diff --git a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
index c1577c7..b008b3c 100644
--- a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
@@ -21,6 +21,14 @@ class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
     end
   end
 
+  def authenticate_user!(args = nil)
+    current_user.present?
+  end
+
+  def current_user
+    super || User.where(soft_token: soft_token).first_or_initialize
+  end
+
   private
 
   def flash_to_http_header
@@ -30,4 +38,8 @@ class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
     flash.discard  # don't want the flash to appear when you reload page
   end
 
+  def soft_token
+    session[:user_token] ||= SecureRandom.hex(8)
+  end
+
 end
diff --git a/app/controllers/users/registrations_controller.rb b/app/controllers/users/registrations_controller.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a83b243
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/controllers/users/registrations_controller.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+class Users::RegistrationsController < Devise::RegistrationsController
+  before_filter :configure_sign_up_params, only: [:create]
+# before_filter :configure_account_update_params, only: [:update]
+
+  # GET /resource/sign_up
+  # def new
+  #   super
+  # end
+
+  # POST /resource
+  # def create
+  #   super
+  # end
+
+  # GET /resource/edit
+  # def edit
+  #   super
+  # end
+
+  # PUT /resource
+  # def update
+  #   super
+  # end
+
+  # DELETE /resource
+  # def destroy
+  #   super
+  # end
+
+  # GET /resource/cancel
+  # Forces the session data which is usually expired after sign
+  # in to be expired now. This is useful if the user wants to
+  # cancel oauth signing in/up in the middle of the process,
+  # removing all OAuth session data.
+  # def cancel
+  #   super
+  # end
+
+  protected
+
+  # If you have extra params to permit, append them to the sanitizer.
+  def configure_sign_up_params
+    devise_parameter_sanitizer.for(:sign_up) << :soft_token
+  end
+
+  # If you have extra params to permit, append them to the sanitizer.
+  # def configure_account_update_params
+  #   devise_parameter_sanitizer.for(:account_update) << :attribute
+  # end
+
+  # The path used after sign up.
+  # def after_sign_up_path_for(resource)
+  #   super(resource)
+  # end
+
+  # The path used after sign up for inactive accounts.
+  # def after_inactive_sign_up_path_for(resource)
+  #   super(resource)
+  # end
+end
diff --git a/app/models/game.rb b/app/models/game.rb
index c534d1d..e45a2d7 100644
--- a/app/models/game.rb
+++ b/app/models/game.rb
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ class Game < ActiveRecord::Base
 
   def add_player_from_user(user)
     return false unless can_accomodate(user)
-    self.players.create(user: user)
+    new_player = self.players.create(user: user, soft_token: user.soft_token)
   end
 
   def can_accomodate(user)
diff --git a/app/models/player.rb b/app/models/player.rb
index 24ba76f..6b24556 100644
--- a/app/models/player.rb
+++ b/app/models/player.rb
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ class Player < ActiveRecord::Base
   has_many :player_cards
   has_many :plays
 
+  #TODO: soft_user will not have a user_id
   validates :user_id, presence: true
   validates :game_id, presence: true
 
diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index 2f13e49..2f865b6 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -6,6 +6,14 @@ class User < ActiveRecord::Base
     self.role ||= :user
   end
 
+  def soft_user?
+    self.email.empty?
+  end
+
+  def signed_in?
+    !soft_user?
+  end
+
   # Include default devise modules. Others available are:
   # :confirmable, :lockable, :timeoutable and :omniauthable
   devise :invitable, :database_authenticatable, :registerable, # :confirmable,
diff --git a/app/views/games/show.json.jbuilder b/app/views/games/show.json.jbuilder
index ef6d6bd..0c13d03 100644
--- a/app/views/games/show.json.jbuilder
+++ b/app/views/games/show.json.jbuilder
@@ -14,9 +14,9 @@ json.current_user_id current_user.try(:id)
 
