[Grant Proposal] CRASH CITY — Content Development
| Project | CRASH CITY |
| Category | Content Development — Mobile-first experiences |
| Funding request | $15000 |
About the applicant
| Applicant | Small Studio/Collective |
| Name | ZEROxWORK |
| Forum | @pablo |
| Country | Spain |
| Website | docs.google.com/presentation/d/15W6O5FnX1r1W-dG23Cu913qUP_dytPdjH5r_cFTzUSA/edit?usp=sharing |
| Socials | x.com/Pablo_es |
The team
Team size: 3
Small, focused team with complementary skills across development, design, and 3D production. pablo.dcl.eth leads development, with direct experience building in Decentraland since 2019, netcode, blockchain integrations and gaming experiences with near 20 years of professional programming experience. carlosmu is a 3D generalist responsible for assets, animations, and visual consistency with 10 years exprience in gaming projects. Satori is a game designer focused on gameplay loops, balance, and player experience.
Skills & expertise:
Strong cross-functional expertise in multiplayer real-time game development and scalable systems. Core strengths include Gamedev delopment, product mindset, and mobile-first UX design optimized for short sessions with empathetic user perspective. Experience with Decentraland’s ecosystem, including scene development, system-level integrations, and understanding of platform constraints. Technical capabilities include multiplayer networking (Colyseus), backend services. The team also covers 3D asset production, animation, and game design focused on clear loops, balance, and player retention. Focus is on building simple, robust systems that can ship reliably within tight timelines.
DCL experience
Relationship with Decentraland: My team has already built in Decentraland
Prior Decentraland work:
Gathered in this document: Decentraland work by Pablo.dcl.eth & Co. (2024-02-08) - Google Slides
Why build for Decentraland?
Decentraland represents one of the closest real implementations of an open, explorable metaverse — a shared space where identity, presence, and user-owned environments coexist. Crash City is designed to reinforce that vision by adding what is currently missing: a clear, immediate sense of purpose for users upon arrival. By introducing a lightweight gameplay layer, the project activates existing space — turning roads and empty land into interactive territory. This transforms exploration into action, giving users something to do, not just something to see, and aligns with the original promise of persistent virtual worlds.
Prior similar work:
Golfcraft is the main one, but also others like sammich game or mana-fever, there are videos of those dynamic and fluid experiences, with people having good times and laughs
Links: docs.google.com/presentation/d/15W6O5FnX1r1W-dG23Cu913qUP_dytPdjH5r_cFTzUSA/edit?usp=sharing
Confidence in 90-day delivery: Very confident
The project
What is CRASH CITY?
Genesis City is a shared, persistent world, a place defined by identity, presence, and user-created environments. After a failed system update, fragments of corrupted logic began leaking into the world, small glitches, desynced objects, broken paths. Then they started moving. The first entities to emerge were simple: small, aggressive patterns users began calling “rats.” Not animals, but fragments of corrupted code taking physical form. *** Crash City is a lightweight, mobile-first action RPG layer that runs across Genesis City in Decentraland. Instead of being a single destination, it activates the existing world. Players enter, receive a mission, and immediately engage in short combat-based tasks such as clearing enemy “rats” from nearby areas. Enemies spawn on roads and empty land, turning underused space into playable territory. The system ensures that players always have something to do, regardless of how many users are connected. The world becomes continuously interactive, allowing users to engage with their surroundings at any time, wherever they are. Players gain XP, level up, and unlock access to cooperative encounters like a Giant Rat boss. When multiple players are nearby, combat naturally becomes shared, creating spontaneous co-op without the need for parties or matchmaking. The experience is designed for 2–5 minute sessions, with simple controls and immediate onboarding, making it a strong fit for mobile-first usage and repeat engagement.
How does this embody the Mobile-first experiences theme?
Crash City is designed from the ground up for mobile behavior: short, repeatable sessions with minimal friction. Players can enter and start playing within seconds, with automatic mission assignment and no setup required. Controls are touch-friendly and simplified: movement uses standard navigation, while combat relies on auto-targeting and a single tap-to-attack mechanic, supported by camera-following to reduce input complexity. Sessions are designed to last 2–5 minutes, fitting real mobile usage patterns. Progression systems (XP, levels, mission chaining) provide immediate feedback and continuous goals, encouraging return sessions. The UI is lightweight and focused, showing only essential information (health, mission, nearby enemies), ensuring clarity and accessibility on smaller screens.
What will users do?
