Axolotl with a Gun: An Arcade-Style Roleplaying Game
Created by Jonathon Boyle
Play as armed axolotls with weaponized hobbies fighting hordes of evil robots in this arcade-style, coin-op tabletop roleplaying game.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Project Update: The Axolotls are shipping out!
about 2 months ago
– Mon, Jun 22, 2026 at 10:38:22 AM
Hey gang, exciting update about shipping today! Like our aquatic protagonists do, let's dive right in:
Books = Shipped
Our zines came in from the printer this week! Check out these beautiful books:
Bri and I spent a few hours packing orders over the weekend under the watchful eye of our supurrvisor Dandelion, and we'll be dropping most*** of your pledges off at the post office this afternoon. If you've filled out your BackerKit survey you should have an email from Pirate Ship with tracking information in your inbox!
I'll be sending out .PDF copies and Digital Bundles later this week, ideally by Wednesday, but by Friday at the latest.
Our shipping supurrvisor, Dandelion the orange cat. He takes his job VERY seriously.
***A couple quick caveats on orders that will ship out later!
If you pledged at the Thanks-A-Lotl tier, we'll be posting your pledge later this week, after we finish printing the coins! If you don't see movement for a couple days, don't sweat it, we'll be shipping them very soon.
A few folks also added a copy of Longsword, Glock, Bat, Taser to their order. If you did, your order will ship out with LGBT fulfillment in July. You should have tracking information for your pledge, but it will not show any movement until we have the 2nd edition print run of Longsword, Glock, Bat, Taser sent to us. There's only 4 days left in the campaign over on BackerKit, so we'll be placing the order for those books this week to get ready for fulfillment. Your pledge will ship out in a couple weeks! Keep an eye on those tracking numbers in July.
Post-Campaign Availability
I haven't received my pledge yet. How can I get it?
If you already filled out your BackerKit survey, don't worry about this section! If you're reading this update and you haven't filled out your survey, check your email inbox for a survey link from BackerKit around May/June of 2026, email us at [email protected], or message us here on Kickstarter and we'll figure out how best to get your books and/or .PDFs to you!
I didn't pledge, but I want to buy Axolotl with a Gun, 2nd Edition or Axolotl with a Gun Armed and Dangerous! Where can I find them?
Going forward, you'll be able to purchase physical zines from our website at brightbardgames.com. If you're interested in .pdfs, you can get those through our website, Itch.io, and RPG Trader.
That's All, Folks!
Thanks again for your support! Bri and I have been delighted with your response to our heavily armed amphibians and their wetland preservation mission. It's been a real treat to revisit this game and update some of my old game design choices, give y'all some new options for character creation and play, and print a whole new zine!
When your zines arrive, we'd love to hear what you think! You can ping us on Bluesky or Instagram to share pictures of your zines, stories about your games, and more! If you are a blogger, reviewer, podcaster, or actual play performer, let us know at our usual email address ([email protected]) so we can shout you out in our monthly newsletter!
We're deeply grateful for your support, and we hope to see you later this year for more eco-fantasy shenanigans! We'll be revisiting the Trash to Treasure universe this fall to explore more of our Magical Girl Trash Goblins story following the events of the core game. We'll keep you posted as we near the release date for that :]
Until then:
Warm Regards,
Jon and Bri <3
Axolotl with a Gun Orders Locking Soon + Longsword, Glock, Bat, Taser
3 months ago
– Tue, Jun 02, 2026 at 09:19:30 AM
Hey gang!
Just a couple quick points of order today!
Locking Orders Soon
Axolotl with a Gun has been sent to the printer! We're currently finalizing proofs, which means we should have boxes of zines on our doorstep in a few weeks. After I've finished my flurry of emails and updates this morning (more on that in a moment), I'll be locking orders for Axolotl with a Gun! If you have everything you want on your pledge, you don't need to do anything. If you haven't filled out your survey yet, this is your last chance to get your pledge shipped with the first wave of orders.
Next up: Happy Pride!
Longsword, Glock, Bat, Taser
Longsword, Glock, Bat, Taser (LGBT for short) is live on BackerKit right now to celebrate Pride! Like I've mentioned in previous updates, this 2nd edition of the game received a lot of the same awesomeness and updates that Axolotl with a Gun 2e got, from new art and layout, to revised rules, new and improved adventures, and tons of rad new character creation options.
The quick pitch: LGBT is our one-shot tabletop roleplaying game about attending Pride with your friends in a whimsical, comics-inspired universe. Overcome challenges like a haunted airbnb, a faulty car on a long road trip, or a vicious league of evil exes on your quest to have the best Pride month ever.
You don't have to pledge your eternal support, but we do hope you like the game (and I think you and/or queer friends will).
That's all, Folks!
That's it for today! We'll check back in after fulfillment, and when we have other games crowdfunding.
Cheers,
Jon
Project Update: Surveys Out, Armed and Dangerous Print-Ready!
3 months ago
– Wed, May 13, 2026 at 12:10:46 PM
Hey gang! Another short update today with some fun news and a couple reminders. Let's get into it!
BackerKit Surveys
BackerKit surveys should be in your inbox! If you have not already filled out your survey, please do so, as we need your shipping information to send you your pledge items. You can read more about the survey process and timeline in our previous campaign update. As a reminder, if you want to pick up a physical edition of the Armed and Dangerous expansion zine, you can do so in your survey! Speaking of Armed and Dangerous:
As of this week, Armed and Dangerous is ready to send to print! The only thing that remains in the next few weeks is to finalize the updated character sheets, which will be included in your digital edition downloads and freely available on our website afterwards. Emily and I were checking the final drafts this week and admiring her handiwork—I'm really pleased with the way both of these books landed and I'm excited for y'all to explore them!
