I shared this in r/phish earlier, but made this for you all too.

I had a long train ride the other weekend and, with all the commentary around "rail riders" in mind, had the silly idea to build a playable, browser-based game where you get to be one of these esteemed members of our community. 

Play Rail Riders here: https://railriders.freezer.ink/

Game trailers are on YouTube and Instagram, too.

The goal, for one song: get to the rail, defend your spot, get noticed by the band, dose the crowd, snag a poster, all while avoiding security and peeing your pants. All the music is original and 100% made by me, a human, over the last few months.

The game was built by me, with help from Claude, and in Godot, a free, open‑source game engine, and just yesterday I hired an illustrator to create a legit set of characters, sprites, and items (because gen AI art sux, but for a first crack at a beta, it works). Those will be in next week, but in the spirit of the 90s-themed run that's before us, and hoping to get a few beta testers in there to show me what's broken, I hereby invite you all to ride the rail.

A few tips:

• Generally, you want to always be dancing, and especially at the rail where you can rack up Groove points.
• Spins are free and can be used anywhere, but count for points when you're on the rail. If you tap spin three times in a row you get super spin -- but don't land on the stage or you'll get ejected. Wiggles impress the neighbors and slow them down when you're chasing an item, but will cost you points away from the rail. The Worm recharges as you dance and can be used to clear the floor.
• Get noticed by the band and your Groove score skyrockets.
• Bathroom visits clear both your Bladder and Heat scores. Pee your pants and the crowd boots you to the back of the room, and you leave a spot on the floor everyone avoids.
• The band throws out surprises over the course of the round. Balloons help you soar over the crowd -- a good way to get to bathrooms, the merch stand, and back. Give the crowd a sticker and they become your crew for a few seconds, protecting your spot and giving you their Groove points. Tarps hold your spot -- but they'll cost you Heat. Party Supplies doses the whole crowd, and your Groove score rockets. Beers and water help your score but also impact the bladder.

I'm currently building out two-player co-op, but not sure it'll work yet. Feel free to give it a try with a friend once it's in there, but expect bugs. Desktop is best. It does work on mobile as well, but isn't as fun because you can't mash your keyboard and your thumbs might get tired. 

Yes, I realize this is insane. Good luck! Show off your high scores in the thread, and please leave feedback, ideas, criticism, and whatever else you'd like to share here too. Please keep in mind this is beta, and I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm just a fan like you, perhaps with a bit more ADHD.

P.S. If you guys actually enjoy this I might fire up a Discord and keep on building it. I'd love to feature more original music from artists in our community, and maybe include real merch someday too.

P.P.S. See you in Bethel! I hope to have stickers to give out. Will see if I can get my shit in order.

Boston 7/21 was amazing. This is the Facebook post the 70ish yo lady in front of us, who sat on her ass on her phone the entire show, put out there late in set 2. Was worth the $$$ to me!

Seeing first hand the rail riders and the literal garbage they leave all over out in the front of the venue. Beer cans, water bottles, umbrellas everywhere. Pretty unnerving and disappointing. It’s also insane to me how they all parked their expensive sprinter vans in convoy formation right out front.

We had great seats surrounded by good people and the music was awwwwwesome. Just wish bathrobe dude and his cronies would pick up their trash.

EDIT to add: maybe the sprinters belong to the merch people, I don’t know. Just was very telling given the bumper stickers and formation of the parking.

Happening right out front of Agganis Arena!

Well maybe not a hundred but it was darn loud. Big boy train at union station in KC. Took the streetcar from downtown over lunch. Pretty cool

It would make sense that they're holding off until their big event to play one of their most popular and sought-after songs. I could be wrong, this is just a hunch!

And… go

How do Billy and the boys keep pumping out one show better than the next? Night after night they are leaving so much of themselves on the stage. What a crazy run this tour has been. Feeling grateful and fortunate to be able to experience it.

✌️

Two of my favs! This is crazy!!!!

In Boston tonight and what a heater. Great crowd, loved the Red Sox banter and Take Me Out to the Ballgame was super fun. Blown away. Every single band member is undeniably talented on their instrument and their voice. We got so lucky with that Leaning on a Traveling Song opener and Meet Me at the Creek closer! Not a dull moment in between. The bar is now extremely high, but I’ll be at every show I can be at.

I will be going for both nights solo and have an onsite campsite. Looking to meet onsite friends who are solo, going as a group, from Baltimore or not, anyone!

I am in the D Camping Section

Let’s see em folks! Me and the pup are ready for Boston tonight with a fresh Roanoke poster and double Charlottesville foil frame picked up today from the frame shop. Hoping for another broken doe in tonight’s show. Was so good at Roanoke.

Hey party people! Getting stoked for Portland, was just wondering how the weather feels since it will be my first time there. live in tn now, so used to the hot humid summers. Looks like it's going to be mid 70s, just wondering if it's cooler because of the ocean. Thanks in advance, can't wait to dance with y'all 🔥

That is all.

So I got a flight credit burning a hole in my digital wallet and I’m off next Tuesday/Wednesday.

I can fly out of RDU (Raleigh), fly direct land at Bradley (Hartford) right around 5pm. Hotels are very reasonable, plenty of tickets popping up, it all seems to be coming together.

My question is, what else is going on or fun things to do the next day? I wouldn’t fly out til 7:30pm and would have the day to explore.

Any after shows announced?

I know the Billy show will be 10/10 but just trying to see what else Hartford has to offer.

Any local help appreciated

Hey Goats,

Was delayed at airport for weather this morning and missed our connecting flight to Portland before we even boarded.

Next fights were Friday unless we took separate flights.

Check your flights as it wasn’t just Portland but Boston and Manchester etc all were full.

Loaded up car and heading that way.

Y’all be safe!

Are empty Nalgene allowed? Empty or sealed water bottles?

It took me five tries to figure out how I want it, but I will have these (and a large selection of other designs) available on lot in Huntsville and at Billyween (at the Billyween Makers Family Shakedown at the Lord Baltimore Hotel 10/31).
The second pic shows the evolution of the patch design from left to right

My gf and I have 2 nights for bethel and we didn’t book any hotel or lodging yet being the cheapest close hotel is 300 a night. Anyone know of a campground or a cheap place to stay near the area? Thanks in advance 😁🤘🏻

I saw Billy for the first time last night after listening to some of his albums. There’s a specific guitar riff he plays @1:48 and it really just grabbed me. He played it twice last night. Anyone else notice this specific riff?