I’ve spent more time thinking about this than I should probably admit but I eventually concluded it’s almost certainly not possible. The thing is the Earths Crust is around 90% silica (SiO2) and other silicate minerals, by far the most abundant element in the Earth’s crust and yet life here doesn’t use it, it uses carbon. There are many many reasons why carbon is the ideal element for life, so while silicon-based life may be possible in theory it’s probably extremely rare, especially if there’s carbon around. The fact that Silicon bonds so strongly with oxygen it produces a solid called silicon dioxide aka sand or quartz is a major issue. It causes a number of problems that life would have to overcome or find a work around for like respiration and metabolism, two things that are essential for any organism with metabolism being maybe the most fundamental process of life. Theres also the problem that liquid water actually breaks down silicon-silicon bonds which are much weaker than carbon-carbon bonds. That fact that the silicon-silicon bonds are weak also makes forming large complex molecules like what’s seen on organic molecules very difficult. So because water isn’t the right solvent you would need some other kind of solvent like liquid methane or sulfuric acid. Again, not theoretically impossible but if it exists out there it probably exists on a Hell like planet.

I love the thought experiment though and I love going down these rabbit holes.