Faction Microbadges!

 

If you are a member of Board Game Geek, you can support your favorite Rayguns and Rocketships faction with these nifty microbadges! You've probably got some geek gold burning a hole in your pocket! You can find them here:

Astro-Rangers Microbadge

Blaarg Microbadge

Star Pirates Microbadge

Zard Microbadge 

What's next for Rayguns and Rocketships?

Rayguns and Rocketships showcased at USC's Games Expo on May 9th

Since 2009, I have taught and lectured at the University of California's school of interactive media - the number one university for game design in the world. For the first time ever, the school has created a games expo featuring the works of the students and faculty of the department and I was invited to show off Rayguns and Rocketships.

The event is going to be pretty big (over 50 games being shown) and was even previewed in Variety! Now that's some good press!

 

If you want to get tickets to the event, you can do so here: USC Games Expo event 2018. See you there!

Great write-up on Rayguns and Rocketships event in the Orange County Register!

The Orange County Register joined up for the Tabletop Takeovers event and wrote up this great piece about the game!

Check it out!

Rayguns and Rocketships Event!

Hey there Planeteers! Tabletop Takeovers is hosting a Rayguns and Rocketships event on Feb 17th! We're going to have a lot of fun playing the game and giving away prizes!

We hope to see you there!

"A game by Scott Rogers"

Like most of you, I have been eagerly awaiting the release of Rayguns and Rocketships. I have been hearing reports of the game showing up in Australia, New South Wales and even one store in Seattle. It's been very exciting to track the game as it is released around the world.

The day has finally arrived and my copies of the game were delivered from IDW games. I came home to a huge stack of games. Needless to say, IDW did a beautiful job not only producing the game, but shipping it and it was very exciting to receive my shipment.

Receiving the final retail version of Rayguns and Rocketships marks a milestone for me. You see, for 22 years, I've been fortunate enough to say that my career is "game designer". I've helped design more than 50 published games and have been involved making even more that were never published.

But Rayguns and Rocketships is the first game I've created that has my name on the cover. Outside of the board gaming world, it's actually a very rare thing for a game designer to receive this honor. I can only think of a handful of video game creators who have earned this honor.

It is far more common in the board gaming industry and while it might not seem like a huge thing, it represents something all game designers deserve - credit for their hard work.

There have been too many moments over my career where I have seen other people take credit for someone else's work or someone has tried to take credit for my work. Once a game looks like it is going to be successful, people get weird and start trying to "credit grab" - as if having their name on a box cover or on the game screen will justify their involvement - no matter how slight it was.

The "problem" is that credit does have power.  A credit isn't about ego or bragging rights, well, not for everyone. What it represent, to me, is proof to the world that this specific creator is responsible for the work. Names become a "proof of quality". Walt Disney. Stephen King. Oprah Winfrey. David Bowie. People buy their products because they recognize the names and associate the names with good work. There is a saying in the entertainment industry: "you are only as good as your last credit" and kids, credits are everything in this business.

In the early 90's, many of my peers were getting their names on the covers of their games. You probably have heard of some of them: Sid Meier, Tim Schafer, Will Wright, Chris Roberts, Chris Taylor. While literally thousands of people have toiled away on games, almost none of them get the credit they deserve. Did you know that Shigeru Miyamoto, the father of Mario and creator of the platfoming genre, who has made some of the best selling games ever made, has NEVER has his name on the cover of any of his games? Would a screenplay writer or a novelist put up with that? No way.  I can tell people that I've worked on this AAA game or that top-selling game, but if my name ain't in the credits, there's no way to prove that I was even involved.

Personally, I think it's time to correct this injustice. I've always said that if there were a reason for the video game industry to unionize, it would be for credit arbitration - something that's a big deal in the movie industry. I've left jobs before over this issue; it's that important to me.

So, this one is for you, my fellow game designers, wherever you are. May you share the same good fortune as I have had and get the credit you finally deserve.

The Jack Vasel Memorial Auction

The Jack Vasel Memorial Auction is a great annual event that raises fund for the Jack Vasel Memorial Fund. From the website:

One tragic event and two acts of generosity brought the BGG community together: the result was the Jack Vasel Memorial Fund. In January 2011, Cate Pfeifer (Cate108) posted an auction for Tom Vasel and his family to help with the financial hardship related to the unfortunate loss of his son, Jack. The generosity of the BGG community was amazing. Tom was touched and wanted to pay the kindness forward so he created the Jack Vasel Memorial Fund. He used some of the money that BGGers donated and spent to build this fund. The fund is a not-for-profit with a simple goal: raising and distributing funds to help gamers in their hour of need. 

http://www.jackvasel.org/

This year, I've contributed a premium copy of Rayguns and Rocketships to the auction. One lucky bidder will win all of the following:

1. Signed and Illustrated copy of the retail game
The auction includes an autographed copy of the retail version of the game. Designer Scott Rogers will also draw the Rayguns and Rocketships character of your choice on the interior box lid!

Example of illustration

2. Plastic tokens and bag
Plastic Blast token and Action token add-ons plus cloth bag (with design voted upon by the Kickstarter backers)

3. Dice and cards
Kickstarter exclusive secret mission cards (12) and four faction dice

4. Cards and rayguns
Convention-Only Exclusive demo four card set and twenty-four plastic raygun add-ons

5. Exclusive minis
A full set of eight Kickstarter Mercenary miniatures and captain cards

Starting bid is at $70 (the cost of the Early Bird Galactic Adventurer pledge) Condition is brand new. Worldwide shipping will be added at the end of the auction.

Expected delivery date - January 2018

Auction ends November 16th! Thanks for bidding and good luck!!

Link to bidding is here: https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/230490/item/5721816