 json.players @game.players do |player|
   json.id player.id
-  json.email player.user.email
+  json.email player.user.try(:email)
   json.inventory_count player.inventory.count
-  json.user_id player.user.id
+  json.user_id player.user.try(:id)
 
   if player.user == current_user
     json.inventory player.inventory
diff --git a/app/views/layouts/_navigation_links.html.erb b/app/views/layouts/_navigation_links.html.erb
index 0617046..825d30f 100644
--- a/app/views/layouts/_navigation_links.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/layouts/_navigation_links.html.erb
@@ -2,14 +2,14 @@
   <ul>
     <li><%= link_to 'Main Menu', root_path %></li>
     <li><%= link_to 'Tables', tables_path %></li>
-    <% if user_signed_in? %>
+    <% if current_user.signed_in? %>
       <li><%= link_to 'Edit account', edit_user_registration_path %></li>
       <li><%= link_to 'Sign out', destroy_user_session_path, :method=>'delete' %></li>
     <% else %>
       <li><%= link_to 'Sign in', new_user_session_path %></li>
       <li><%= link_to 'Sign up', new_user_registration_path %></li>
     <% end %>
-    <% if user_signed_in? %>
+    <% if current_user.signed_in? %>
       <% if current_user.admin? %>
         <li><%= link_to 'Admin', '/admin' %></li>
         <li><%= link_to 'Users', users_path %></li>
diff --git a/config/routes.rb b/config/routes.rb
index 00d506a..154b01f 100644
--- a/config/routes.rb
+++ b/config/routes.rb
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ Rails.application.routes.draw do
   mount Upmin::Engine => '/admin'
   root to: 'visitors#index'
   get '/quick-play', to: 'visitors#quick-play'
-  devise_for :users
+  devise_for :users, controllers: { registrations: "users/registrations" }
   resources :users
   get '/loaderio-456644f4db1fcd1e8578be882d2fc476.txt', to: redirect('/assets/loaderio-456644f4db1fcd1e8578be882d2fc476.txt')
   get '/loaderio-eb4afd672bf5b9af467fbadcba243f26.txt', to: redirect('/assets/loaderio-eb4afd672bf5b9af467fbadcba243f26.txt')
diff --git a/db/migrate/20151231035240_add_soft_token_to_users_and_players.rb b/db/migrate/20151231035240_add_soft_token_to_users_and_players.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ce30069
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20151231035240_add_soft_token_to_users_and_players.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+class AddSoftTokenToUsersAndPlayers < ActiveRecord::Migration
+  def change
+    add_column :users,   :soft_token, :string
+    add_column :players, :soft_token, :string
+  end
+end
diff --git a/db/schema.rb b/db/schema.rb
index 9e1cce5..d9c46ed 100644
--- a/db/schema.rb
+++ b/db/schema.rb
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 #
 # It's strongly recommended that you check this file into your version control system.
 
-ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 20151125100745) do
+ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 20151231035240) do
 
   # These are extensions that must be enabled in order to support this database
   enable_extension "plpgsql"
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 20151125100745) do
     t.integer  "user_id"
     t.datetime "created_at"
     t.datetime "updated_at"
+    t.string   "soft_token"
   end
 
   add_index "players", ["game_id"], name: "index_players_on_game_id", using: :btree
@@ -114,6 +115,7 @@ ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 20151125100745) do
     t.integer  "invited_by_id"
     t.string   "invited_by_type"
     t.integer  "invitations_count",      default: 0
+    t.string   "soft_token"
   end
 
   add_index "users", ["email"], name: "index_users_on_email", unique: true, using: :btree
diff --git a/spec/factories/users.rb b/spec/factories/users.rb
index dafea8b..9f37412 100644
--- a/spec/factories/users.rb
+++ b/spec/factories/users.rb
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ FactoryGirl.define do
     name 'Test User'
     sequence(:email) { |n| "test#{n}@example.com" }
     password 'please123'
+    sequence(:soft_token) { |n| "soft_token#{n}" }
 
     trait :admin do
       role 'admin'