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: Physical Editions of Armed and Dangerous now Available!
3 months ago
– Tue, Feb 24, 2026 at 02:26:40 PM
Hey gang!
With just under 2 days left in the campaign, I just wanted to check in to let y'all know that physical editions of the Armed and Dangerous Companion zine are now available and shout out a couple other last-minute campaigns we love. Thanks again for all your support so far!
Armed and Dangerous Physical Editions Now Available!
If you’ve been waiting to pick up a physical copy of Axolotl with a Gun: Armed and Dangerous, you can get one now! Since we’re already right on the cusp of our first stretch goal and we're in the last couple days, I’ve gone ahead and made the add-on available for all backers.
You can now pledge for a physical copy of Armed and Dangerousas an add-on or get one as its own pledge tier (.PDF included). It’s the same price as the core game ($20), and includes the following:
6 New Guns to arm your axolotls with (The Hot Glue Gun, Beam Pistol, Wrist Rocket, T-Shirt Cannon, Experimental Railgun, and Sniper Rifle)
6 New Ultimate Moves to pop off with
3 New tables of Hobbies to aid your allies and weaponize against the horrors
1 New adventure for regular game nights
1 New PARTY ADVENTURE for large groups
GMless and Duet rules modifications
New Achievements to chase for 100% completion
Last Call for other Awesome Projects
‘Wich Witches: Honestly this one had me at the pun in the title. It’s exactly as you’d expect from looking at it: Play a coven of witches on a sandwich making adventure in this zero-prep tabletop roleplaying game!
Rigs and Races in Roomino!:The Explore Rooms RPG is getting an expansion this Zinequest with Rigs and Races! This 2 zine addition to their family-friendly, all-ages roleplaying game gives you the option to explore multi-room puzzles and encounters compared to the core games one room, one puzzle approach!
That's All, Folks!
I'll post one more update after the campaign ends on Thursday to wrap up Zine Month, but until then, thanks for your time and all of your support this month <3 We're already hard at work editing the 2nd edition text with Will, and I'm really excited to see these two zines out in the world this spring.
—Jon and Bri
Project Update: Funded! + What's Next
4 months ago
– Mon, Feb 16, 2026 at 04:43:46 PM
Happy Monday gang!
Axolotl with a Gun is Funded!
Thank you so much for your support this month. Whether it was sharing the campaign with friends, pledging for Axolotl with a Gun, or picking up copies of our other games, your belief in our game means we get to make them a physical reality!
What's next? Our First Stretch Goal
Our next stop on the funding train brings y'all even more books! If we cruise on up to the $5k mark we'll be able to fund a print run of Axolotl with a Gun: Armed and Dangerous. This will make the companion zine available to all backers as an add-on, and all early bird backers will have a physical copy added to their pledge. Plus, it means Bri gets to draw even more axolotls for the physical edition, and I'm already obsessed with the one's she's drawn.
Other Awesome Campaigns
Just like last week, we wanted to share a few more campaigns that we love with you. Here's the game's we've got our eye on this week:
NULL_SPACE, by Binary Star Games:Explore the solar system of the 24th century as freelancers working in the shadow of Earth's faded glory, in Mars' industrial warrens, and the futuristic dystopias on Ganymede. Binary's cooked up an incredible sci-fi roleplaying experience that I (Jon) am really excited to check out.
War Pigs, from Side Quest Games:Our friends over at Side Quest Games are currently funding WAR PIGS, a GMless TTRPG about goblins escaping from behind elven lines on war pigs. It's full of goblins and goblin humor, and I'm all about it.
The Wanderer's Bookshop, by Johnson Ofair:If you've ever dreamed of owning a bookshop, I've got a game for you. You play as the passionate curator of a magical bookstore seeking answers to a burning question, divining answers with the tarot and rebuilding the magic of your store. Between the tarot-powered mechanics and the design with parelell play in mind, I'm already enchanted by this game.
Small Folk in Big Coats, by Sam Armstrong:Listen, Bri and I's first game was Kobolds and Trench Coats, a game about tiny dragon people causing mayhem dressed up as an adventurer. This game about smallfolk doing the same is a slam dunk for us (And I hope for you too).Plus the goblin art is just ADORABLE.
