PJ here, James wrote an awesome article about all the deets for Desert Bus Express. I’m gonna get out of his way.
Hey Friends! Let's dig into the details of Desert Bus Express!
During 2020, 2021, and 2022, Desert Bus was run either entirely (or partially-remotely) using a ton of tech and systems we built to do just that. Once we were in a position to come back entirely in person, we did so. But we still had all this tech we developed that was going mostly unused. Naturally, some of it was integrated into the engineering we use for our November event, but we also discovered we could run these types of events from the comfort of our homes. Fast forward to last year, and we finally decided 2025 would be the year we'd try out a single day, remote event in an effort to raise some money for a great cause.
So let's talk a little bit about what Desert Bus Express is, and what it's not. And a quick note here. Going forward I will be referring to Desert Bus Express as DBE and Desert Bus for Hope as DBfH.
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Starting at 4:00 PM Pacific on Friday, May 23rd, we will go live at twitch.tv/desertbus for 24 hours. The event will be split into three 8 hour shifts. Each shift will have a group of entertainment volunteers, and a couple folks behind the scenes taking care of tech and socials. So, just like Desert Bus for Hope, there will be all manner of entertainment for you to enjoy through the run. However, there are some differences, and I'll go over some of the big ones below.
The biggest change is the very structure of this event compared to DBfH. Unlike the big show in November, we have set a cap on how long this event will be, and that cap is 24 hours. Obviously, what that means is your donations don't extend the amount of time we'll be driving for. But we also have something else lined up that we think will help us push the amount we raise, and we'll have more information on that when we open up donations on May 16th.
The other really big change is the charity of choice we'll be raising money for! We've been looking for ways to branch out in an effort to support other charities over the years, and this event gave us the best opportunity to do just that! We ended up choosing BC Cancer Foundation for a couple of reasons. Everyone on the Desert Bus team (and we're guessing almost all of you as well) has gone through the awful experience of either dealing with a cancer diagnosis yourself or with someone you love. It was also a chance to support a charity that is local to so many of us here in Victoria and British Columbia.
We will still have prizes, 15 to be exact. Each shift will receive 4 giveaways and 1 silent auction item. These will operate exactly as they do for DBfH. You may notice we don't have any live auctions; that is something we're keeping specific for DBfH in November. We are aiming to have the prizes listed on the website when donations go live on May 16th.
Another difference from DBfH is that we will be running this event with the challenge system closed. Due to the remote nature of the event, and a much shorter amount of total time each shift gets (8 hours compared to almost 40 in November) we've decided to just let the entertainment volunteers figure out how they wish to fill their shifts. That's not to say you can’t throw out ideas and suggestions in chat, but we wanted to keep things nice and easy, operating with fewer things the entertainers need to monitor this time around. Another change in a similar vein is that there is no RDP button for this event. It's important that we keep some things specifically for DBfH in November :)
Finally, let's talk about our drivers. We have a 16-person staff of drivers from the DBfH team who will be handling driving the Cloud Bus remotely. We have so many wonderful volunteers here at Desert Bus HQ, and we wanted to get as many folks involved in this show as possible. So while you won’t see them directly, they’ll be there, behind the scenes, keeping the bus on the road! Be sure to head over to the team page to see who our wonderful drivers are (and sneak peeks at some entertainment volunteers)!
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As you would expect, there are a ton of other small changes here and there, and ultimately we won't really know exactly how this thing is going to go until we get started :D End of the day, this is our first go at this, and there will be a learning curve. What the actual identity of DBE is won't really be known until we've done the dang thing, so we hope you're all as excited as we are, and we'll see you all on May 23rd at 4:00 PM Pacific!
We will continue to share information with you for this event in the coming weeks, including who you’ll see on each shift and a few prize reveals! Keep an eye out here and on our various social media for that information.
Hey friends,
At the end of last year’s Desert Bus for Hope, James and Andrew teased a smaller event that would be happening in May, and we’re happy to share some more details about what we’re calling Desert Bus Express. Starting on Friday, May 23rd, 2025 at 4pm PDT, for 24 hours, we’re going to be driving the virtual Desert Bus from Tucson to Las Vegas. Instead of donations extending our run, we’re aiming for the biggest impact we can make in a single day, all in service to the BC Cancer Foundation, who are the largest philanthropic funder of cancer research and enhancements to care in British Columbia.
We’ll share more details and how this all is going to work (and who’s onboard) in the upcoming weeks.
What about Desert Bus For Hope 2025? When’s that? Expect the usual time period of early to mid November, with more information to be shared after Desert Bus Express concludes.
And its Craftalong? Submissions will be opening near the beginning of May.
ONE. FULL. WEEK. We got to ONE ENTIRE WEEK!
And we've raised the most we've ever raised in one year!!