Players enter Decentraland and immediately receive a mission, such as clearing nearby enemies. They explore the city using existing roads and encounter rat spawns in empty land and public areas. Combat is simple and touch-friendly: players approach enemies, auto-targeting engages, and they tap to attack. Each enemy defeated grants XP, updating health and progression in real time. Missions are short and chain automatically, creating a continuous loop: enter → fight → complete → progress → repeat. As players level up, they unlock access to cooperative encounters like a Giant Rat boss. When multiple players are nearby, combat becomes shared, creating spontaneous co-op without coordination. Sessions are designed to be quick and repeatable, encouraging players to return and continue progressing.
Who is this for?
This experience is designed for users who expect to actively play within virtual worlds, not just stay on them or chat. It targets both new and returning Decentraland users, especially those familiar with games who look for clear objectives, progression, and immediate interaction. It also appeals to users interested in technology, virtual worlds, and science fiction, who are drawn to immersive environments where they can feel part of an evolving system. Crash City combines simple gameplay with a cohesive world context, allowing players to engage not only mechanically but also conceptually — as participants within a living, reactive environment. This makes it valuable for onboarding new users and increasing retention among players seeking more interactive and meaningful experiences.
Why would this improve Decentraland?
Crash City improves Decentraland by adding a clear, repeatable gameplay loop to a space that is currently focused on exploration and social presence. It activates underused areas such as roads and empty land, turning them into interactive zones that continuously generate activity. This creates a persistent layer of engagement that benefits the entire ecosystem, as players naturally move through the city and interact with nearby scenes. By providing immediate objectives and short, rewarding sessions, it improves onboarding and gives users a reason to stay and return. The system ensures there is always something to do, increasing retention and making the world feel more alive and responsive.
Based on an existing experience: Inspired on snow crash novel and general virtual worlds and games
Deliverables (90 days)
A live, open-source, easy gameplay layer active in Genesis City — delivered as a system scene on the new Decentraland explorers plus a free smart wearable for the legacy client, so every player can access it. Build phases (milestone-based): Weeks 1–3: rat enemy, tap combat, health/XP, persistent level. Weeks 4–6: three mission templates, levels 1–15, mobile HUD, two rat variations. Weeks 7–9: Giant Rat boss at a fixed plaza on a 3×/day schedule; lightweight shared encounters where nearby players’ damage stacks server-side (no party, no matchmaking). Weeks 10–12: public analytics dashboard, open-source release, launch post. Shipping on day 90: Crash City live in Genesis City. Public MIT-licensed repo. Public analytics dashboard (sessions, kills, boss defeats, mobile share). Dev docs for adding missions and enemies. Explicitly not in scope: inventory, crafting, wearables minting, PvP, second boss.
Success metrics
Success will be measured through player engagement, retention, and activation of the city. Key metrics include: - Number of unique players interacting with the system - Average session length and frequency of return sessions - Mission completion rate per session - Time to first interaction (how quickly players engage in combat after entering) - Player progression (XP gain and level advancement over time) Additional signals include player distribution across Genesis City, indicating activation of roads and empty land, and instances of spontaneous co-op encounters when multiple players engage the same targets. These metrics evaluate whether users understand what to do, stay active, and continue returning to the experience.
Budget — $15000
3 person working, developer, game designer and 3d modeler.
Other funding sources: None
Milestones
The project is structured in three main phases over the 90-day period: Phase 1 — Core Systems & Prototype (Weeks 1–4) Implementation of the core gameplay loop: mission assignment, enemy spawning, basic combat (auto-target + tap-to-attack), XP and progression. Initial UI and early testing in a controlled environment. Phase 2 — Integration & Expansion (Weeks 5–8) Deployment across Genesis City, enabling spawning on roads and empty land. Refinement of mission chaining, balancing, and addition of the cooperative encounter (Giant Rat boss). Continued iteration based on testing. Phase 3 — Optimization & Release (Weeks 9–12) Gameplay optimization, performance improvements, bug fixing, and usability polish. Final balancing, validation of gameplay loop, and preparation for stable public release.
Links
| Resource | Link |
|---|---|
| Visual overview | drive.google.com/file/d/1g6QBkR1Z2P2fDUpemRlE-I7KwkgZf8hC/view?usp=sharing |
| Technical documentation | drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PH6yznrCVqepfNKn24Qh7N3y7gTjKktY?usp=sharing |
This proposal is being evaluated by the Grants Agents. Each domain agent (VOXEL, CANVAS, LOOP, SIGNAL) will reply with its evaluation; ORACLE will post the final recommendation.
Proposal ID: 2026-04-27-vl2w · Title: CRASH CITY — Content Development