Oh, and Adam Bell is still funding the Endtimes Trilogy! I'm really enchanted with this trio of zines, it's definitely worth checking out.
That's All, Folks!
Thank you again for all your support this month! Bri and I are truly grateful for your belief in our games, and we're very excited to send Axolotl with a Gun 2e to print this spring. I'll see you next week, or at our next stretch goal, whichever comes first :]
Cheers,
Jon Boyle
Zine Month Week 1 Roundup
4 months ago
– Tue, Feb 10, 2026 at 03:34:50 PM
Hey gang!
Just like that, our first week of Zine Month has flown by! As of my writing this, Axolotl with a Gun is just shy of a comfortable 70% of our funding goal. We're deeply thankful for everyone's support so far, from pledging and picking up our other games to sharing the campaign with friends or covering us in a blog, review, or interview.
Between projects launching and all kinds of media coverage, there's lots of exciting stuff to check out! Here's a little roundup of our media appearances this week, plus some projects we're excited about:
We're the Talk of the Table!
Elliot and Brian invited us to chat with them as part of their Zine Month series! We had a blast chatting about some of the game's inspirations and the fun facts about real-world axolotls and arcade games that informed a lot of my design decisions in the 2nd edition and Armed and Dangerous. There's also some grade-A cute aggression when we get into a few of our punnier sticker designs at the end of our time.
Stick around for the back half of the episode for a chat with the creators of BLIGHTFALL, a cool dark-fantasy TTRPG about a doomed village and the lengths its inhabitants will go to to save it.
Roundups: JP Coovert and The Weekly Scroll
With so many zines coming out this month, it's hard to keep track of them all! I know I'm always grateful for reviewers and creators talking about their personal picks and hidden gems during this, the most saddle-stitched of book publication months. JP Coovert has a video completely dedicated to a ton of amazing TTRPGs funding this month or releasing soon, including Axolotl with a Gun!
In addition, Hunter and Ryan took the entire first half of their most recent episode on The Weekly Scroll podcast to chat about their Zine Month picks! There's tons more awesome games to check out here, and the back half of the episode is a review of MEK28. If you're not already familiar with the Weekly Scroll, we highly recommend giving them a listen.
Some Friends and Favorites:
A few more of our favorite projects, as a treat. You can click the titles to read more about their campaigns.
Live through the end of the world again and again with this set of three standalone roleplaying games by Adam Bell! From living out a mess life amidst the apocalypse in Quy Serra Serra, to a tense drama set in a doomsday bunker run by a twisted warden in Into a Warm Sun, to a coterie of characters who bring doom wherever they appear in time and space in The Way Out.
Adam's really cooking with these games, and he's still just shy of his funding goal! Share the campaign with a friend you think would love these, or pick up a copy yourself (And tell him the axolotls sent you).
On the more contemplative side (For those of y'all who loved Bonds Between or Terminus), this journaling RPG about Bower Bird courtship might be up your alley! In it, you follow the lives of bower birds seeking companionship during courting season. Journal about their efforts in the style of a wildlife documentary as they search for a partner amidst the every day trials of life in the wild.
Spencer's games pretty much always rip, but I'm really loving what he's cooked with this one. Dexterity game meets skirmish game in this whimsical zine with scrappy art hand-drawn by the author. Flick, push, and roll dice at your friends to knock their dice off the table and win the day! We here at Bright Bard Games love goblins as much as we love axolotls, and we think you'll get a charge out of this game, too.
Listen gang, I've spent a lot of time watching Guy Fieri on the Food Network in my life, so this game was an easy sell for me. Play as demons trying to run a successful food truck, from gathering cursed ingredients, to causing mischief for your competition (And maybe your customers?), and completing wild orders from your patrons. Like ours, Jordan's campaign is full of whimsical titles, and I'm really excited to get this one to the table when it's finished cooking.
That's All, Folks!
Thanks again for your time and for your support! I'll post another roundup next week around this time to shine a light on some more zine projects we love. If we fund before then, you can look forward to a little sneak peek at some of the content coming in Axolotl with a Gun: Armed and Dangerous, and our stretch goals.
