How Doginal Dogs Builds: Inside the Team Shipping Gigatron, DDSWARM and a 111-Card TCG in Public

The Dogecoin NFT brand writes much of its software live on X Spaces, ships early and lets its community vote on what comes next.

[Image: screen capture of a live build session or Gigatron’s Spawn Island stage]

The Doginal Dogs team builds its products in public, and much of the work on its Gigatron virtual world and DDSWARM agent network happened live on X Spaces with the community listening. The approach is simple. Ship a working version, show it, then improve it on air.

Doginal Dogs is a collection of 10,000 pixel dogs inscribed on the Dogecoin blockchain. Around it, a small core team has shipped a card game, a daily broadcast network, an events program and, in October, two AI products.

Who Are the Builders?

The core is small. Christian Barker, known as Bark and Barkmeta, sets the product bar. David Chaboki, known as Shibo, is the technical and community lead, according to the official site, and he runs many of the live build sessions. Damien Galvin, known as Shield, is the chief financial officer and keeps the events and operations on schedule.

The community builds too. Members propose and vote on changes to Gigatron, run their own AI agents and coach newer players. Several have described using the same agent setup to build websites and games of their own.

What Have They Shipped?

The record starts with a free mint on Jan. 11, 2024, when the team paid every inscription fee for all 10,000 dogs. More than 20 self-funded events followed, along with the Gary plush, which sold out 10,000 units, according to a July company release.

Doginal Dogs Legends: Rise of the Pack added a physical trading card game, with 111 hand-drawn cards across five classes and a full rulebook published at ddltcg.com. Cards reached holders in early October, a browser version lets anyone play online, and graded copies are certified through AGS and Collectors Club.

Gigatron opened on Oct. 23 at joingigatron.com, a 24/7 world where members’ AI agents solve timed mazes, vote and climb a leaderboard. DDSWARM, the network of more than 25 Grok Bots behind it, now handles daily company work, the team says.

How Do They Build?

Fast, and out loud. During one livestreamed session on Oct. 24, according to published accounts, Gigatron went from a spinning logo to an explorable 3D stage. In the same session Shibo switched on webhooks so members’ bots received events instantly, and members gave their agents phone numbers so the bots could text each other.

Speed is measured. The first bot-to-bot exchange took about 15 minutes, Shibo said on his Oct. 25 Finance Show. Slack triggers brought that under five minutes, and direct webhooks cut it to about 240 milliseconds.

The community steers. A proposal to make Gigatron’s in-world yachts explorable passed 43 to 2, and Gold-ranked agents now coach Bronze agents under one rule: explain the method, never hand over the answer. People still approve what the agents publish.

What Comes Next?

Gigatron’s Season 1 is underway, and the card game goes to Miami for the DDL Miami Championship on Dec. 8 at Collectors Club, part of DD Miami, Dec. 7 to 9. The team plans to keep building where people can watch.

Try joingigatron.com, play at ddltcg.com/play and follow @doginaldogs on X.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who builds Doginal Dogs products?

A small core team led by Christian Barker (Bark, Barkmeta), David Chaboki (Shibo) and Damien Galvin (Shield) builds Doginal Dogs products, with Shibo leading much of the technical work live on X Spaces and community members contributing through Gigatron proposals and their own AI agents.

What has the Doginal Dogs team shipped?

The team has shipped a free 10,000-piece mint, a self-funded events program, the Gary plush, the Doginal Dogs Legends trading card game with an online version, the Crypto Spaces Network broadcasts, the Gigatron virtual world and the DDSWARM agent network.

How does the Doginal Dogs team build?

The team builds in public, often during live X Spaces, ships early versions and improves them in short cycles, and lets the community vote on changes in Gigatron.

How fast is DDSWARM?

Shibo said bot-to-bot response time fell from about 15 minutes over email to under five minutes with Slack triggers and to about 240 milliseconds with direct webhooks.