# Cheapass Games (a tribute) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 21, 2001, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapass-games-a-tribute/69683 "2001-06-21T20:33:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapass-games-a-tribute/69683/1 "2001-06-21T20:33:36Z")
Way back when (May 30th, fer the love of cheese), I started an IMHO thread looking for your [favorite board games](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=72549). Well, it was met with resounding response, which was greatly appreciated. **MrVisible** , God bless his soul, suggested [Cheapass Games](http://www.cheapass.com), a game manufacturer that specializes in game concepts. Their philosophy is simple. If I may quote them directly: > [@](#): > > We here at Cheapass Games are aware of two basic facts about games: they cost too much, and they are at some level all the same. > > If you ignore the clever shapes they come in, the cheap little plastic pawns are an interchangeable part of most of the board games in your house. So are the dice, the money, the counters, the pencils, and just about every other random spare part. These generic bits and pieces can account for as much as 75% of a game’s production cost, and that cost gets handed to you. > > If you had your choice, you’d probably invest a little bit of money in one good set of gaming paraphernalia instead of twenty crappy ones, and then just buy the new part of every “new” game. Yet most companies insist on selling you the whole package every time; it’s like bundling a can opener with a can of beans. > > Cheapass Games come with the bare essentials: boards, cards, and rulebooks. If you need anything else, we’ll tell you. And it’s probably something you can scrounge from a game you already own, or buy at a hobby store for less than “they” are charging you for it. Heck, if you need to, you can even buy the parts from us. Once I saw the site, I decided to purchase two games - **Devil Bunny Needs a Ham** and **Kill Dr. Lucky**. Becoming instant classics with my friends, I purchased **The Great Brain Robbery** and **Chief Herman’s Holiday Fun Pack** just recently. So far, **Kill Dr. Lucky** has been the hands-down winner. Tranpiring a few minutes before the plot in **Clue** , you and the rest of the players are trying to (hold onto your asses) kill Dr. Lucky in his mansion with various items you find along the way. However, you can’t do it when others are looking, and all your attempts of murder have a very good chance of being thwarted (thus his moniker of Dr. _Lucky_). Its a quick learn, games can go relatively fast (and are fast-paced if they stretch a bit long), and can easily accomodate any variations you may wish to impose.[sup]\*[/sup] **Devil Bunny Needs a Ham** , for $2, is the cheapest game I’ve ever purchased, besides a deck of cards. Extremely simple, this game is a quick amusement for me and my girlfriend, as its usually pulled out while we’re watching TV. **Chief Herman’s Holiday Fun Pack** , while having nothing to do with the holidays, is indeed a pack of fun. While not into dice games, this book of rules contains a lot of interesting stuff, including a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors to play with 20-100 people! It also contains a bunch of poker variants, if that is your bag, baby. And we finally played **The Great Brain Robbery** last night. It was tough to explain to everybody, being their first time, but it went over pretty well. One person in the group likes to stick with the tried and true, but I think everyone else will want to make it a regular occurrance. You have to love the possibility of your character running around with a block of cheese in its head. Who else here has played any of these games? Yeah or nay? [sup]\*[/sup] I’m looking for the expansion to **Kill Dr. Lucky** , entitled **Craigdarroch**. If anyone has a copy, please let me know. I’d buy it from you, or settle with a photocopy (in this case, I’d be happy to send Cheapass Games $5 for the right to copy). ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapass-games-a-tribute/69683/2 "2001-06-21T21:02:46Z")
Sorry Euty, Coldy, and UncleBeer. This is most likely IMHO. I just got caught up in the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Narile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@Narile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Narile)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapass-games-a-tribute/69683/3 "2001-06-22T06:23:21Z")
A couple of other fun Cheapass games. Lord of the Fries - You are a short order cook in one of Hades’ many resturaunts, do you have what it takes to fill the current order? Very fun. Girl Genius, The works - Not sold by Cheapass Games, but done by James Ernest (Founder/owner of Cheapass) for Phil and Kaja Foglio. Very enjoyable card game, based on the same rules used for xXxenophile, but rated PG rather than R/X. ---
**Author:** ![DarkPrince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@DarkPrince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkPrince)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapass-games-a-tribute/69683/4 "2001-06-22T06:36:13Z")
Greatest cheapass game has either gotta be Before I Kill You Mr. Bond… Sweet game. Another game, I can’t remember if it’s Cheapass or not, is Apples for Apples. Gotta thrown in some points for The Great Brain Robbery too. And if you wanna try a wonderful game that is in no way cheap(about $30 if I remember correctly) go buy The Settlers of Cataan. It’s loads of fun if you have the money for it. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapass-games-a-tribute/69683/5 "2001-06-22T08:49:52Z")
Apples for Apples rules, and is not CAG. I would counter **DarkPrince** ’s advice and recommend that you _not_ buy the Settlers of Cataan. Not if you have anything else you’d like to be doing for the next month of your life, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapass-games-a-tribute/69683/6 "2001-06-22T13:58:14Z")
Well I just bought three games from them after checking out the site. So coming in the mail to me are Before I Kill you Mr. Bond Witch Trial and Kill Doctor Lucky Woo Hoo new games! Zebra ---
**Author:** ![Drastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Drastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drastic)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapass-games-a-tribute/69683/7 "2001-06-22T14:07:16Z")
My favorite Cheap Ass game, out of a great many I’ve played, is “Deadwood”. The players are bit-part actors working studio backlots, and the amusing things are the names of the cards which randomize which movie and scene is being shot on various places on the board. There’s an expansion set for it too, which adds even more amusement, with genres besides westerns, such as “The Shake the Camera and Bitch Project, scene 23, Pile of Rocks.” ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapass-games-a-tribute/69683/8 "2001-06-22T14:16:17Z")
Zebra, good for you! You’ll have to report back once you get to play them. Before I Kill You, Mr. Bond is an excellent purchase, and one I need to get soon. You see, MGM has just filed a cease and desist order, and Cheapass Games is going to stop production, and predicts to be out of stock by August. Can you say collector’s item? (If there are any collectors out there…) ---
**Author:** ![Medea\_s\_Child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Medea\_s\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medea_s_Child)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapass-games-a-tribute/69683/9 "2001-06-22T14:44:17Z")
I love Cheapass. Before I Kill You, Mr. Bond. WitchTrial Kill Doctor Lucky All rock. It might not be cheapass, but the concept is similar. My favorite is still the Eubola Monkey one. You are lab researchers and the dreaded virus escapes in your lab. You done you suits and grap your tranq darts to go save the monkeys still in the lab. First person to five monkeys (one from each station) wins. If your suit tears you have to go back to the beginning and patch it. If your friend looks like he is winning, you can shoot him with your tranq gun and he loses a turn, as well as drops his monkey. Its a great game. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapass-games-a-tribute/69683/10 "2001-06-22T14:50:19Z")
Ah, cheapass! Witch Trial is one of my favorites, mostly for the dialogue that crops up in the proceedings. In the last game I played, I prefaced every speech with, “I’m just a simple country lawyer, and I don’t know anything about this big-city lawyering. I just know what’s RIGHT and what’s WRONG. And what’s WRONG is this TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE! _banging fist on table_” Kill Dr Lucky is lots of fun, but best played after a resounding match of Save Dr Lucky. Dr Lucky is a passenger on the Titanic and it’s your job to try to get him off the ship alive.