hidden vegetables. Once the planet DAOs are fully open for governance, then they vote in councilors. Councilors vote on chain to release the funds in the treasury to support different worker proposals that are submitted. It’s a circle, workers propose ideas, councilors vote on them. Councilors can be voted in – and out. The funds could be spent to create new games, or reward different tasks. A recent example was a writer looking to create more lore for the game and to receive rewards for their work.

Or planets could vote to compete with other planets and strategize on how to extract more Trillion.

“The landowners will in time also probably group as a governance contingent as their interests will be similar.”

While the land is already purchased, as it is in the real world, it can be bought and sold by players.

So while Trillion can be earned through mining and other games and cashed out, Saro thinks there will be more interest in staking the token and influencing the direction of the planet in the metaverse.

“Metaverses are the new social media – where people will come to socialize. We have given them a world, or rather worlds, where people can come together and talk about what they want to do and to achieve. The competitive element between the planets makes for interesting conjecture.”

Pass the vegetables, please.

(Photo by Filipa Campos on Unsplash)