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.

It's been a heck of a ride, folks. Zeta has gone to bed for another year, finishing up at hour 159. We may be sleepy, but we are immensely grateful for all of you. But, before we turn out the light and cuddle up with our teddy bears, here are some of our favorite moments of the run.

Friends, that's all for Zeta. Just because Zeta is done, that doesn't mean that the bus is over! We still have a few more hours on the clock, and if the donations keep rolling, we'll go even longer! But, from Zeta Comms, thank you. Thank you for keeping us company, thank you for the amazing gifs, thank you for the charity.

To leave you on one thing, keep finding joy and hope.

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!

We lived, we laughed, we ripped. And to remember our many, many nights of high octane clashes in the Matt "Cat Enthusiast" Wiggins Memorial Stadium, we invited you to make tattoo or wall hanging art with our slogan: "If you love something, let it rip."

Many rose to the challenge and created beautiful body art. We appreciate you all! We could only choose one winner to win a free Desert Bus t-shirt, but we're excited to share their art along with a handful of runners-up!

Winner

Miles aka OtherEdgeworth

Color Variations represent:

• Nightwatch Rip-Off, featuring Nightwatch's colours,
• Classic Valentine, in pastel red and pink, and
• Shift Clash, featuring a Beyblade for each of Alpha Flight, Nightwatch, and Zeta Shift

Poipal

Sedangogh

TimeKapsule TK

korvys