Also, get a load of the finished cover (mocked up courtesy of Emily):
Our next project goes live June 2nd! Longsword, Glock, Bat, Taser is getting its own 2nd edition right alongside Axolotl with a Gun, including many of the same text, art, and layout upgrades that our beloved salamander zine has received. There's also tons of new stuff in character creation, revamped adventures, and more. Read more on BackerKit by clicking the banner, and get some cool stickers if you pledge early :]
Pre-Order Store Open
If any of your friends are interested in picking up a zine of their own, the pre-order store for Axolotl with a Gun will be open until the end of the month. Pre-orders will ship out alongside the Kickstarter pledges in June.
That's All, Folks!
That's it for today! As ever, we're deeply appreciative of your support and we're very excited to ship out these shiny new zines in June. Enjoy the spring weather, and expect additional updates from us just before surveys close at the end of the month and when we've shipped games.
Cheers,
Jon and Bri <3
Project Update: Surveys are out!
3 months ago
– Fri, May 08, 2026 at 11:25:30 AM
Hey Gang! Short update today with some news on post-campaign surveys.
Surveys Are Out!
You should have an email from BackerKit at the same email address you used to back this campaign. If you don't have one by this evening, shoot us an email or a message here on Kickstarter and we'll get you sorted with a link to your survey. Surveys will remain open until the end of the month (May 31st), at which point we'll lock addresses, charge cards, and get ready to ship games to you in early-mid June.
Ifyou plan to move or your address is changing in the next month or two, just shoot us an email at [email protected] and we can work something out! It's pretty simple to hold onto a package for a couple weeks and post it later with our normal store orders.
If you're reading this well after May, don't sweat it! You can still fill out your survey and get your pledge rewards. We'll be checking BackerKit regularly over the summer to catch any stragglers, and we check our email regularly for messages to that end.
Reminders
Longsword, Glock, Bat, Taser (LGBT) is Coming to BackerKit in June!
Axolotl with a Gun's sister zine from the summer of 2024, LGBT, is getting its own 2nd edition! Like AwaG, it's getting a bunch of awesome updates and new content, from new art and adventures, to text updates, new character creation options, and updated adventure prompts. You can read more and follow the campaign now on BackerKit to check out a free PDF Preview, and you can even put a few bucks down towards pledge for a rad sticker you're interested!
If any of your friends are interested in picking up a zine of their own, the pre-order store for Axolotl with a Gun will be open until the end of the month. Pre-orders will ship out alongside the Kickstarter pledges in June.
That's All, Folks!
That's it for today! Thanks again for y'alls support, and we're excited to ship some zines out to you soon.
Cheers,
Jon and Bri
Progress Update: Layout Updates and Surveys
4 months ago
– Mon, Apr 27, 2026 at 03:11:27 PM
Hey gang!
It's been a quiet few weeks while Bri, Emily, Will, and myself have had our heads down making sure the salamanders you'll be playing are exquisitely armed and sufficiently dangerous. Today's updates include a sneak peek at the second edition layout, a progress update on the Armed and Dangerous companion zine, and a little shoutout for our next crowdfunding project coming up!
Layout: Locked and Loaded
Emily's been hard at work on Axolotl with a Gun the last few weeks and I'm pleased to report that as of late last week, the main zine is print-ready. Emily has taken the opportunity to improve on a lot of our original layout choices now that we have more time to spend on the zine and more interior art to adorn it with! I've dropped a few example pages below from the character creation section, plus a brand-new, full-page illustration Bri did for the second edition. Check out that battle scene gang!
Three sample pages from Axolotl with a Gun 2e.
Armed and Dangerous is trundling right along behind the core game, and has just entered layout this week! We expect to have that print-ready in mid-late May, and I'm really pumped to see what Emily does with the expansion zine layout. Speaking of printing, let's talk fulfillment and post-campaign surveys!
Survey Says...Coming Next Week!
With Armed and Dangerous well under way, we'll be sending out BackerKit surveys next week to collect shipping information and charge for shipping. Keep an eye on your email for word from BackerKit next week! This means our new timeline looks something like this:
Post-Campaign Surveys go out next week, the first week of May
We lock addresses and charge shipping at the end of May
We ship games in early June!
This means that Late Pledges are now closed! You can still update your pledge when you fill out your survey and grab any additional add-ons next month though. Plus, we've got a pre-order store open on BackerKit for anyone who missed the campaign.
Our next campaign is coming up during Pride month! Continuing this year's theme of 2nd editions, Longsword, Glock, Bat, Taser is getting a little love next. Axolotl with a Gun and LGBT came from the same batch of whimsical, Havoc Engine zines and have both been so well-received we wanted to make them the best they could be. Like AwaG, LGBT has received substantial text updates, a ton of new art, plus a couple ready-to-run adventures to play with your friends.
Click or tap the banner to read more :]
That's All, Folks!
Thanks for bearing with us the last few weeks! Bri and I came down with a nasty cold at the start of the month, so we've been working a little slower than usual the last week or two. We're deeply grateful for y'alls continued support, and we're super excited to be sending out books in a few weeks!
Thanks for your time, and enjoy the spring weather!