And so, another year on the bus has come to a close, and we are again forever grateful for everything we've accomplished thanks to your contributions!
18 years running, almost $12million lifetime, and over $1million this year, we continue to be amazed and excited by all the help we get to make this be a thing. No words will explain how we feel. How about....
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Yeah that feels right!
So, again, we raised over $1.25 MILLION and bussed 168 hours, and we are so excited to go home and sleep and prepare for next year! Because as you all know, if you love something....
LET IT RIP!
To everyone that’s part of our community – our crafters, guests, sponsors, moderators, VST members, volunteers, and most importantly, viewers like YOU – thank you from the bottom of our hearts for joining us on this ride, and we are so excited to see you again next year!
If you want to keep up with us now that we're done, make sure to find us on our various socials: Mastodon, Twitter, Blue Sky, Instagram, and of course thanks to the VST you can look at all the coolest moments on our Youtube! And if you want to keep the vibes going with some great games, I highly suggest checking out this year's Game Jam submissions!
But of course, don't forget that you can always donate to Child's Play any time of year - not just during Desert Bus for Hope!
So goodbye for now, but we will absolutely be seeing you again next year!
We would like to thank LoadingReadyRun! Without LoadingReadyRun, there would be no Desert Bus at all. Graham Stark and Paul Saunders founded LoadingReadyRun in 2003, and in 2007, they and a few of their friends had a wild idea to hold a charity drive for Child’s Play Charity themed around playing the world’s most boring video game, Desert Bus. And here we are in 2024, still playing Desert Bus.
Members of LoadingReadyRun feature in multiple roles around Desert Bus For Hope, from team lead positions, entertainment, and everything in between. They’re even kind enough to provide gear and the venue itself.
We’d like to thank LoadingReadyRun for all of their support, from day one to now, and far beyond.
If you're gonna take the leap, do it with a Bungie! These thrill-seeking game makers have been staunch supporters of Desert Bus, with this year's support taking the form of the Loud Lullaby Prop Replica which re-creates the legendary hand cannon as adorned by Eris Morn with bangles and feathers. FEATHERS!
Those feathers are as real as our appreciation and admiration for Bungie, a studio that's changed the game quite literally with entries like Halo and Destiny, and that now has their ambitious gaze set on the future with Marathon. Thank you, Bungie, for sharing the fruits of your well-earned success by supporting Desert Bus!
Do you enjoy looking at the donation total, day after day? Do you gain visceral satisfaction from watching numbers turn into bigger numbers? Have you spent so much time grinding for XP that you're worried that very specific flavor of delayed gratification might have carved permanent and perhaps troubling dopamine pathways in your brain?
Well, thankfully PubNub has been here for you (and us) to provide that hit of satisfaction over many years of Desert Bus. They power not only our beautiful counters, but the realtime apps and interactive experiences for over 2000 companies worldwide. It's thanks to PubNub that across the world, numbers go brrrrr.
We had quite a week of Coffee Pong, so many things happened. We pitted James against The World! Also known as....a whole lot of Desert Bus people. We even brought in our friends from other shifts!
We worked hard, it was a good fight. But....I think James won? Or was it a tie? I really don't know. But thanks for watching us go through our shenanigans! It was fun having you with us, and we look forward to seeing you next year!
You did this!!! No, but really, you all did this. You raised $1,000,000 during this run, in less than a week, for Child Play's Charity! That's one million dollars going to make sure that kids can feel like kids, no matter what their situation is. This is why we do the thing, y'all. The world can be a tough and scary place sometimes, but we, the folks on stage, behind the scenes, and in chat, have proven without a shadow of a doubt the power of joy, hope, and sincere silliness.
From all of us here at Desert Bus for Hope, thank you. This is why we do what we do.
Good night, Zeta. Barring some sort of National endowment to our continued sleep deprivation, this is the final Zeta Shift of the 2024 Desert Bus for Hope run!
Now, let's go over what to expect tonight on Zeta!
Giveaways
Giveaway entry information will be announced and shown on stream, as well as posted on the giveaway item page
Crocheted Rainbow Cows
Fantasy Cosmetica Lot
Outlaws Of Thunder Junction Commander Decks
Bloomburrow Full Art Lands Foil Uncut Sheet
Silent Auctions
Available Until 2amPST
Hades II Resin Painting
Portal Portraits
Sailor Moon Jewelry Set
Available Starting at 2amPST, running until 10amPST
After Party Sponsorship
Omega Shift Banner Fingerless Gloves
PSA: No more bid sniping: we're running Vickrey auctions so simply put in the highest you're willing to bid and the system's got you from there.
That's not all though! We'll also be doing some dances (okay, it is Zeta, probably not), singing some songs (almost certainly), building some mystery lego, and just generally having a great time through the wee hours of the morning! See you in chat!