Greetings, friends! 

As independent tabletop game designers, we make games because they allow people to share an experience together—to put a pause on the outside world and open the door to fun, magic, and memories. That’s what Jerry’s music and art does. Pairing Jerry and a tabletop game seemed natural to us; now more than ever we all need to create opportunities to gather and create some joy. 

There's two aspects of designing a game like this. First, thinking about who is going to play it and secondly how to work the spirit of Jerry Garcia into the game itself. Both of these are dynamically intertwined.  

We listened to what feels like every interview, watched every documentary, listened to his deep cuts on repeat, and very luckily for us, got to work with The Jerry Garcia Family and look through his catalog of paintings, calligraphy, and sketches. We collected all of our own connections to Jerry’s music (Nassau Coliseum in the late 80s), art (the ties!), and yes even Cherry Garcia ice cream (Keith scooping it at the Ben & Jerry’s in the  Ithaca Commons when it first came out in the 80s). We felt old when someone said they didnt know him. However, the highlight throughout the process of testing the game has been seeing the glow on peoples faces as they share stories of their life and how Jerry and the music and magic he made have been part of their journey. 

 With this in mind, our approach to designing Cosmic Journey was to imagine JerryGarcia gathering people to play a game. What vibe would he bring to a game night? As a man who rode the rails in his you and is well known for missing a knuckle bone: dice. As a rich part of the tradition of Americana music: gameplay that’s inspired by the classics while adding something new. As someone who was anti-authoritarian and a virtuoso improvisational guitarist: gameplay choices and optional rules variants.

The result is a casual, press your luck dice game you can play with anyone, of any age, and in any state of mind. It’s a game you can learn and share in seconds, though the variant rule cards let you add more complexity when you want it. The basic premise is simple: you’re taking a journey with friends, and you’ll pick up a few bummers along the way. You win the game by rolling high, making good choices, and being the first player to leave your bummers behind.

If you don’t know who Jerry Garcia is, that wouldn’t matter to him. He’d still bring a lot of fun to share with a pinch of trickster energy. We hope you’ll join us on this journey, and bring friends and strangers, children and grandparents. Let’s get together to roll some dice and leave our bummers behind… to take a chance and opt in to fun. 

Check out the game and deluxe components here. 

All the best!

Jenn & Keith