GM Gamers of Farcaster! Welcome back to our series exploring the untold stories behind the gamers shaping the Farcaster gaming landscape. These innovative builders are at the forefront, crafting gaming experiences that are defining a new era on the platform. Remember, we're still in the early days, and it's an exciting time to be part of this growing community!

Today, we're thrilled to present Chase Sommer (@chasesommer.eth), the creative mind behind Sands of Sumaii. Chase is bringing the essence of MMORPGs to Farcaster in a unique and engaging way. Before we dive into our conversation with Chase, make sure to follow his handle and check out his game - it's an experience you won't want to miss!

Now, let's jump right in and get to know Chase, his journey into farcaster gaming, and the story behind Sands of Sumaii!

1. It's great to connect with you Chase - to kick off can you tell us a bit about yourself, how you got into web3 and what you've built in your journey so far?

Hello! My name is Chase and I am a husband, father of 2 boys, and a lifelong gamer. My favourite game of all time is World of Warcraft... I still play to this day!

2. What got you interested in Farcaster and how did you get started? 

I got interested in Farcaster because I was studying for a job interview at Game7 - I had no idea about blockchain or onchain gaming. To study, I read Chris Dixon's book Read Write Own. It blew my mind and I watched some interviews with Chris. In this interview he mentioned Farcaster, so I signed up!

3. Can you tell us about your current gaming project on Farcaster - Sands of Samudai? What was the inspiration behind it and why did you choose to build it on Farcaster?

My current project is Sands of Sumaii (https://warpcast.com/~/channel/sands-of-sumaii) which is a Farcaster-based RPG. It's quite similar to a RPG you'd find in Discord or Telegram. What I'm doing is boiling down the essence of a MMORPG into its simplest form and putting it on a social platform. MMOs are inherently social games, so using Farcaster as the social network seemed like a super interesting experiment!

4. How many users / subscribers do you have? 

In Season 1, we've had 518 unique players with an average of 15-20 DAUs! Not bad for the first season!

5. What is the upcoming roadmap for the game?

Season 2 will have a TON of changes. We're talking Classes (Mage, Priest, & Warrior), 5 spells per class, revamped combat, Frames with images and buttons, Raids and a few other things! It's going to be epic. Season 2 doesn't have an official launch date, but we will be starting open beta on 10/1 and the official launch will be within a week of that.

6. What is your outlook on gaming on Farcaster - how will it progress given miniapps are now in the picture?

Mini apps give you the ability to use websites without leaving Warpcast and allow the user to be insta-logged in. That's some awesome convenience for users. For Sands of Sumaii, we're still focusing on frames and have not put too much thought or effort into mini apps just yet :)

7. With all these diverse projects and interests, how do you manage to balance and handle everything together?

Family > Work > Side Projects. That's the overall priorities. I have an extremely supportive wife who always cheers me on - all this wouldn't be possible without her.

8. Lastly, when you're not in the world of crypto and Farcaster, what do you enjoy doing and how do you spend your time?

Gaming of course! But also I love espresso and F1 racing.