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1. The Streak
The highest-retention mechanic in micro-giving.
A daily, weekly, or monthly recurring micro-gift habit. The player sets their cadence and amount. CHIP tracks the streak. Freeze tokens (earned through milestones) let life happen without breaking the chain.
How it works:
- Player sets a recurring chip-in: $3/week toward "Sunlight FOIA Batch."
- Every week they chip in, their streak counter ticks up.
- Milestones at 7, 30, 100, and 365 days unlock badges and freeze tokens.
- If they miss, the streak resets — unless they use a freeze token.
- No nag emails. No "you broke your streak!" guilt. The counter is for the player, not against them.
Evidence: Habit-formation research (Fogg, Clear) + peer-reviewed studies on gamification and retention. The Streak is the single highest-impact mechanic for converting one-time players into recurring ones.
Creator config: Cadence options (daily/weekly/monthly), minimum amount, freeze token earn rate, milestone badges.
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2. Boss Battles
A real objective, a real budget, a real deadline, and a live HP bar.
A time-boxed, co-op fundraising raid on a specific, named objective. Players chip in to deplete the boss HP bar. When HP hits zero, the objective is funded and executed. If the deadline passes and HP isn't zero — that's public too. The after-action report is honest either way.
How it works:
- Creator defines a Boss: name, objective, budget, deadline.
- Boss appears on the arcade home with a live HP bar.
- Players chip in. Each chip-in is a "strike" that depletes HP.
- Squad damage aggregates. Leaderboard shows top squads.
- At deadline: boss defeated (funded) or boss survived (underfunded) — outcome published honestly.
Evidence: Goal-gradient effect (consumers accelerate toward a goal as they get closer), social proof (visible progress attracts more participation), and the identifiable victim effect (a named, specific objective outperforms a general fund).
Creator config: Boss name, description, budget, deadline, HP bar display, after-action report template.
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3. Glass Ledger
Every chip, followable. Always on. Cannot be turned off.
The public, real-time, append-only money trail for every arcade. Every dollar in, every dollar out, line by line. Players click any dollar to follow it.
How it works:
- Creator categorizes every expenditure in Ledger Admin.
- Line appears automatically: date, amount, category, description, boss earmark.
- Players see their personal Impact Receipt linked to ledger lines.
- Public can browse the full ledger. Every line is permanent.
Evidence: The trust-transparency feedback loop: donors who can trace their money give more and retain longer. This is the structural moat — competitors can copy the game mechanics; they can't copy the institutional commitment to publish everything.
Creator config: None. The Glass Ledger is always on, default-public, and append-only. Creators categorize expenditures; the platform publishes them.
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4. Badge Vault
Earned, never bought. The permanent record of what you've done.
A personal collection of achievement badges earned through action on the platform. Founding Player. 30-Day Streak. Boss Slayer. Squad Captain. Badges have no cash value. They are not buyable. They mark real accomplishments.
How it works:
- Player completes an action (first chip-in, streak milestone, boss defeated, squad formed).
- Badge is awarded automatically.
- Badge appears in the player's Badge Vault — shareable, permanent.
- Badge rarity is based on achievement difficulty, not price.
Evidence: Self-determination theory (autonomy + competence + relatedness). Badges satisfy the competence need without introducing extrinsic rewards that crowd out intrinsic motivation (no cash value = no "I'm only doing this for the reward" effect).
Creator config: Custom badge art (Pro+ tier), badge unlock conditions, milestone thresholds.
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5. Chip-In Payments
1-tap recurring micro-gifts. Caps you set. Earmarks you choose.
The payment layer. Players chip in micro-amounts with one tap. Recurring by default (player chooses frequency). Every chip-in is earmarked toward a specific boss or objective. Monthly caps are set by the player and hard-enforced by the platform.
How it works:
- Player selects amount, frequency, earmark, and monthly cap.
- One tap confirms. Payment is processed via [processor name].
- Funds settle to the cause's account. CHIP never takes custody.
- Required disclosures: tax status, fee breakdown, who receives funds.
Evidence: Recurring giving has ~80% retention vs. ~32% for one-time (peer-reviewed). Micro-amounts lower the barrier. Earmarking increases satisfaction and repeat giving. Caps increase willingness to set up recurring in the first place.
Creator config: Minimum chip-in amount, default frequency options, earmark targets (bosses and objectives).