Not every journey starts with clarity. Sometimes, it starts with curiosity and a little help from your community.
In a space where success stories are often polished and rehearsed, it’s easy to forget how many builders began with uncertainty. The ones who stayed weren’t always the most technical or the best prepared. More often, they were simply the ones who kept showing up.
One of them is Bird Brain.
Today, he’s a recognizable figure in Yield Guild Games (YGG) Pilipinas’ growing ecosystem, but his Web3 journey didn’t begin with confidence or a clear roadmap. It began with games, a few questions, and the willingness to try something new.
From Player to Researcher
Bird Brain started like many others, just another community member exploring what Web3 gaming had to offer. Back then, he wasn’t looking for a leadership role. He was just looking to enjoy the games.
“Before I became a community member, I joined through the Marshall Program just to enjoy the games with others.”
As time went on, his role shifted. He began researching games for the benefit of the group, identifying red flags, flagging risks, and helping members avoid projects that didn’t seem right.
“If ever we see a project and we know that there's something bad on that one, we can warn the community members. ‘Okay guys, I think this project is kinda fishy.’”
He didn’t evaluate games by charts or tokens. He evaluated them by feel. If it wasn’t enjoyable, or worse, if it felt exploitative, he moved on. His personal enjoyment, he believed, was a signal of a game’s potential value to others.
This instinct-based approach allowed him to filter what mattered most: the player experience. For Bird Brain, it was never just about making calls. It was about protecting time, his and the community’s.
Language, Limitations, and Leaps
One of the most candid parts of Bird Brain’s story is how language shaped his early experience. Like many in the Philippines, he found that English, not technology, was the first barrier to entering the Web3 space.
“Especially when I started, it was really hard for me to speak English. I mean, I'm not very good at English, but the best part is that you really need to step up.”
That barrier didn’t go away overnight. But it also didn’t stop him. What made the difference wasn’t a formal course, it was encouragement from people around him. Communities pushed him to take on roles he never thought he could. That external belief, he says, was the spark that pushed him to grow into what he’s doing now.
Now, Bird Brain serves as YGG’s Quest Master, an example of how community support can transform quiet participation into leadership.
Building Through Questions, Not Answers
Unlike others who lead with vision or credentials, Bird Brain prefers to lead with questions. He used to engage newcomers with a simple prompt—one that often made them laugh, but also made them think.
“Do you have a smartphone?”
Almost everyone would say yes.
“Did you earn from it?”
The answer was usually no.
“Then if you don't earn from your smartphone, why do you need a smartphone?”
He never meant it as a challenge. He meant it as an invitation. A way to open the door to Web3 by starting with something everyone had, and helping them see it in a new light.
These moments weren’t speeches or lessons. They were casual conversations with lasting impact.
The Only Plan is Change
When asked what comes next, Bird Brain doesn’t offer a pitch deck or a polished prediction. Instead, he talks about flexibility. For him, the only consistent plan is change. He believes adaptation is the most important skill in a space that evolves by the day, and that being part of what’s happening now matters more than having the perfect roadmap.
He encourages others to try new things, even if the outcome is uncertain. That act of trying, he says, is more valuable than waiting for perfect timing.
“Trying new things is not bad. To be honest, it's very, very good. Just try it. If you can't do it, it's okay. At least you tried.”
And in his experience, that leap of faith usually pays off. Most of the people he’s seen take those first uncertain steps have ended up succeeding, not because they had all the answers, but because they kept going.
