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bashcade

For our first 30 families

How to film your party

Thank you for hosting one of our first parties. Here's everything we'd love back from it. None of it needs a face, and all of it is up to you.

The deal, in one place

You get

  • The arcade, lent to you for the party, free: four controllers, the USB hub, the HDMI cable and all the games.
  • It's yours for the party. The next day, everything comes back to us and goes on to the next family.
  • We ship it to you anywhere in California, to arrive a few days before the party. Shipping both ways costs you nothing.
  • A free party invitation, and our help setting it up if you'd like one.

You need

  • A laptop or computer with Chrome that you can plug into your TV. The HDMI cable comes with the controllers.
  • One free USB port on that computer, for the hub the four controllers plug into. If it only has USB-C ports, tell us before the party.
  • A test run a day or two before the party, on that same computer. It takes ten minutes, and the steps are in your account.

We ask

  • A few photos or a short video from the party, sent to us. From behind is perfect: no faces, no names.
  • Ten honest minutes afterwards, however suits you: a call, voice notes, texts or an email. What worked, what didn't, what the kids asked for.
  • Everything back the day after the party.

Five shots, no faces

Any one of these is a gift. One good ten-second clip beats twenty photos.

  1. 1

    Unboxing

    Your hands opening the box, before anyone arrives. No kids needed.

  2. 2

    Plugging in

    The cable going into the TV, and the menu coming up on screen.

  3. 3

    The big one

    From behind the couch: the TV, and the backs of four kids playing. Ten to twenty seconds.

  4. 4

    Hands

    Close on the controllers, in the middle of a game.

  5. 5

    The win

    The winner on screen and arms going up, filmed from behind.

A few rules

  • No faces. From behind, or hands only. For guests, always: they are another family's kids, and only their parents can say yes for them.
  • No names. Type nicknames, or leave them as Player 1 to Player 4. The game shows names on screen, and twice on the winner card.
  • Nothing that shows where you live: a house number, the street through a window, a school logo.
  • Hold the phone upright if you can, and leave the sound on. The game's own sounds make the clip.
  • If you post about it yourself, add one line saying it was free: "Bashcade lent us this for free." Advertising rules ask for that line whenever a brand gives you something free.
  • Say what you actually thought. We'd rather hear what went wrong than a nice review.

Before we post anything

We'll ask you two questions in our messages: can we post what you sent on @playbashcade, and can we use it in our ads? They're separate, so you can say yes to one and no to the other. Your yes, written there, is the permission. It covers your own kids, never anyone else's.

We never post a face or a name. If you ever want something taken down, tell us and it comes down that day.

After the party

  1. 1

    Send it over

    Photos and clips go to us in Instagram messages, whenever suits you.

  2. 2

    Ten minutes

    A short call, voice notes, a few texts or an email, whichever is easiest. The honest version helps most.

  3. 3

    Back the next day

    Everything goes back in the box the day after the party. The return label is already on it: hand it to your mail carrier or drop it at the post office.

Questions at any point? Message us on Instagram, @playbashcade.